Accelerator Physicist

**Job Description**:
**Introduction**

Are you an Accelerator Physicist or Engineer experienced in accelerator beam dynamics and optics? Are you interested in working in an exciting international environment on the performance optimisation of the CERN accelerator complex, including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), its High Luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC) and future projects, at the forefront of modern science? Join a dynamic team of applied physicists to work at the heart of beam physics and operation, enabling the delivery of unique particle beams used by physicists from all over the globe, at CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory.

You will join:
The Accelerators and Beam Physics (ABP) group, which is part of the Beams department (BE), and in charge of beam performance over the complete CERN accelerator chain, from the source to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), for maximising its performance. The Group carries out Research & Development (R&D) activities on the upgrade of the LHC and its injectors, on the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC), Future Circular Colliders (FCC) and Muon Collider study, as well as on novel acceleration techniques (AWAKE).

The Linear and Non-linear Optics (LNO) Section is in charge of theoretical, numerical, and experimental studies of optics, and linear and non-linear single-particle effects, affecting the performance of present and future synchrotrons. The design of new accelerators at the high-intensity and high-energy frontier and the performance optimization of existing ones requires the development of accurate and predictive models of beam dynamics and optics. You will play a key role in the development of these models and the simulation tools associated with these studies and you will collaborate closely with several other teams.

**Functions**

As an Accelerator Physicist, you will participate in the activities related with optics studies and machine-detector interface for the CERN Accelerators, their upgrade, and future machines, including collimation-induced backgrounds. This includes activities on optics design and optimization, numerical simulations, measurements in the existing CERN machines, calculation of optics corrections and accelerator code development.

You will:

- Contribute to the maintenance and development of the optics models and repositories for protons and ions in the LHC and its High Luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC);
- Study and optimise operational conditions for the LHC and HL-LHC to improve their performance aided by beam measurements and simulations;
- Develop optics and collimation expertise to support studies of machine-detector interface to other CERN present and future synchrotrons and colliders including FCC-ee;

After a period of familiarisation you will:

- Identify fundamental limitations in the HL-LHC performance and plan medium or long-term improvements;
- Contribute to the definition of operational conditions in the LHC Run 4 and to the improvement of the performance reach, including beam-based optimizations;
- Design and conduct experiments in the existing CERN synchrotrons to validate the concepts developed.

**Qualifications**:
PhD or equivalent relevant experience in the field of physics or engineering or a related field.

**Experience**

Required experience:

- Demonstrated experience of working in a scientific environment, preferably in the design and/or operation of particle accelerators;
- Experience of accelerator physics, with demonstrated ability in the field of optics design;
- Experience of experimental techniques and analysis of data from beam measurements;
- Experience with development of single-particle beam dynamics simulation codes.

Desired experience:

- Experience with beam commissioning and performance optimization of existing accelerator facilities;
- Experience with collimation and beam loss mechanisms including simulation codes, like for example the coupling of Xtrack to particle-matter interaction routines.

**Technical competencies**:

- Simulation, design and development of (part of) particle accelerators;
- Analysis and optimization of accelerator performance;

**Behavioural competencies**:

- Achieving results: having a structured and organised approach towards work; being able to set priorities and plan tasks with results in mind.
- Solving problems: assimilating large quantities of information, identifying key issues and formulating conclusions clearly and concisely.
- Working in teams: building and maintaining constructive and effective work relationships.
- Communicating effectively: expressing opinions, ideas and suggestions with conviction and in a logical/structured manner; keeping to the point.
- Demonstrating accountability: taking responsibility for own actions and decisions.

**Language skills**:
Spoken and written English or French: ability to understand and speak the other language in professional contexts. Ability to draw-up technical specifications and/or scientific reports and to make o