engineer

mechanical engineer

physicist

project manager

electrical engineer

Uk-Atomic-Energy-Authority

There are some newbies that are coming into the organisation with high hopes and expectations and a lot of drive to change the culture and work frame of the UKAEA in Culham.
The Quality infrastructure in the company has been eroded until it's nearly falling apart. Managers and staff think Quality is of no value to an organisation that burns through well over £100 M in government grants and funding per year. No monitors or metrics of value, no understanding of basic quality assurance, controls, processing and interaction between quality and the organisation. 
The attitude to spending money is absolutely awful, willing to spend money for short term fix on multiple occasions instead of completing true root cause analysis and prevention. There is always a sense of fire fighting instead of fire fighting.
The majority of managers have a bottom up approach to management which means there's is a lack of clarity for work to be complete. There is a culture of non-delivering whereby nothing is delivered on time, on cost and of high quality.
If you are a contractor that is specialised, a usual tactic is for managers to bully contractors into becoming permanent staff. The culture towards contractors vary from person to person, where some are overly harsh to contractors because they are contractors and others just treat you like anyone else.
The hardest part of the job is going into a room full of level 6 plus (managers) and explaining why the method employed may not be the most effective and efficient, just to be told because of time constraints, cutting corners or quick fixes are most appropriate.

I’m going to start off with a positive. There are some fantastic and lovely people that work there. It’s just a shame that for some of them, they will only show it out of work. 

The role had been misrepresented during my interview stage so, by the time I started it was an entirely different job I was doing. 

There is a mass  micro management and people over complicating tasks to make it fill time. I was employed directly yet people I had to report to were contractors yet on paper I wasn’t allowed to report to them so I had to also report to other managers which meant I was being dragged from pillar to post. 

I was belittled and was made to believe my work was always sub standard, as I know others did. I was one of the lucky ones and got out. 

There is constant internal politics battles alike nothing I have ever seen, it is a clear us and them between the two major sites and between departments. 

They also expect you to work alongside contractors, doing the same work as you that have been there years and they will earn far more than you. 

This review asks for an enjoyable part of the job I can think of a few… engaging with the engineering team at Rotherham, working with 4 people outside of the department, the Costa coffee on the Culham campus, the drive home and the moment I handed in my notice. 

I’ve never and will never advise someone to work here. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Flexible working and working from home can be requested 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Friends policy, recruitment and promotion are not based on merit but always based on friends who can influence a recruitment or promotion for you. There is no freedom of expression. There is no integrity.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very much based on a Colonial Management Style 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Working very hard whilst others have nothing to do.

Overall staffs are nice and welcoming however, manager was micromanaging, picking on smallest things, feedback given in a way to demotivate, not inclusive to neorodivergent  and lots of blame game going on. Employee feedback is neglected and manager will go to the extent to defend herself or her training deficit. Senior staffs feel there is no progression or career development although years of service. Staffs are not allowed to ask questions or be curious- they will be often told you don’t need to know this. 

UKAEA is trying to improve its management with new talented people coming in at the board level. However it is like turning around a supertanker and middle management is generally poor. This is because most managers have very little idea of what good looks like in managing people and there are far too many of them for the size of the organisation. Also there is a wide acceptance of failure to deliver being normal. Many senior manager keep on making the same mistakes and don't seem to learn the most basic lessons.

The site has an admirable goal to achieve fusion power for the benefit of all, they are not fit to achieve this. There is more focus on the next press release or VIP visit than there is on tackling the underlying issues caused by constant micro-management. This is especially disappointing when you realise it is all public money that is being wasted through the lack of real, measurable progress

The research here is amazing, and the people are equally so. 

Some culture issues since the pandemic caused home working - the leadership appear to be forcing a full return to a 5 day on-site week, which must people are against for obvious reasons. 

That said, I love my team, my job and my department and the investment in things like professional registration, further education and progression is amazing. 

lots of pros and some considerable cons - 
great development opportunities
great pension!
Lots of issues around public pay but recently has been keeping up just about with inflation.
passionate CEO, however a fair bit of turnover in C suite

Staff are very intelligent and people to learn from. Line manager is an exemplary leader and manager with a people first approach. UKAEA are doing amazing things that will eventually help the world 

Public sector. Slow-paced projects combined with a rigid hierarchical structure. Job security is great as well as benefits and working conditions. Plenty of Holidays and great pension scheme.
Difficult to promote.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Engineer 15 salaries reported	£67,721 per year
Mechanical engineer 9 salaries reported	£40,170 per year
Physicist 27 salaries reported	£45,503 per year
Project manager 6 salaries reported	£60,681 per year
Electrical engineer 12 salaries reported	£50,019 per year

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