Assistant Technical Specialist

Salary: As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 6, salary £33,002 - £34,610.

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to March 2028

Job description:

We are seeking to appoint an Assistant Technical Specialist to support research in the Kobras lab, focused on understanding how bacteria survive antibiotic treatment. The post-holder will contribute to a BBSRC Fellowship project, “Investigating tolerance signatures in Staphylococcus aureus.”

Applicants should have a strong understanding of bacterial survival strategies and antibiotic resistance mechanisms. The role requires specialist expertise in high-throughput phenotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial pathogens. The post-holder will provide technical support, operate and optimise laboratory equipment, and contribute to the development of new experimental approaches.

Responsibilities include designing and performing experiments to investigate bacterial responses to antibiotics, using a range of microbiological and molecular techniques such as culturing, growth assays, serial dilution spot plating, microbroth dilution, cloning, DNA extraction, sequencing, and high-throughput phenotyping platforms. The post-holder may act as a point of contact for internal and external collaborators, providing technical advice and supporting experimental planning, while also supervising or informally guiding technical staff and students as appropriate.

This position is based within the College of Medicine & Health, School of Infection, Inflammation & Immunology, Department of Microbes, Infection & Microbiomes, and is available for a fixed term of two years.

Person Specification:

The ideal candidate will have extensive relevant practical and technical experience, supported by a degree or professional qualification in microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, biomedical sciences, or a related discipline. They will demonstrate strong expertise in microbiological techniques and molecular biology methods, alongside a clear interest in and excellent understanding of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms.

The post-holder will possess strong interpersonal and communication skills, enabling effective collaboration within a laboratory environment. They will demonstrate excellent organisational and time management skills, flexibility to work outside standard hours to support experimental timelines, and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision while contributing effectively as part of a team. An understanding of equality and diversity principles is essential, including the ability to recognise and respond to related issues in line with institutional policies.

Experience working with bacterial pathogens under BSL-2 conditions would be advantageous, as would experience with Staphylococcus species or other Gram-positive bacteria. Familiarity with high-throughput phenotyping equipment, such as liquid handling systems, plate readers, and automated DNA extraction platforms, is desirable. Experience in functional genomics approaches, including Tn-seq or RNA-seq, as well as skills in command-line tools, sequencing data analysis, and bioinformatics or comparative genomics approaches, would also be beneficial.

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Carolin Kobras c.m.kobras@bham.ac.uk.

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

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We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

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