"CfAI Senior Systems Engineer"

Durham University - Department of Physics

Location:	Durham
Salary:	£47,389 to £56,535 per annum
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Fixed-Term/Contract
Placed On:	3rd February 2026
Closes:	16th February 2026
Job Ref:	26000028

The Role and Department

The Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) is a major research group in the Department of Physics at Durham University with approximately seventy staff and research students. Developing state-of-the-art instruments for use in astronomy, biophysics, remote sensing, fusion diagnostics and much more... To undertake a world-leading programme of education and research with international impact, based on the development of novel instrumentation and cutting-edge technologies with applications across a range of strategically important scientific areas of benefit to modern society.  The group is distributed across two physical locations: The Department of Physics located in Durham itself, with its world leading reputation in academic research. Secondly, there is a dedicated technology facility based at NETpark in nearby Sedgefield, providing access to advanced technical facilities for the assembly and test of complex instrumentation.

CfAI has provided major instruments for many of the world’s leading astronomical facilities including the James Webb Space Telescope, William Herschel Telescope, Gemini Telescopes, Southern African Large Telescope and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. Major current ground-based instrumentation projects in CfAI include HARMONI and MOSAIC, the first-light spectrograph and multi-object spectrograph for the upcoming 40m diameter ). This will be the world’s largest optical telescope, enabling observations of the faintest and most distant objects in the Universe in unparalleled detail. A daptive Optics (AO) is a technology that provides high-speed optical correction for image distortions caused by the atmosphere and telescope itself.

The Role

CfAI is seeking a systems engineer with proven systems engineering experience as an accomplished, practicing Systems/Project Engineer to work on an opto-mechanical ground-based instrumentation project for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). In addition to being an accomplished design engineer in a primary engineering discipline (optical, mechanical, electronics, control, and/or software engineering), you will have proven experience of leading an international multidisciplinary engineering team. Typically, our projects involve international consortia, mainly based in Europe, and some level of domestic and international travel should be anticipated.

As a Senior Systems Engineer, you will be a key player and will be part of the project management team. You will be responsible for the requirements engineering, the overall system architecture, the coordination of assembly, integration, verification, installation, commissioning, and delivery of our astronomical and scientific products. Working as a senior member of the team, you will have the freedom to define, control and execute your own work plan without the need to be supervised and you will have many opportunities to innovate and develop new technical solutions, with considerable scope to be creative.

The preferred location for this role is at our Lower Mountjoy facility situated in Durham.