Configuration Manager (DV)
Job Role: Configuration Manager
Location: Reading
Hours: Full-time
Clearance: DV clearance required
Sector: Nuclear / Defence
Employment Type: Contract
What’s in it for you?
This is a genuinely different Configuration Manager opportunity for someone looking to build a long-term career within complex nuclear and defence programmes.
You’ll be joining the UK operation of a major international nuclear engineering organisation, but working within a distinct specialist business entity embedded alongside the end user. This gives you the backing and resources of a large international engineering group, combined with much greater visibility and involvement in the actual delivery, completion and handover of safety-critical systems.
The wider group employs approximately 14,000 people internationally, with a substantial and growing UK operation supporting major long-term nuclear, power and defence programmes.
For the right Configuration Manager, this offers:
Long-term career opportunities across the UK nuclear and defence sectors
Exposure to technically complex, safety-critical engineering programmes
The opportunity to work closely with the end user rather than operating at arm’s length within the traditional supply chain
Genuine involvement across engineering, construction completion, commissioning and handover
The chance to develop a highly sought-after configuration management specialism
The backing and capability of a major international engineering group
Potential exposure to wider UK and international opportunities as your career develops
A role where you can take ownership of problems and see the direct impact of your work
The opportunity
We’re looking for an experienced Configuration Manager to work within a highly regulated engineering environment supporting the completion, configuration and eventual handover of complex systems and assets.
What makes the opportunity particularly interesting is the structure of the organisation you’ll be joining.
Rather than sitting within a conventional engineering supplier delivering one isolated package of work, you’ll operate through a specialist business entity that works directly alongside the end-user delivery organisation.
You’ll retain the technical backing, resources and career opportunities associated with a major international engineering group while becoming much more closely integrated with the teams responsible for delivering and ultimately accepting the assets.
It means exposure to the bigger picture and the opportunity to influence how engineering information, physical assets and configuration requirements come together as projects move towards final completion and handover.
What does the client need?
As Configuration Manager, you’ll need to understand how engineering information, configuration requirements and the physical condition of an asset need to remain aligned throughout a complex project lifecycle.
This isn't simply a document-control role.
We’re looking for someone who can understand the technical environment, identify gaps or inconsistencies, establish the correct configuration baseline and bring engineering, construction, commissioning and delivery stakeholders together to resolve issues.
You'll need the confidence to challenge where appropriate, work through technically complex problems and take ownership of issues through to an agreed and controlled resolution.
What will you be doing?
Your responsibilities as Configuration Manager will include:
Establishing and maintaining registers of managed configuration baselines
Completing gap analysis to confirm that the correct baselines have been identified
Establishing clear ownership and accountability for baseline information
Integrating configuration requirements across engineering, project and delivery teams
Mapping baselines against project areas, systems and lifecycle delivery packages
Ensuring configuration information remains accurate, accessible and appropriately controlled
Identifying blockers, discrepancies, open points and incomplete information
Bringing together engineering, construction and delivery stakeholders to resolve configuration issues
Developing practical closure strategies for outstanding technical and configuration issues
Providing clear status reporting and escalating issues when necessary
Supporting the completion and handover of Class 1, 2 and 3 active and passive systems
Driving systems towards final acceptance, including controlled forward-action plans where immediate closure isn't possible
You'll also support the development and maintenance of configuration management processes, including:
Configuration audits
Configuration management standards and procedures
Project change-control processes
Information and knowledge management
Engineering and project documentation
As-found configuration of systems and assets
Design change reviews
Contract deliverables and handover requirements
Configuration management KPIs
Impact assessments relating to relevant nuclear site licence conditions
What experience are we looking for?
You’ll ideally have previous experience as a Configuration Manager, or significant hands-on configuration management experience within nuclear, defence, energy, major infrastructure or another highly regulated engineering environment.
We’re particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate experience of:
Establishing, controlling and maintaining project or asset configuration baselines
Engineering change control and configuration governance
Construction completion, commissioning, handover or operational acceptance
Identifying and resolving gaps between design information and physical assets
Root-cause analysis and structured problem solving
Managing non-conformances, design issues, open points or technical blockers
Working across multidisciplinary engineering teams
Managing relationships with senior technical and project stakeholders
Taking ownership of problems and driving actions through to completion
Engineering background
You should have experience within at least one core engineering discipline, together with sufficient multidisciplinary knowledge to understand how systems interact within a complex facility.
Relevant backgrounds could include:
Electrical
Control & Instrumentation
Mechanical
Process
HVAC / ventilation
Civil / structural
Mechanical handling
Security systems
Radiological monitoring
Safety Instrumented Systems
Complex or bespoke plant and machinery
Additional experience
Experience across any of the following would also be useful:
Nuclear safety cases
Safety classification
Structures, Systems and Components
Class 1, 2 and 3 systems
Active and passive systems
Safety-critical design
FMECA
HAZOP / HAZID
Substantiation and equipment qualification
Design verification and validation
Design and version control
Engineering V lifecycle
Nuclear site licence conditions
Design change and impact assessments
Commissioning and handover
Non-conformance management
Seismic, fire, flooding, radiological or chemotoxic hazards
Security clearance
DV clearance is required for this position.
Due to the nature of the programmes and working environment, candidates will need to meet the security requirements associated with working within sensitive UK nuclear and defence environments.
Why consider this Configuration Manager role?
The structure of this opportunity is what really sets it apart.
You won't simply be responsible for maintaining configuration registers from the outside of a project. You'll work closely with the teams responsible for completing, handing over and ultimately operating complex assets.
You'll be involved in establishing what the true configuration of a system is, identifying where information or physical assets don't align, bringing the right technical people together and helping drive those issues towards resolution.
For an experienced Configuration Manager looking for greater ownership, technical exposure and long-term career opportunities across the nuclear and defence sectors, this is a particularly interesting opportunity.
Interested?
If you're an experienced Configuration Manager with a background in nuclear, defence or another highly regulated engineering environment, we'd be keen to speak with you.
Apply with an up-to-date CV or get in touch for a confidential conversation about the position.
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