Microbiological Scientist

Job summary

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice, and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.

The Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact, and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our People are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes. Staff are respected, included, supported, and engaged and Bacteriology is one of the departments within the Science Directorate.

Provide scientific and technical expertise for a wide range of projects in the bacteriology field. This might include work for Defra, government organisations such as the Food Standards Agency, European projects, academia, or for commercial organisations.

This post is full-time, we may consider two part-time staff on a job-share basis if continuity can be arranged.

The post is based at the Weybridge APHA laboratories. Attendance at the laboratories is essential and therefore the post holder needs to pass the mandatory Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) security clearance required to work at the site. Applicants must be currently resident in the UK & have at least 3 years continuous UK residency to start the CTC clearance checks.

Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Job description

Provide delivery of bacteriological science for Defra and a range of commercial customers including academia and those in the veterinary bioscience/pharmaceutical sector. The post holder will be expected to work flexibly to contribute to a range of scientific projects that may include research, surveillance, or commercial projects. The work of the Department is diverse but scientific activities delivered by the post holder are likely to include some of the following:

• Bacterial culture (e.g., coli, Salmonella, Brucella, Campylobacter, Mycoplasma or Mycobacteria) on specialist media from a wide range of biological samples (e.g., tissues, swabs, food, or environmental samples)
• Phenotypic tests e.g., bacterial serotyping, antimicrobial resistance susceptibility testing, speciation of bacteria by genetic and MALDI-ToF approaches
• Molecular tests including DNA/RNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or isothermal amplification, targeted gene sequencing, and whole genome sequencing (WGS) approaches
• Immunology, including immunoassays, protein analysis and cell counting
• Analysis of data generated from phenotypic, molecular, and immunological techniques. This could include bioinformatics analysis
• Responsibility as a room officer for a laboratory
• Quality assurance testing of media
• Assisting with bacterial in vivo infection studies
• Support of farm/abattoir/hatchery/feed mill investigations
• Working on in vitro models to simulate environmental samples
• Working in high containment facilities following appropriate training

Person specification

The post holder must have knowledge and / or experience of:

• Molecular biology-based techniques such as RT-PCR, recombinant DNA techniques and cell culture techniques
• Preparation of data in tabular or graphical formats (using MS Excel, PowerPoint, Graphpad), for presentation in reports and manuscripts
• Working to quality (9001:2015 or UKAS 17025) and safety policies and standards
• Working to Standard Operating Procedures and Risk Assessments
• Expertise in a range of laboratory skills such as bacteriological and molecular approaches and /or immunoassays

Closing date: 17 July 2025.

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