Research Technician

Salary: £27,319.00 - £29,588.00  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: 9 February 2026

The Role

We offer an excellent opportunity for a technician to join the research team of Dr Daniel Williamson within the Translational and Clinical Research Institute. You will work within the Wolfson Childhood Cancer Research Centre to support an exciting project funded by the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group, LoveOliver and the Grace Kelly Children’s Cancer Trust.

You will work both independently and as part of a team to implement techniques to investigate a lethal tumour of early childhood; Malignant Rhabdoid Tumour. Specifically, you will be molecularly profiling samples of frozen tumour, blood and CSF from patients with malignant rhabdoid tumours including those gathered as part of the SIOPe-ATRT-01 clinical trial.  You will apply techniques to extract cfDNA from liquid biopsies, performing library prep and sequence capture to measure levels of mutated and methylated sequence which indicate levels of disease. Also, you will extract high-quality bulk RNA and genomic DNA to perform RNA-seq and DNA methylation microarray analysis. You will develop and carry out the specified project in collaboration with other members of the group, to plan for and provide technical support to carry out experiments leading to the discovery of new knowledge. You will have the opportunity to interact with a broad range of researchers within the Newcastle Centre for Cancer and more widely across the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

You will have experience and sound understanding of nucleotide isolation, purification, and quantification and ideally molecular profiling including next generation sequencing analysis and library preparation.  You will have experience in handling of clinical samples, and associated sample and data management.

You will be responsible for the maintenance of laboratory stocks of chemicals, media, and other consumable requirements. You will also provide specialist institute support for the use of specified pieces of equipment including maintenance, troubleshooting, designing detailed SOPs and training for staff and students.

The post is full time, fixed term until 30 June 2026.

For informal enquiries please contact : Laura Wilson, Research Technical Team Leader (Laura.Wilson5@newcastle.ac.uk)

Key Accountabilities

• Responsible for tissue and liquid biopsy sample management and management of associated data. Will be responsible for chasing, receiving and cataloguing samples and associated data as they arrive and processing appropriately. Will communicate proactively with external research partners and provide guidance to undergraduates, postgraduates, and staff with all aspects of the sample cohort.
• Responsible for processing samples appropriately to efficiently extract high-quality cfDNA, RNA and genomic DNA whilst preserving tissue.
• Responsible for conducting library prep of cfDNA and sequence capture to measure levels of specific mutant/methylated sequence.
• Responsible for performing/organising transcriptomic and methylation profiling in conjunction with service providers plus data collection and storage.
• Responsible, with appropriate bioinformatics support, for downstream processing and analysis of sequence data, the maintenance and application of existing analysis scripts and associated data repositories.
• Proactively collaborate with other members of the team to contribute to other related projects within the group, where this is grade appropriate and within the broad skill set outlined above.
• Required to independently interpret results and provide figures for publication. Will provide guidance to students and staff for experimental design and data analysis.
• Maintain broad and up to date health and safety knowledge providing    support/advice to others
• 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
• Contribute and support change
• Oversee local record keeping, inventory and asset management
• Monitor resource usage and stores operations
• 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
• 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
• Carry out any additional grade appropriate duties within the scope of the role as required.

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Prior research experience
• Experience in IT
• Clear commitment to a career in research
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Ability to work independently and to adapt to changes in research/ teaching priorities
• Experience of and sound understanding of sample/data management preferably within the context of a clinical study.
• Experience and sound understanding of nucleotide isolation, purification, and quantification
• Experience and sound understanding of molecular profiling techniques and/or next generation sequencing i.e. RNA-seq, methylation analysis, exome sequencing.
• Familiarity with or a willingness to learn cfDNA sample preparation and library prep (Desirable)
• Familiarity with or a willingness to learn how to implement analysis scripts in R, shell script or equivalent (Desirable)
• 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

Attributes and Behaviour 

Team Working

• Works collaboratively with other team and Institute members, respecting the expertise and knowledge of others
• Willing to help others and share workloads when required
• Actively shares relevant information with others

Planning and Organising

• Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and area objectives
• Has good time management skills to enable timely completion of tasks
• Grasps opportunities to expand own responsibilities and expertise, investing personal effort in enhancing skills and continuous learning

Delivering Services

• Strives to deliver high quality result
• Takes responsibility for maintaining and training others on communal equipment
• Has a positive attitude and strives to improve ways of working
• Works co-operatively to achieve own and group targets

Clear Communicator

• Chooses communication tool appropriately, eg selective use of emails and other channels of communication
• Tailors content of communication to the audience, changing style, tone and format appropriately
• Uses face to face communication regularly; team meetings, one to ones, informal discussions/chats, briefing sessions etc

Qualifications

• BTEC HNC/HND or equivalent in relevant subject or equivalent experience
• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant science subject –preferably biomedical (desirable)
• Professional registration with an accredited professional body (including HEA) or working towards this on appointment (Desirable)

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: 29036