Electronics Engineer Industrial Placement

Electronics Engineer Industrial Placement

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Salary: £24,961 per annum

Hours: Full-time, 37 hours

Contract Type: Fixed-Term, 12 months

Location: Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, Oxfordshire

Closing Date: Sunday, 19th October 2025

Interview Date: Dec 2025 / Jan 2026

Start Date: September 2026

RAL Space is one of the largest interdisciplinary space departments in Europe, having a consistent track record contributing to more than 200 instruments in space. The department works throughout the lifecycle of space missions - from leading concept studies for future missions, developing bespoke scientific instrumentation, providing space test and ground-based facilities, operating ground-stations, and to processing and analysing data.

The group is recognised for its major contributions in a diverse range of space instrumentation; standout highlights include:

• Imaging electronics on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, a flagship mission designed to understand the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth.
• Imaging electronics for the RAMAN spectrometer on ESA’s ExoMars rover, looking to identify minerals and biomarker signatures of past and/or current life on Mars.
• Electronics for the SPICE ultraviolet spectrometer on ESA’s Solar Orbiter, to study a range of solar questions including the origins of the coronal magnetic field.
• A mass spectrometer on ESA’s Rosetta/Philae mission to Comet 67-P, to investigate the origin and composition of comets, and where the water on Earth originates

Brief overview of the scheme

STFC’s incredibly diverse range of placements allow you to work alongside world leading engineers, scientists, and technicians in highly collaborative environments. With an STFC Industrial Placement you will become a critical member of the team in which you will be exposed to exciting projects and challenges from the start.

We’ll provide challenges that match your skills, and each placement is a unique opportunity to pursue your career interests. You will be supported every step of the way by our dedicated Early Careers Development Team who will also ensure you benefit from a range of personal development opportunities.

About the role and a summary of key duties & responsibilities

The Industrial Placement student will work under the supervision of one of our electronics engineers, working on one of our many projects for spacecraft and ground-based instruments. Duties may include, but may not be limited to:

• Analogue and digital circuit design.
• PCB layout of complex multilayer boards.
• Functional testing of assembled boards • VHDL design work.
• Create manufacturing drawings and participate in design reviews.
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Complete analyses and documentation, including test plans, specifications and reports.
• Vigilance of health and safety considerations.
• Supporting outreach activities and tours of the Division on occasion.

To apply for this placement, we are looking for the following:

Key - Shortlisting (S), at Interview (I) or both (S&I)

Essential:

• Currently enrolled on an undergraduate degree course and returning to university/studies to complete your undergraduate degree following the placement (S)
• Are required or have requested to take an industrial placement year (S)
• Have the right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement (S)
• Able to commence employment in summer 2026 (S)
• Analogue design skills (S&I)
• Digital design skills (S&I)
• Demonstratable practical skills such as verification and testing of circuit boards and components (S&I)

Desirable:

• Awareness of FPGA design using VHDL and/or Verilog (S&I)
• Knowledge of higher-level software programming languages or applications (e.g. C/C++, LabVIEW) and/or low-level programming languages (S&I)
• Knowledge of designing electronics for space applications (S&I)

Employee Benefits:

• 30 days holiday (in addition to 10.5 bank holidays and privilege days).
• Flexible working hours.
• An excellent defined average salary pension scheme.
• Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.
• Cycle to work scheme.

Link to more benefits: https://stfccareers.co.uk/rewards-and-benefits/

As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK. You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y

Application Guidance

Please note that we can only accept a maximum of 2 applications per candidate.

Part of our application process involves submitting your CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter should address your suitability for the opportunity based how you meet each essential criteria stated in this advert.

Please note that we hold the right to close this vacancy early if a sufficient number of applications have been received.

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.

What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible!

About Us

UKRI - UK Research and Innovation

UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.

Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation.

More information can be found at www.ukri.org.

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI.

How we support EDI in the workforce

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’.

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all applicants with a disability who opt into the disability confident scheme and meet the minimum criteria for the role. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

How to apply

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the ‘experience’ section of the application.

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.

The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

About the Team

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is a world-leading multi-disciplinary science organisation where curiosity-driven, blue-skies thinking meets practical, application-led science and engineering. Our goal is to deliver economic, societal, scientific and international benefits to the UK and its people – and more broadly to the world.

One of Europe’s largest research organisations, we’re trusted to support, enable and undertake cutting-edge projects in an amazing diversity of fields. Through world-class facilities and people, we’re driving ground-breaking advances in science, engineering, computing and technology. Our research seeks to understand the Universe from the largest astronomical scales to the tiniest constituents of matter, yet creates impact on a very tangible, human scale.

For more information about STFC please visit https://stfc.ukri.org/

You can also visit our careers site https://www.stfccareers.co.uk/

How to apply

To apply for this role and to find out more, please click on the apply button. Please note that applications may close before the application deadline, so apply early to avoid disappointment.