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Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

Do you care about the quality of Scotland’s water with an interest in analytical science? Would you like to join Scotland’s premier water laboratory service?

At Scottish Water, we do a huge amount of work behind the scenes to ensure that Scotland has a constant and fresh supply of safe, high-quality water as well as protecting the environment through assuring the quality of wastewater treatment. Laboratory sampling and analysis is one of the unseen activities for our customers, yet this service plays a critical role in the public health of Scotland and protecting the environment.

A team of about 320 samplers, scientists and support staff provide an extensive analytical testing service. Over the course of a year, the labs carry out tests at a rate of one per minute – both for Scottish Water and for other customers. We also play our part in supporting Scottish Waters net Zero ambitions having a vibrant environment group.

We’re looking for conscientious Analytical Chemists / Scientists who love hands-on lab work in one of our chemistry teams.

What you’ll be doing:

You’ll be using specialist lab instruments such as LCMS, GCMS, discrete and robotic analysers and follow processes to test and analyse water and wastewater samples, focusing on a specific area of analytical science. You’ll record and monitor those results and provide technical interpretation to internal and external customers.

You’ll make sure that your work meets the requirements of the Scientific Services management system which is accredited by United Kingdom Accreditation Service to ISO17025.

For your own safety, and the safety of your colleagues and our customers, you will follow Scottish Water’s Health and Safety policies consistently and ensure 100% compliance with all relevant legislative, regulatory and SW policy requirements.

In order to keep a high volume of work flowing, you’ll help schedule and prioritise work within your team environment and carry out routine maintenance of specialist instrumentation to ensure the team isn’t impacted by unplanned downtime.

And like all our employees, you’ll pride yourself on being able to provide excellent levels of customer service and advice to internal and external customers.

What you’ll need:

You’ll need some foundational knowledge to get you off to a flying start:

What you’ll get:

The salary band for this role is £23,572 - £35,566 per annum. Salary based on experience however most new graduates will be placed on the Scientist Progression Plan which starts from £23,572 and reaches £28,372 over a 2 year period. Progression is 6 monthly and tied to completion of specific training milestones in your development plan.

You can also expect:

This is a full time role (37 hours per week) with an element of weekend working and standby.

The closing date for applications is Friday 28 April 2023.

Do you have any support needs?

Please let us know if there are any changes we can make to our application and selection process to make it easier and more comfortable for you. Email us with the vacancy reference number in the subject line so we can work with you to support you throughout your application.

Working at Scottish Water

Scottish Water is one of the UK's leading water companies, the quality of drinking water and satisfaction with the service we provide our customers has never been higher - but we want to be even better – and you could help play an important part!

We take employee engagement very seriously and have an inclusive and collaborative work environment where we respect people’s differences. We are committed to creating an engaging environment and a positive experience for our employees.

We were recently recognised as a Top 10 Flexible Employer in Scotland at the Flexibility Works Awards 2021 and by The Times as a Top 50 Employer for Women in 2019.

In 2019 we also won the Age Inclusive Award at The Herald and GenAnalytics Diversity Awards and were winners of the Best Public Sector Employer at the Family Friendly Working Scotland Awards 2020.
We have Carers Positive Exemplary Status and were Silver Award 2019 & Gold Award winners 2020 of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS).

We aim for work to be an energising and fulfilling experience and everyone plays their part to ensure that Scottish Water is trusted to serve our customers and communities.

We are passionate about creating opportunities for young people and are proud to have achieved the Gold standard in the Investors in Young People accreditation, demonstrating our commitment to creating rewarding opportunities for young people.

You will have access to a host of benefits which include 38 days holiday a year, a defined benefit pension scheme, a discounted medical cash plan and cycle to work, plus a variety of agile working arrangements and family-friendly policies designed to support your wellbeing.

Next Steps

Any offer of employment with Scottish Water will be subject to the successful completion of a mandatory pre-employment screening process, including Disclosure Scotland and eligibility to work in the UK. Details can be found on our website.

For more information about this role or if you require any additional support throughout the application process please contact the recruitment team:

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it is important that Scottish Water employees are resident in Scotland and contribute to the Scottish economy by paying Scottish income tax on their earnings. As a result we ask all potential employees to confirm that they are resident in Scotland, or to confirm their intentions to move to Scotland within 6 months of their start date.