Senior Nuclear Safety Officer (NPP Design Safety)(P5)

Organizational Setting

The Department of Nuclear Safety and Security (NS) formulates and implements the IAEA's nuclear safety and security programme, which encompasses the Agency's activities to protect people and the environment from radiation exposure, and responds to the needs of its Member States related to nuclear safety and security.

The objective of the Division of Nuclear Installation Safety (NSNI) is to achieve and maintain a high level of safety of nuclear installations worldwide that are under design or construction or in operation. The Division does this by establishing standards of safety for the protection of health, including standards for nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations and facilities, and by providing for the application of these standards through, among other things, support for the IAEA's Technical Cooperation programme, the rendering of safety review services, the promotion of education and training, the fostering of information exchange and the coordination of research and development. In addition, the Division helps ensure safety at nuclear installations by promulgating international safety instruments such as the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Code of Conduct on the Safety of Research Reactors. NSNI comprises five Sections\:

•External Events Safety Section
•Operational Safety Section
•Safety Assessment Section
•Regulatory Activities Section
•Research Reactor Safety Section

The Safety Assessment Section (SAS) helps to improve the capability of Member States in carrying out effective safety assessments and enhancing the safety of nuclear installations. SAS does this by developing safety standards and guides for design and safety assessment; by promoting the use of advanced safety assessment methods and tools with enhanced integration of deterministic and probabilistic analyses and the use of risk-informed and performance-based safety approaches. The Section undertakes Technical Safety Reviews (TSRs) that can be tailored to the needs of requesting parties. The work of the Section covers existing, evolutionary and innovative reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs), non-water-cooled reactors and fusion reactors.

Main Purpose

Reporting to the Section Head, the Senior Nuclear Safety Officer (NPP Design Safety) contributes to programme plans, integrates projects and coordinates a portfolio of projects to support a wide variety of Divisional programmes and services aimed at strengthening the safety of existing and future nuclear installations. The specific focus of this role is on the development and application of safety requirements, recommendations and practices for the design of existing, evolutionary and innovative nuclear reactors, and fusion reactors.

Role

The Senior Nuclear Safety Officer (NPP Design Safety) is\:
(1) a programme planner and project integrator, planning, developing and implementing activities aimed at promoting the Divisional programmatic objectives;
(2) a scientific secretary and subject matter expert, planning and leading complex Technical Meetings and consultancies;
(3) a mission leader, planning and leading complex technical safety reviews and follow-up missions; and
(4) a technical officer, developing evaluation strategies and managing integrated project teams to implement and evaluate large and complex technical cooperation and extra-budgetary operational projects and coordinated research projects.

Functions / Key Results Expected

• Provide technical expertise to internal and external stakeholders to demonstrate and strengthen the safety of existing and advanced reactor designs, and improve the implementation of safety standards, including specifying the way in which the standards would need to evolve in the future to ensure applicability to innovative reactors.
• Lead the development of approaches and projects for the demonstration of the safety of the design of nuclear installations including the design of structures, systems and components according to their safety significance, and consideration of internal events and hazards, human factors, and radiological protection, in the design.
• Coordinate IAEA activities related to strengthening the design safety capabilities and effectiveness of nuclear organizations within the Member States, such as designers and vendors, operators, or regulatory bodies.
• Consult with Member States with nuclear power programmes and those planning to embark on such a programme to identify and plan initiatives to assist them to strengthen, develop, maintain and implement their capacity building programs, including education, training and exercises at the national, regional and international levels.
• Provide support and relevant expertise for the Incident Emergency System (IES); and participate in associated training events and exercises.
• Participate as an active member and IAEA representative in professional meetings, conferences and projects.

Competencies and Expertise

Core Competencies

Functional Competencies

Required Expertise

Asset Expertise

Qualifications, Experience and Language skills

• An advanced university degree in engineering/physical/nuclear/chemical sciences or other related field. A first level university degree in engineering/physical/nuclear/chemical sciences or a related field with additional four years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of advanced university degree.
• Minimum of ten years of experience, of which four years at the international level in design / design safety demonstration of existing and advanced nuclear reactors covering areas such as civil engineering, or mechanical engineering, or chemical engineering, or electrical engineering and instrumentation and control, or structural integrity, or fuel and core design as well as design for reliability.
• Experience with the application of nuclear safety principles, standards, and state-of-the-art techniques to national and international projects related to design safety of nuclear installations, judging their appropriateness and determining the necessity for adapting them.
• Experience organising and leading Technical Meetings, capacity building missions, and other expert and advisory missions.
• Experience in international projects with new embarking countries would be an asset.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to operate effectively across organisational boundaries and the ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Excellent oral and written command of English. Knowledge of other official IAEA languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

Remuneration

The IAEA offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free annual net base salary starting at US $92731 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance), a variable post adjustment which currently amounts to US $ 39318, dependency benefits, rental subsidy, education grant, relocation and repatriation expenses; 6 weeks' annual vacation, home leave, pension plan and health insurance

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Applications from qualified women and candidates from developing countries are encouraged

Applicants should be aware that IAEA staff members are international civil servants and may not accept instructions from any other authority. The IAEA is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. As part of the United Nations common system, the IAEA subscribes to the following core ethical standards (or values)\: Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for diversity. Staff members may be assigned to any location. The IAEA retains the discretion not to make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade or with a different contract type, or to make an appointment with a modified job description or for shorter duration than indicated above. Testing may be part of the recruitment process
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