Lead Geotechnical Engineer

Role: Lead Geotechnical Engineer

Hours: 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday

Location: Candidates can be based at either of the below sites on a hybrid basis – 3 days per week site/office presence as a minimum.

• West Burton Power Station, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 9BL
• Culham Campus, Abingdon OX14 3EB

We are actively recruiting on either a permanent or contract basis. If contract, in initial duration will be 12 months.

There has never been a more exciting time to join NUVIA UK. As a result of significant growth and major contract awards, including the STEP fusion programme and major frameworks supporting the UK's defence and nuclear infrastructure, we are expanding our capability and delivering some of the UK's most innovative and strategically important programmes. Operating across the nuclear, defence and energy sectors, our work supports critical national infrastructure, strengthens energy security and contributes to the UK's long-term resilience.

Purpose

To provide an embedded Lead Geotechnical Engineer within the STEP Design Authority (DA) to define, integrate and assure the geotechnical design basis for the STEP Prototype Plant (SPP).

The role exists to guarantee foundation performance, ground stability and soil–structure interaction for safety‑classified and non‑safety‑classified structures under normal, seismic, extreme and faulted conditions, ensuring geotechnical risks are demonstrably ALARP and suitably justified for the DCO, nuclear safety case and construction phases.

Required Outcomes

• A STEP site geotechnical design basis that is coherent, traceable and defensible for DCO and nuclear safety case purposes.

• Clear demonstration that ground‑related hazards (e.g. liquefaction, settlement, slope failure) are identified, mitigated and managed across the plant lifecycle.

• Assured foundation and earthworks solutions for heavy, safety‑significant fusion structures.

• Integration of geotechnical data and assumptions into STEP’s digital twin and information management environment, supporting configuration control and long‑term traceability.

• Geotechnical evidence packs suitable for:

• DCO submission and Examination

• Safety Case (PCSR / PSR inputs)

• Independent assurance and regulatory scrutinyKey Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the geotechnical design basis and parameters, aligned with STEP safety functional requirements and classification.

• Assess and manage liquefaction, total and differential settlement, bearing capacity and slope stability risks for the SPP site.

• Develop and assure ground improvement strategies appropriate for large, heavily‑loaded, vibration‑ and seismic‑sensitive nuclear structures.

• Provide authoritative input to:

• Seismic hazard response and load transfer

• Blast and extreme event assessments

• Soil–structure interaction modelling

• Integrate geotechnical data, models and assumptions into the STEP digital twin, supporting lifecycle change control and traceability.

• Support safety case authors by providing defensible geotechnical arguments, limits and claims.

• Interface with civil, structural, seismic, safety, CDM and construction teams to ensure design integration and buildability.

• Identify geotechnical risks to programme, safety or cost and support optioneering to reduce uncertainty at early design stages.