Reporting to the Head of Environment & Sustainability, you will define and deliver the environmental strategy for the STEP programme and provide programme-level assurance that environmental and sustainability risks are effectively understood, managed, and controlled throughout the full lifecycle of the power plant.
As a senior leader within UKFE, you will ensure environmental performance is embedded into engineering, construction, operational, and strategic decision-making. You will lead the development of a proportionate, evidence-based Environmental Case and provide leadership across environmental consenting, permitting, regulatory engagement, and sustainability performance.
This is a high-profile position operating in a unique technological environment where regulatory frameworks continue to evolve. Your expertise will help shape how fusion energy is responsibly delivered for future generations.
Key Responsibilities
Environmental Strategy & Programme Leadership
- Define and deliver the environmental strategy across your allocated area of responsibility within the STEP programme.
- Provide senior environmental leadership across engineering, construction, operations, and programme delivery functions.
- Ensure environmental considerations are integrated into programme design, delivery, and operational decision-making.
- Balance innovation with regulatory compliance, environmental stewardship, and societal expectations.
Building Environmental Capability
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing environmental team capable of supporting a complex, multi-decade programme.
- Provide strategic direction, coaching, and technical oversight to environmental professionals and specialists.
- Promote a culture of environmental excellence, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Increase environmental awareness and capability across engineering and delivery teams.
Environmental Case & Design for Environment
- Lead the development and ongoing justification of the programme’s Environmental Case.
- Establish frameworks for identifying, assessing, and managing environmental impacts at system and programme level.
- Ensure environmental requirements and Best Available Techniques (BAT) are embedded within engineering and operational decision-making.
- Oversee environmental assessments, modelling, inventories, and supporting evidence required to demonstrate environmental performance.
- Ensure environmental risks are identified, assessed, managed, and visible to support informed decision-making.
Permitting, Consents & Regulatory Strategy
- Define and deliver environmental consenting and permitting strategies.
- Lead all environmental inputs to the Development Consent Order (DCO) process and subsequent permits, licences, consents, notifications, and authorisations.
- Support regulatory engagement activities and act as a senior environmental subject matter expert with regulators, planning authorities, and key stakeholders.
- Ensure all environmental submissions are robust, credible, and capable of withstanding external scrutiny.
- Navigate evolving regulatory frameworks associated with emerging fusion technologies.
- Drive continuous improvement through lessons learned from environmental performance and regulatory engagement.
Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement
- Act as a senior ambassador for environmental and sustainability performance across the organisation.
- Influence programme teams, supply chain partners, contractors, and external stakeholders.
- Represent the organisation confidently with regulators, government bodies, local communities, and industry partners.
- Champion a culture where environmental responsibility and sustainability are recognised as critical to engineering excellence and programme success.
- Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing team environment.
About You
We’re looking for a strategic environmental leader with experience delivering complex, highly regulated infrastructure, energy, nuclear, environmental, or major capital programmes.
Essential Experience
- Significant leadership experience in environmental and sustainability management within a regulated industry.
- Proven track record of developing and delivering environmental strategies for major infrastructure, energy, nuclear, industrial, or engineering programmes.
- Experience leading environmental consenting, permitting, and regulatory engagement activities.
- Strong understanding of environmental impact assessment methodologies, environmental management systems, and environmental risk management.
- Experience integrating environmental requirements within major engineering, construction, or operational projects.
- Demonstrated capability in leading multidisciplinary teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
- Expertise in environmental governance, assurance, and programme-level decision making.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, including engagement with regulators and government bodies.
Desirable Experience
- Experience supporting Development Consent Orders (DCOs) and nationally significant infrastructure projects.
- Knowledge of radiological and non-radiological waste management principles.
- Understanding of Best Available Techniques (BAT) assessments.
- Experience within the nuclear, fusion, energy generation, or similarly regulated sectors.
- Chartered environmental, engineering, sustainability, or related professional status.
What You’ll Bring
- Strategic thinking and commercial awareness.
- Outstanding leadership and influencing skills.
- Technical credibility combined with pragmatic decision-making.
- The ability to navigate complexity and ambiguity with confidence.
- A passion for environmental stewardship and sustainable innovation.
- Curiosity, resilience, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
Why Join Us?
This is an opportunity to help create a new energy industry while shaping the environmental standards that will define it.
You will work alongside world-leading scientists, engineers, regulators, and policymakers to ensure fusion energy is developed responsibly and sustainably.
Join us and help deliver clean energy for generations to come.
