Job Description

RAMI (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Inspectability) is one of the most severe challenges ahead for DEMO and future fusion reactors, in particular for their in-vessel components. RAMI assessment should be applied from the very beginning of the design process, but very little attention has been given to this topic to date. The responsibilities of the DEMO Senior Reliability Lead (DSRL) are to develop, roll-out, apply and continuously improve the work of the DEMO Central Team in order to achieve the required availability of the device. The DSRL will work directly with the Plant System Design Division (PSDD) Head, the Project and Integration Office (PIO) Head, and the DEMO Central Team leader. A key function of the DSRL will be to liaise with international partners and with the European Commission to promote RAMI and to foster cooperation in this area. He/she may be nominated member of boards and committees. The DSRL is a ‘transverse function’ requiring broad technical competences in fusion technology and engineering, with particular emphasis in remote maintenance and reliability. At the managerial level, it requires extensive competence and experience in project management and a proven ability in ‘problem-solving’ in order to propose compromise solutions able to satisfy all technical requirements, including RAMI.

Main Responsibilities

He/ she will lead and coordinate all actions related to the definition and monitoring of the plant availability in the design process. In particular,

Assist PSDD head to define the functional architecture of the plant

• Define the processes and tools to manage reliability at plant level
• Define the set of documents that will need to be produced over the life-cycle (RAMI analysis, etc.)
• Define, in collaboration with PSDD and PIO heads the concept and architecture at plant level for fulfil the function (for instance, redundancies of functions, easier maintenance, etc.)
• Define the requirement at plant level and propagate them at rank 1 level systems.
• Issue design recommendation to improve reliability of the systems and help propagating a ‘reliability’ culture in the project
• Define (in collaboration with the maintenance transverse function lead and Safety Office (SO) Head) the parameters characterizing the function.
• Contribute to the training of young engineers whom might be interested in this field.

Integration and Verification

• Work in close collaboration with the maintenance transverse function lead and SO Head to define a set of coherent requirement for the systems
• Manage interfaces between the transverse functions impacting the reliability of the system (e.g. maintenance, safety, nuclear integration, mechanical and thermal environment, etc.) and the systems
• Review system and component design
• Define the verification plan at DEMO level
• Support the systems to propagate the requirements (in relation with reliability) at lower level.

System Engineering

• Coordinate the required system analysis (in particular the functional analysis that are the basis of the RAMIs…)

Required / desired qualifications and competencies

• University Master degree in Engineering or equivalent discipline
• Minimum 10 years of experience in managing the delivery of complex projects in a technical field
• Experience on design and construction of fusion devices is beneficial.
• Broad knowledge of system engineering is beneficial.
• Strong experience in working with a diverse range of senior stakeholders and external partners, ideally 
• with an element of public funding.
• Significant experience in reporting to boards and committees
• Proven leadership and ability to work and communicate with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, 
• technologists and physicists.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a cross-functional, project-oriented team.
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) in English.
• Ability to make sound technical/economic decisions that maximise project value.

The post holder will report to the PSDD Head. An involvement of about 70% of the individual’s working time is required for the job. The post will require frequent trips to Garching and other locations.