What we Offer
What We Offer
We believe that SKAO is a great place to work, offering our employees the opportunity to work in a diverse, international environment at the heart of an exciting and challenging project to design build and operate the world’s largest radio telescope. Don’t take our word for it see what people working on the project have to say about it
We employ people at our UK Headquarters located at Jodrell Bank World Heritage Site and at our Engineering and Science centres located in South Africa and Australia. SKAO offers opportunities for scientists, engineers and support staff to work in a truly international environment, where everyone works together to achieve a common goal and our values are at the heart of everything that we do.
Our Benefits
In addition to highly competitive salaries all employees benefit from
- Private Medical Insurance that provides cover for you and your family
- A Pension with competitive employer contributions ranging from 12 -16% dependent on your chosen contribution level
- Group income Protection – a percentage of your salary paid for up to 5 years if you become seriously ill
- Group Life Insurance – a lump sum payment up to 3 times your annual salary in the unfortunate event that you die during the time you are employed by SKAO.
We recognise the importance of balancing your work and professional life and to support this we offer flexible working options including allowing you to vary your start and finish times, or to work remotely for part of each week. All our employees have 30 days holiday, plus public holidays, with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days each year and we offer competitive parenting leave benefits including up to 6 months paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child.
Terms and Conditions
Many of our employees are granted privileges and immunities as a result of the agreements SKAO has in place with the countries in which we operate. We therefore offer two different contract types of dependent on your nationality and place of residence at the time you apply for a job with us. For most roles if you are successful in your application the contract offered will be dependent on your nationality and residence at the time you applied, however a limited number of roles are offered with Local contracts only. For these roles relocation support will not typically be available and applicants must be able to comply with the terms of a UK based local contract
Local Contracts
Local contracts are typically offered to people who have the right to work in the country in which the job is located, or to anybody who is resident in that country at the time they apply for a job with us. This group are subject to tax and social security in the country in which they are employed.
International Contracts
International contracts are offered to anybody who is not a citizen of the country in which the job is located, and who has to relocate from outside that country. This group of employees pay internal tax and social security – collected by SKAO from salary and used to fund a range of benefits recognising the additional expense that may arise from working as an expat.
Our International allowance allows you to claim specific expenses for up to 6 years from the date you join SKAO. And you’ll be entitled to claim the cost of an annual return flight to your home country for you and any family living with you.
If you have to move from your home country to work for SKAO you will receive a relocation support package that includes reimbursement of your removal expenses and support to help you find accommodation and settle into life in a new country.
Employees in this category do not require a visa to work in the UK and SKAO will support you and your family in applying for an Exempt Vignette (EV). To find out more about Exempt Vignettes please view the information here. Please note that an EV does not provide a route to ILR, although you may be able to apply if you remain in the UK legally for 10 continuous years (known as ‘long residence’).
Interested in working for us? Check out our current vacancies and selecting register with us allows you to register for email job alerts (we have lots of vacancies coming soon), apply for jobs and check on the status of any application you submit