Facility for
Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM)
Head of
Facility
Location: Cranfield
Employer: University of Leeds
Salary: £47,801 to £55,389 per
annum (University of Leeds Grade 9)
The Facility for Airborne
Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) has been established as a joint
facility of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and
Met Office in order to provide users with access to the FAAM BAe
146 large Atmospheric Research Aircraft (ARA). FAAM (www.faam.ac.uk) serves the
atmospheric research communities of the UK Universities, Met
Office and NERC.
The ARA is a highly modified
BAE-146 aircraft, equipped with a wide range of instrumentation
for observing the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere. The
aircraft was purchased by NERC from BAE Systems in April 2014.
Operation of the aircraft is contracted out to Directflight Ltd,
with BAE Systems continuing to be overall provider of aircraft
services. The ARA is based at Cranfield University. NERC and
Cranfield have recently strengthened their cooperation and as a
result, the ARA has new hangar facilities. New laboratory and
workshop facilities have recently been created alongside the
hangar and work is just beginning on building a new office
facility. The new FAAM offices will share the building with a
new Cranfield Centre for Atmospheric Informatics and Emissions
Technology, with which it is expected that close collaboration
will develop.
The Head of FAAM will provide
the management of this key national and international research
aircraft facility. In addition to leading the operational
management of the facility, the role will involve promoting the
usage of the aircraft by the UK atmospheric science community,
encouraging the development of new instrumentation for use on
the aircraft and fostering national and international
collaboration. The management role includes direct
responsibility for a team of 25 scientists, engineers, technical
specialists and administrators. It also crucially includes
ensuring that the scientific needs of the user community are
efficiently and safely translated into technical and regulatory
developments of the aircraft and its instruments. The role will
therefore require an ability to deal convincingly with a wide
range of external stakeholders, including the science community,
the aircraft operator and the engineers with responsibility for
approving requests for certification.
This opportunity is open to
NERC and Met Office employees and core-funded NCAS staff.
For further information and to
apply, please follow this link –
http://bit.ly/FAAM_Head
Informal enquiries may be made
to Professor Stephen Mobbs, NCAS Director, email:
stephen.mobbs@ncas.ac.uk
Closing Date: Sunday 31 January
2016. Interviews are likely to take place on Tuesday 16 February
2016 in Leeds.
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