Senior Technician - Plant Growth Facilities

Applications are invited for the above post based within the School of Biosciences at the Sutton Bonington Campus.  

The purpose of this role is to provide high-quality, specialist technical support to research and teaching activities, supporting both staff and students within the Plant Growth Facilities and other areas as directed within the School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science. The role holder will be required to work within a team to plan and oversee the day-to-day running of specific work areas, to allocate resources, and to provide supervision/training in the use of equipment/systems and techniques to staff/students. The role holder will be responsible for the upkeep of a designated work area, as well as maintenance of equipment/systems. The role holder may be required to lead or manage a small team of technicians/staff as part of their duties. Some out of hours working may be required (with the potential opportunity for weekend working).

Duties will include:

• Planning and overseeing the day to day running of a work area to assist research projects, allocating resources, and providing guidance and instruction to staff and/or students to ensure work objectives and standards are met.
• Provision guidance and advice to staff and students to including the delivery of training in relevant techniques and equipment.
• Ensure adequate stocks of materials. Ordering consumables and liaising with suppliers
• Utilising technical knowledge and expertise to conceptualise and interpret the requirements of research staff and students.
• Advising and assisting staff and students on the development, design, preparation, construction, assembly and application of equipment/systems, which may include setting up of experiments/systems and the deployment of particular techniques.
• To conduct regular routine maintenance, fault diagnosis and repair of equipment/ apparatus (e.g., plant growth fertigation and irrigation systems as well as BMS controllers and facility specific systems personally or through others in own area of responsibility, as required, and advise, where necessary, on the purchasing of equipment and consumables.
• To provide quality and timely advice, assist and train staff and students on the development, design, preparation, construction, assembly and application of equipment/systems, the setting up of experiments and/or deployment of horticultural/agricultural techniques/methods.
• Ensuring staff, students and/or new researchers are trained in techniques and the safe and effective use of equipment to ensure compliance with relevant health and safety regulations, including carrying out safety risk assessments.
• Ensure that the department complies with work related legal and health and safety standards.

(Full details can be found in the job description.)

Minimum of a HNC in relevant subject, or equivalent qualifications plus considerable work experience in relevant role or substantial work experience in relevant role

Knowledge of plant growth facility equipment and controllers (e.g., fertigation and irrigations systems) would be beneficial to the role.

This is a fixed-term, full-time post (36.25 hours per week) and the position is available from November 2025.

Requests for secondment from internal candidates may be considered on the basis that prior agreement has been sought from both your current line manager and the manager of your substantive post, if you are already undertaking a secondment role.

Informal enquiries may be sent to julietta.marquez@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note, applications sent directly to this email will not be accepted.

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