Technical Manager London, England
King's College London
Full Time
London, England
40386 - 47414 GBP ANNUAL Today
Job description
Job description
The Centre for Gene Therapy & Regenerative Medicine is located in Guy's Hospital. It is internationally recognized for research on adult and pluripotent stem cells and is a focus for cutting-edge stem cell research currently taking place across the College and its partner NHS trusts, as part of King's Health Partners. Through the Centre, King's aims to drive collaboration between scientists and clinicians to translate the potential of stem cells into clinical reality for patients.
The post holder will join the core professional services support team, within the School of Basic and Medical Bioscience, providing high-quality technical support to the Centre’s research and teaching activities. The post holder will be expected to work collaboratively with the Principal Investigators, research staff and students of the Centre to ensure compliance to health & safety regulations. They will provide specialist technical advice to researchers and oversee the maintenance of laboratory equipment to minimise any disruption to the research. They will also act as the main liaison between the researchers, estates personnel and contractors.
The successful candidate will possess excellent communication, planning and leadership skills. They will be expected to build relationships with a wide set of stakeholders including technical managers across the School and Faculty to help support the Centre’s objectives. They will be highly motivated and well organised to support the infrastructure and facilities that deliver world-class research and teaching within the Centre’s laboratories.
A research background in cell biology and experience of technical support to laboratories or research facilities would be an advantage
This post will be offered on an indefinite contract
This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent
Key responsibilities
The post holder is a member of the School’s professional services team, providing high quality technical support to the School and specific support to its education/ research activities. Working closely with their line manager(s) and lead academic, the post holder will:
- Provide advanced technical expertise to the Centre for Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, gained through experience and/or formal qualification, in a broad range of relevant scientific/technical areas with a thorough understanding of the underlying technical/scientific theory and recent advances
- Lead innovation in the technical/scientific field, wherever possible, adopting new approaches/ methodologies and adapting these to the local research/ education needs
- Manage a technical facility, budgets, and operations, including management of junior technical staff where appropriate to support research and/or teaching activity within the Centre. ,
- Monitor staff performance, providing feedback and identifying training opportunities that will expand the colleague’s knowledge/skills
- Liaise with facility users to refine the service to align with changing priorities and needs, coordinating activities across a broad area
- Manage/supervise the installation, monitoring, maintenance and security of facilities, equipment, systems and software, with control over small budgets, stocks/stores equipment and supplies
- Be responsive to changing priorities and an evolving environment/context, maximising the efficiency of the technical support being provided and, using critical evaluation and problem-solving capabilities to review and identify solutions
- Take collaborative and independent decisions in a timely way that have a moderate effect on the post holder’s work and that of others for more than a year and have far-reaching, complex and long-lasting impact
- Forge relationships with colleagues in the university and external to the university, in order to disseminate information, coordinate and deliver the required service
- Provide advice and training on technical/scientific area of expertise, making the content understandable to a non-expert, and ensuring that this complies with university policies and processes, supplying information and support for colleagues to facilitate their work
- Lead and manage change, implementing best practice to ensure that change is adopted
- Regularly communicate highly complex concepts and information, both orally and in writing, in a clear fashion
- Be responsible for implementing safe working practices, managing the impact of the environment on the work and safety of users, ensuring the compliance with Health & Safety and other relevant regulations, guidance and legislation governing the facility, monitoring safe working practice, completing risk assessments and adapting the working environment to reduce the level of hazard
- Facilitate an inclusive culture and ethos across the School teams, ensuring that Professional Services staff work in partnership with academic staff in departments/ centres/ institutes and Professional Services colleagues in the Faculty team and functional networks
- Create an ethos of collaboration and collegiality, establishing effective communications and relationships, and encouraging staff to work in partnership with colleagues across the university, to eliminate potential barriers, enhance collegiality and develop best practice through actively contributing to King’s initiatives, including professional networks and working
- Participate in cross-School/ Faculty/ university projects and initiatives for up to 10% FTE
- Engage actively in Continuing Professional Development and training initiatives, in line with the Technician Commitment and Research Concordat for a minimum of 10 days pro rata per year
The post holder will report to Dr Lisa Sanderson, School Technical Manager and Professor Robin Ali, Centre Director, and line manage/ supervise 2 members of staff.
The detail on tasks and responsibilities of the post will be provided in the job work plan, which will form the basis of the discussion during the post holder’s probationary review and subsequent PDR discussion
The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.
Skills, knowledge, and experience
Essential criteria
1. Minimum level 6 qualification, e.g. relevant undergraduate degree or equivalent, plus substantial work experience in a relevant technical/scientific post OR Proven track record with extensive work experience in a relevant technical scientific post with management experience and/or qualification
2. Evidence of an active commitment to professional development, such as working towards CSci
3. Comprehensive knowledge of a range of technical or scientific practices, and where relevant, scientific specialism applicable to the work area with a full understanding of the technical/scientific theory underpinning these, along with the ability to apply learnt techniques to new areas of work
4. Comprehensive knowledge of Health & Safety regulations governing area of work
5. Solutions-focused self-starter, with excellent planning and organisational skills used to manage staff and facilities, identifying performance standards and establishing protocols to deliver these
6. Strong communication, orally and in writing, with strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills
7. Good computer skills including Microsoft Office packages, lab management/booking systems, temperature monitoring systems.
8. A broad understanding of effective approaches to train and teach individuals in methodologies and techniques
9. Proactive in building professional relationships and responsive to work with colleagues within King’s and the wider external community (eg. suppliers, contractors, engineers and collaborators from other HE institutions).
10. A commitment to an excellent student experience and concern for staff and student wellbeing, along with a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
11. Able and willing to provide support beyond core hours, as required
12. Experience of working in/ providing technical support to cell culture facilities
Desirable criteria
1. Experience of supervising/advising junior team members and giving feedback on performance levels, providing training/coaching where necessary
2. Formal Health & Safety qualification e.g. NEBOSH/IOSH
3. Knowledge of Genetically Modified Organism regulations or experience as a Biological Safety Officer
4. Knowledge of Human Tissues Act (HTA) regulations, with experience of managing compliance and auditing
5. Ability to organise work time efficiently and handle conflicting demands for technical support personally and for team members, being able assess the balance of priorities effectively to deliver results to a required high standard and to deadlines
Further information
Links to relevant information about the School and Faculty:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/schools#bmb
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm
