King's College London

About us

The position will be based in the Engineering Department at King’s College London and work within King’s Net Zero Centre with colleagues across Engineering, and King’s business school, as well as external partner Westminster City Council. The recently re-founded Engineering Department is rapidly expanding into a world-class research and teaching department. It consists of new state-of-the-art lab facilities located in the heart of London. We are a dynamic Department with a diverse team of academics, PDRAs, and PhDs.

The King's Net Zero Centre is a pioneering hub at King's College London, uniting experts from academia, industry, and government to accelerate the transition to net zero carbon emissions. Focused on real-world solutions, the Centre drives forward innovative research, breakthrough technologies, and collaborative initiatives that tackle the urgent challenges of climate change while supporting sustainable economic growth.

About the role

The PDRA will closely work with the project team and external partners to focus on exploring and addressing the challenges related to the technical feasibility study, its implementation, and its alignment with user and community needs for a just energy transition. The candidate will develop and test a methodology to assess these factors in relation to the London Borough’s Net Zero Pipeline and their Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP). This includes evaluating heat networks and energy decarbonization strategies to support Westminster’s 2030 goals, while also considering broader community concerns and desires.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until May 2026.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.      Have a PhD or near completion in energy system modelling, system optimisation, power system, or similar disciplines.

2.      Experienced in energy system planning and optimisation

3.      Experienced in electrification of heat and/or transportation.

4.      Experienced in data analysis, processing and visualisation related to energy systems and/or net zero.

Desirable criteria

1.      Familiar with net zero policies.

2.      Experienced in working with a team and stakeholders.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’ pages.