Senior Technician

About us:

The Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, within King’s College London’s Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, has a vacancy for a Microbiology Technician to run a busy research laboratory.

The centre caters for undergraduate and postgraduate research studies, specialising in healthcare technologies, and the successful candidate will be an experienced user of a range of microbiological techniques.

About the role:

A microbiology laboratory specialist is required for the management, maintenance and operation of the microbiome laboratory for the user community. They should have knowledge in standard microbiological techniques and be willing to become expert in the use of advanced methodologies and equipment. The role holder will report to the Technical Operations Manager of Floor 17 of Guy’s Tower, where the centre’s laboratories are housed.

Key responsibilities and objectives of the role include the provision of day-to-day management, maintenance and operation of the microbiome laboratory for the user community. This will include safety oversight for all new postgraduate and undergraduate students starting research projects in the laboratory including inductions and generation of relevant H&S documents appropriate to their projects, as well as giving general lab training for users to ensure competence prior to commencement of their work.

The role holder will also ensure maintenance of equipment, using either their own knowledge or through contractor engagement, and will work collaboratively with other members of the faculty’s technical team to provide a cohesive support base for all laboratory users.

The role holder will become expert in the use of and management of access to specialist equipment such as an anaerobic workstation, agarose tanks & imagers, plate readers, HPLC systems and ultracentrifuges and be knowledgeable in aseptic/culturing methodologies.

The role will involve maintaining close links with the rest of the technical team on the floor’s cross-centre laboratories.

The individual will need to be able to interact and deal with a variety of personalities. This will include liaising with Principal Investigators, the faculty’s Resources Manager and Estates to ensure the facility environment is maintained to an optimal state, as well as working with the Faculty Safety Manager, to ensure that health and safety policies, systems and procedures are implemented effectively, including COSHH, risk assessments and SOPs.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you:

Essential criteria

• BSc or equivalent in relevant field
• Skilled technician with expertise in the provision of day-to-day management, maintenance and operation of a microbiome laboratory
• Ability to interact and communicate well with a range of different collaborating research teams and colleagues
• Able to work well as part of a team and adapt proactively and innovatively to new challenges as and when they arise
• Effective time management skills, well organised and able to work independently
• Able to multi-task and manage a varied workload with flexibility within an environment with constant interruptions
• Ability to deal with confidential matters
• Ability to innovate and keep up to date with latest technologies

Desirable criteria

• Experience in working in a research and/or teaching environment
• Experience with anaerobic bacterial culture
• Involvement in oversight of shared resource/small research facility
• Science council professional registration (or willingness to register)

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