Assistant Lab Technician (Anatomy)

Salary: £26,707 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 23 August 2026

The Role

We have an opportunity to join our team as an assistant lab technician working to support the delivery of practical sessions across the Anatomy and Clinical skills laboratories at Newcastle University. Our facilities are regulated by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) under licence.

As the role involves working with cadaveric material in a HTA regulated environment, it is essential you have good professional standards, good communication skills and positive behaviours including, empathy, sensitivity and respect.  

The role is varied and will include a range of tasks including a significant amount of physical activity involving manual handling, housekeeping, waste disposal, setting up laboratory spaces for teaching sessions and working with cadaveric material. It involves working safely on routine activities within well established procedures and under regular supervision. To be successful in this role you will be able to follow safe working practices and work independently following instructions.

You will join a team of technicians across the University who form a supportive network, sharing skills and best practice with the opportunity to engage in continuing professional development.

This position is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Applicants must be aged 18 or over and able to meet the physical requirements essential to the role.

If you have any questions before applying, please feel free to contact Charlie Ritchie charlie.ritchie@newcastle.ac.uk or Alison Gregory alison.gregory1@newcastle.ac.uk

Key Accountabilities

• Assist in the preparation of cadaveric material
• Understand and follow safe working practices, with the ability to identify and report hazards, to support compliance with both our HTA (Human Tissue Authority) licence and Health and Safety regulations
• Set up, according to predefined specifications, laboratory spaces in preparation of scheduled laboratory activities. This involves moving equipment and material using trollies and lifting equipment between stores and teaching laboratories
• Report faults or damage to equipment or infrastructure and assist with simple maintenance tasks
• Conduct routine compliance tasks to assist with record keeping, inventory and asset management
• Maintain good housekeeping, assisting with waste disposal procedures and cleaning activities
• Be flexible and adaptable to support change
• Assist with stock control, stores operation and delivery of goods to site
• With high accuracy, prepare routine reagents and materials adhering to standard operating procedures (SOPs) where necessary
• Operate simple equipment following instruction of SOPs and interpret simple results
• Assist with induction of new staff
• Any other grade appropriate tasks required by the infrastructure community

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Ability to understand and follow instructions
• Ability to make decisions about work activity within defined and safe guidelines based on HTA, Health and Safety and University policies and procedures
• Ability to plan own day, prioritise general tasks and work independently on routine tasks
• Good communication skills both verbally and in writing
• Experience of manual handling
• Experience of following safe practices in the workplace
• General laboratory experience (Desirable)
• Experience of, or willingness to learn how to work with deceased (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour

• Maintain professionalism at all times
• Be considerate of the diverse needs of individuals
• Demonstrate attention to detail
• Demonstrate empathy and sensitivity
• Be adaptable and flexible to situations as they arise
• Treat colleagues and the deceased with respect and dignity

Qualifications

• Good basic education (O level, GCSE, NVQ2 or equivalent) with good level of numeracy and literacy

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29586