Laboratory (or Workshop) Technical Specialist

Salary:  £30,505 to £31,387 with progression to £33,882 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: 27 November 2024

The Role

We require an experienced technician with an in-depth knowledge of technical or scientific practices, methods and procedures gained through either experience and/or formal qualification who will deploy this knowledge to provide a range of technical support activities.  The role is to join the technical team of the faculty of medical Sciences, reporting to the Institute Technical Manager.

You will be responsible for the isolation and culture of mesenchymal stem cells from haemarthrosis fluid aspirates taken from patients undergoing treatment for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture.  Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are considered a key factor in promoting tendon/bone healing because different sources of MSCs at the tendon-bone interface are involved in fibro-chondral and bone formation during tendon-bone healing. MSCs have been successfully tested in a number of studies in recent years to promote early tendon-bone healing. we propose to use ACL derived-MSCs to enhance integration of the graft with bone. 

This full-time post is fixed term for 12 months, funded by the British Medical Association.

For informal enquiries contact: Professor Lyle Armstrong (lyle.armstrong@newcastle.ac.uk)

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/ 

Find out more about our Research Institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/
 

Key Accountabilities

• Although working under the general guidance of an academic or Principal Investigator, the postholder will contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of their studies
• Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques
• May contribute to events celebrating the public engagement of science/social sciences/humanities
   

In addition, the successful candidate will be required:

• Complete a range of routine and complex maintenance activities and repairs
• Liaise with suppliers and manufacturers to resolve both routine and complex problems and investigate replacement options
• Advise on equipment capabilities demonstrating how results can be achieved
• Design and delivery of bespoke equipment and apparatus
• By developing local procedures, establish and maintain a safe/compliant working environment
• Hold specific safety responsibilities relevant to the specialism
• Assist with the completion and updating of a wide range of safety paperwork
• Oversee compliance tasks ensuring timely completion and maintenance of appropriate records
• Maintain in-depth and up-to-date health and safety knowledge relevant to the specialism
• Schedule, prioritize and monitor work in line with demands and deadlines
• Hold delegated responsibility from the academic lead for the planning, operation and supervision of laboratory spaces occupied by the specialism
• Organize and facilitate progress meetings
• Be a key contributor to specialism development, delivery and planning
• Contribute to and support change
• Manage on or more budgets monitoring resource usage
• Source and negotiate with suppliers for a range of items including specialist parts/equipment
• Create, update and implement procedures to deliver an aligned, efficient and effective service
• Provide general and specialist research support including leading method development
• Provide general and specialist teaching support including class/field work development
• Support taught course projects by promotion and incorporation of specialism
• Prepare and manufacture specimens/samples requiring specialist skills with limited direction
• Manage equipment bookings, calculate charges/costs and assist with re-charging
• Design, develop and deliver inductions, demonstrations and training covering complex techniques and specialist equipment
• Assist managers with the identification of training and development needs
• Maintain specialist knowledge and skills, sharing with others
• Mentor junior staff

The Person:

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Demonstrable work experience in a relevant technical role
• Thorough working knowledge of Health and Safety procedures
• Excellent team working skills
• Demonstrates technical and problem-solving capacity
• Experience of pluripotent stem cell culture and differentiation techniques
• Experience of differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to neurons

Desirable

• Demonstrates good organising ability to meet deadlines, with a positive and proactive approach to duties and diligence and attention to detail 
• Contribute to design and specification of research/teaching activities 
• Ability to adapt to changes in laboratory research priorities 
• Specific lab or workshop and specific to role

Attributes and Behaviour

• Tact, diplomacy and able to handle difficult situations
• Ability to meet deadlines with effective time and resource management.
• Clear communicator and active listener
• Consistent and appropriate approach to staff and situations
• Use of feedback for process improvement and staff development
• Team player, self starter and able to manage complex workload
• Ability to respond enthusiastically and positively to undergraduate students

Desirable

• Willingness to be flexible about hours of work to fit in with experiments

Qualifications

• BTEC  HNC / HND; or A’ level (or equivalent) qualification; or broad work experience acquired through a combination of vocational training and considerable on-the-job experience, demonstrating development through progressively more demanding relevant roles

Desirable

• Professional registration with an accredited professional body (including HEA) or working towards this on appointment

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 silver 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: 27760