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Technical Manager

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater)
Salary
Grade 6, Spine Points 31/37: £38,304 - £45,026 including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
24 Jun 2021

Job Details

Job description


The Centre for Stem Cells & 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, 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 oversea 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 gained through experience and/or formal qualification, in a broad range of scientific/technical areas, and proficient use of complex procedures that require considerable skill or physical effort 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 service/facilities, budgets, and operations, including a team (normally at least two technical staff), where the primary focus is operating as an individual or team of technical advisors, supporting teaching and/or research activity 
  • Monitor staff performance, providing feedback and identifying training opportunities that will expand the colleague’s knowledge/skills 
  • Liaise with service 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 Mrs Sarah Meredith, School Technical Manager and Professor Fiona Watt, Centre Director, and line manage/ supervise 1 member 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 
  8. A broad understanding of effective approaches to train and teach individuals in methodologies and techniques 
  9. Proactive and responsive to internal contacts in immediate area and across King’s and contacts outside the university (e.g. suppliers, colleagues in other HE institutions) in order to build relationships 
  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 give feedback on performance levels, providing training/coaching where necessary Formal Health & Safety qualification e.g. NEBOSH/IOSH Knowledge of Genetically Modified Organism regulations or experience as a Biological Safety Officer Knowledge of Human Tissues Act (HTA) regulations, with experience of managing compliance and auditing 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
Date of the interview  TBC  
Links to relevant information about the School and Faculty:  
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/schools#bmb 
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm 
Recommended as part of the selection process: panel interview 
 
This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance.

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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