Laboratory Manager

About OPSS

Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade (Previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.

Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow, most recently with the addition of construction products regulation planned.

Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.

Further information can be found on our website here

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. We embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (DCS) for people with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We are Inclusive

We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible and recognise how important inclusivity is to achieve the best outcomes. We hope to attract applications from all underrepresented groups.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation if required to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Our Team:

We are a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers delivering testing capability across the broad portfolio of OPSS regulatory requirements. The team works across our testing laboratories which include metrology, mechanical, electrical, chemical and flammability facilities. We seek to implement fit for purpose practices and procedures to deliver robust, scientific outputs. In collaboration with other internal stakeholders including those in science, engineering, enforcement and risk, our outputs inform incident investigation, the delivery and enforcement of product regulations as well as policy development

The Role:

We require a Laboratory Manager to lead a team of technical experts and help shape the function and vision for our testing facilities. You will apply your strong expertise to manage the delivery of relevant work programmes, acting as lead reviewer to ensure laboratory policies and outputs provide effective outcomes and impact for the organisation. Your contribution will be critical in ensuring that our staff can work in the most functional and safe laboratory environment, enabling them to deliver a high-quality and efficient service. This is a key post at our newly refurbished Teddington site, requiring close collaboration with other evidence and operational teams to ensure the effective, efficient and safe operation of our laboratories. It is crucial you can communicate clearly to colleagues at all levels and can translate technical findings so they can be readily understood by non-technical audiences.

The role will be based at our testing laboratories in Teddington and requires a minimum of 80% office attendance. Working arrangements will be agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

• Oversee the delivery of practical testing work programmes, providing technical direction to a team of specialists.
• Manage and monitor the operation and performance of the laboratories.
• Line manage a team of science and engineering specialists, signing-off on laboratory risk assessments and other key documents, ensuring standard operating procedures and quality systems are fit for purpose and inclusive.
• Develop the laboratories to achieve maximum utilisation and impact, identifying opportunities to streamline laboratory systems and processes and ensuring testing methodologies are robust, rigorous and scientifically sound.
• Oversee high value laboratory equipment and fit-out procurement exercises to ensure that value for money is realised across OPSS.
• Closely collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to identify opportunities to develop our testing capability and strengthen our work programme.
• Develop and maintain a profile in your area of expertise by attendance and participation in relevant external networks, meetings, training events etc.

Essential criteria

• A postgraduate qualification in a scientific or engineering discipline with experience in a laboratory setting (equivalent experience should be validated with the appropriate recognition from one of the professional institutions licensed by the Science Council).
• Experience managing operations in a testing laboratory, with a working knowledge of relevant health and safety practices and management system standards e.g. ISO17025.
• Experience managing a technical team to deliver high quality outcomes.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong negotiating and influencing skills and experience collaborating with a variety of stakeholders.
• Critical thinking and attention to detail.

Desirable criteria

• Chartered membership of a relevant professional institution (e.g., CEng, MICE)
• An understanding of UKAS accreditation processes and procedures
• Knowledge of lean six sigma approaches and experience employing them to improve testing laboratory processes
• Scientific writing experience and successful publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Providing technical and Commercial Leadership https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-science-and-engineering-career-framework
• Detail –- Effectively approves, directs and reviews technical / scientific work of others.
• Champions openness to scrutiny, promotes integrity, collaboration, and manages risk effectively.
• Provides clear technical or scientific leadership to projects, workstreams or programmes.
• Helps identify learning and development opportunities

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities

Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.

Job contact :

Name :
Jaswinder Chahal
Email :
Jaswinder.Chahal@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email :
dbtrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk