Job Title: KTP Associate in Continuous, Distributed River Water Quality Sensing

Posting Start Date: 12/06/2025

Job Id: 1217

School/Department: Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineering

Work Arrangement: Full Time (Hybrid)

Contract Type: Fixed-term

Salary per annum (£): 34,000 - 42,000

Closing Date: 10/07/2025

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

Overview

The University of Sheffield, in association with Detectronic are recruiting a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate to help develop and test a groundbreaking monitoring system for continuous water quality measurement in rivers. This is in response to the national need to monitor wastewater overflow spills. The technology has the potential to be deployed to 1000’s of UK river locations.

We are looking for a well-motivated individual, with a good technical background, a strong interest in the environment and ideally experience of water quality monitoring in a laboratory or field environment. Working in a multi-university team and utilising our world leading experimental facilities, you will help develop the monitoring system, evaluate and improve its performance and lead the development of protocols for commercial deployment (supported by Detectronic).

There will be significant opportunities for personal development including a residential programme at Ashorne Hill to further develop your professional skills and network. A generous development and training budget of £5000 is available. You will benefit from being a member of one of the largest urban water research groups in the UK, as well as gaining direct experience with one of the UK’s leading wastewater network monitoring companies. We are also committed to exploring flexible working opportunities.

The successful postholder will work collaboratively with a second KTP associated employed by City St Georges University, London. The associate will be required to travel and work remotely at different sites in the UK including Detectronic offices in Nelson and at supporting water companies.

Main duties and responsibilities

Develop and manage a program of experimental testing using facilities at the University of Sheffield to evaluate, develop and enhance the performance of prototype water quality monitoring systems.
Use experimental testing results to consider the accuracy, reliability, robustness and maintenance requirements of the monitoring system and provide recommendations for technical and commercial improvements.
Develop deployment protocols and technical documentation to facilitate the deployment of the monitoring system on a commercial basis by the project sponsor.
Communicate effectively with the KTP associate employed at City St Georges University London to manage the overall program of work, coordinate activities and discuss ongoing results and findings.
Communicate effectively with key Detectronic and academic staff to understand commercial and scientific performance indicators for the technology and ensure effective project management.
Effectively disseminate project outputs via both publications, at external events (e.g. scientific conferences) and engagement with potential water company customers.
Lead the project, attend project meetings, monitor milestones and produce technical documents as required. This includes planning your own workload to ensure the overall project milestones and objectives are met on time.
Engage fully with the requirements of the knowledge transfer partnership scheme, including personal development and reporting. This includes attendance at residential training courses.
Work across multiple sites, including at Detectronic, field testing sites, City St Georges University, and the University of Sheffield.
Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

For full description, please click here.