Electronics Engineer for the ALICE Experiment at the CERN LHC

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £46,485 to £55,295 with potential progression once in post to £62,098

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to September 2027 

Background

The Birmingham ALICE group were a founding member of ALICE and have been involved in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion physics since the first heavy-ion beams at the CERN SPS in the 1980s. We have overall responsibility for the ALICE Central Trigger Processor (CTP) and are represented on the ALICE Management Board and many other ALICE Boards and working groups. 

Role Summary

We are seeking a bright, enthusiastic person with experience as an electronic engineer and FPGA programming of hardware associated with high energy physics experiments. The successful candidate will be based in Birmingham and will be responsible for the hardware development and upkeep of the ALICE Central Trigger Processor (CTP). This will include leading and coordinating ALICE trigger related activities with all subdetector groups. The successful candidate will also be expected to be on call some of the time for any CTP related problems while the ALICE experiment is taking data and make regular visits to CERN. In addition, the post holder would play a leading role in firmware and hardware development required for future projects, e.g. ALICE3 and carry out original research relating to future trigger technologies. We would prefer the successful candidate to start as soon as possible.

Main Duties

• Regular travel to CERN. 
• Significant on call coverage of the ALICE Trigger System
• Hardware interventions in LHC Point 2 as required.
• Maintenance of existing FPGA trigger project.
• Maintenance and modification of hardware trigger system in lab and in production environment.
• Develop novel methodologies and techniques appropriate to trigger system hardware and firmware.
• Work closely with and provide expert advice to other members of the team and colleagues within the ALICE collaboration.
• Project manage trigger research activities and supervise PhD students and other research staff as required.
• Play a leading role in firmware and hardware development for future projects e.g. ALICE3.
• Analyse and interpret CTP data.
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding.
• Disseminate CTP related findings for publication, research seminars etc.
• Provide CTP training for students and staff.

Person Specification

• An excellent track record of hardware and firmware development within high-energy particle or nuclear physics experiments.
• Normally, a higher degree relevant to the research area but experience and expertise will also be considered. 
• Experience with designing and testing FPGA firmware for AMD/Xilinx FPGA families.
• Proficient in the use of the VHDL and Verilog languages and experience with the use of FPGA HDL synthesis and implementation tools, in particular, with the AMD/Xilinx Vivado tool (knowledge of INTEL/Quartus is beneficial).
• Experience with developing test benches and the use of HDL simulation tools (e.g. Modelsim, Riviera, Questasim).
• Experience with using and testing hardware trigger systems in the lab and in production environments.
• Ability to work well within a team.
• Good knowledge of spoken and written English.

Informal enquiries can be made to Professor David Evans, email: D.Evans@bham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham & welcome applications from all sections of the community & are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.

Advert information