Lab Research Technician

Salary: £25,742 to £26,444 with progression to £27,979 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 May 2024

The role

This full time Research Technician post is to support the CRUK Accelerator Award HUNTER - Hepatocellular Carcinoma Expediter Network, a consortium of UK and European research centres with an expertise in liver cancer. The post will support blood and tumour sample collection and processing at Newcastle, in addition to receiving samples from other sites within the Clinical Trial and research consortium.

You will communicate with participating sites in the UK, supplying patient packs and receiving samples, as well as supporting a national online data registry. Reporting to the Technical Manager, the role will require specific technical and practical skills and a well-developed working knowledge of technical practices and procedures, acquired by considerable experience on the job and/or vocational training. The post will work as part of a professional community to provide a technical support service to staff and students by following established working patterns, but there will be a need to resolve most problems without access to more senior colleagues. The role may involve developing skills in a particular specialist area or planning and supervising the work of others. 

For informal enquiries please contact Helen Reeves (helen.reeves@newcastle.ac.uk).

The post is offered on a fixed term basis to 30/11/2025.

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

Key Accountabilities

• Receipt of blood and tumour tissue samples from Newcastle and other HUNTER centres. Processing and storage of samples as appropriate
• Support of clinical research team to retrieve data from patients’ medical records
• Entry of data into online project registry (REDCap) and sample tracking software (Achiever)
• Arrangement of sample transport between Newcastle and other HUNTER collaborator sites
• 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

• 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
• Experience of working to GCLP practices

Desirable

• Contribute to design and specification of teaching/research activities 
• Experience in analysis of clinical samples 
• Experience in molecular biology and antibody based analytical techniques 
• Experience working at containment level 3

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: 27067