Laboratory Technician

Salary: £26,642 to £27,344 with progression to £28,879 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: 02 December 2024

The Role

We are looking for an individual with good knowledge of genetics and molecular biology to join our Next Generation Sequencing team as a NGS technician. 

You will be a key staff member of the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre and be part of our international collaborations for gene discovery and diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases.  

You will report to the Technical Manager and Senior Research Associate.

The skills and experience we are looking for in applicants are as follows: 

• Basic knowledge of neuromuscular diseases. 
• Demonstratable experience of molecular biology techniques including DNA & RNA extraction from blood, saliva, and other tissues.
• Ability to adapt to changes in teaching/research priorities.
• Contribute to the analysis of next generation sequencing data. Collate results for discussion and presentations.
• Attention to detail. 

What you’ll be doing: 

The main purpose of this role is to assist with the shipment and processing of samples and data for the NGS team at the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre. You will be required to organise and manage a collection of DNA and blood samples from patients with rare and neuromuscular disorders. These materials will then be curated at the Newcastle CNMD Biobank and where necessary dispatched to collaborating centres for analysis. 

The post holder will carry out primary research activities related to the diagnostic pipeline for this project. You will also be involved in the collection and processing of other data such as clinical imaging of patients with neuromuscular diseases.

This post is offered on a fixed term basis to 30.11.2025

To apply for the position, we will need your CV and ideally a covering letter outlining how you are suitable for the role, using examples to highlight how you meet the essential criteria as listed in the job description. Please focus your covering letter on the bullet points shown above in this section. 

For more information and an informal discussion, please contact Senior Research Associate Ana Topf at ana.topf@ncl.ac.uk

Please note that if you are successful to this role, you will require medical clearance before you can commence in the role.

Key Accountabilities

• Liaise with local and international collaborating centres for the receipt of biological samples, patients’ clinical data and imaging 
• Coordinate of packaging, transport, and storage of samples to and from multiple sites
• Collection and processing of clinical imaging from centres in UK and other countries who collaborate with different imaging projects with the JWMDRC
• Contribute to ensuring procedures are in place for documenting tissue donation, consent, clinical data, requests for tissue/cells and implement Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) for all requests
• Contribute to the analysis of clinical image data, including annotating images and applying Mercuri score analysis
• Assist centres in the process of anonymizing and sharing clinical images with the JWMDRC. This could include travelling to different cities in the UK and Europe to support the centres
• Contribute to the analysis of next generation sequencing data. Collate results for discussion and presentations
• Process and preserve muscle biopsies collected from patients and healthy control donors
• Complete a range of maintenance activities and repairs
• Liaise with suppliers and manufacturers to resolve problems and investigate replacement options
• Advise on equipment capabilities demonstrating how results can be achieved
• By developing local procedures, establish and maintain a safe/compliant working environment
• Assist with the completion and updating of a wide range of safety paperwork
• Oversee compliance tasks ensuring timely completion and maintenance of appropriate records
• Complete accident reporting and assist with investigations
• Maintain broad and up to date health and safety knowledge providing support/advice to others
• Schedule, prioritize and monitor work and performance in line with demands and deadlines
• Hold delegated responsibility from the academic/technical lead for the planning, operation and supervision of a variety of laboratory spaces.
• Work collaboratively with the other areas to ensure efficiency and elimination of duplicated effort
• Organize and facilitate progress and management meetings 
• Be a key contributor to service development, delivery and planning
• Contribute and support change
• Oversee local record keeping, inventory and asset management
• Monitor resource usage and stores operations 
• 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 a broad range of skilled research/teaching support 
• Prepare and manufacture a range of specimens/samples with limited direction
• Manage equipment bookings and assist with recharging
• Contribute to small and large scale building works
• Design, develop and deliver inductions, demonstrations and training covering a broad range of activities (not limited to techniques and equipment)
• Assist managers with the identification of training and development needs
• Develop a broad knowledge and skills base, sharing with others 
• Mentor junior staff
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Basic knowledge of neuromuscular diseases
• Basic knowledge of essential office packages such as word, excel and powerpoint. 
• Knowledge on how to manage databases. 
• Demonstratable experience of primary cultures of relevant cells (primarily skin biopsies but also myoblasts).
• Demonstratable experience of molecular biology techniques including DNA & RNA extraction from blood, saliva and other tissues
• Thorough working knowledge of Health and Safety procedures, and experience of safe waste management within a workshop/laboratory environment.
• Demonstrable work experience in a relevant technical laboratory role
• Excellent team working skills
• Demonstrates technical and problem solving capability
• Demonstrates good organising ability to meet deadlines with a positive and proactive approach to duties and attention to detail
• Ability to adapt to changes in teaching/research priorities

Desirable

• Contribute to design and specification of teaching/research activities 

Attributes and Behaviour

• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Good interpersonal skills to interface with staff
• Attention to detail to ensure accuracy and precision
• Work in a collaborative and flexible way
• To exhibit University and Faculty values and principles

Qualifications

• BTEC HNC/HND or equivalent in relevant subject or equivalent experience

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: 27748