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Senior Specialist Technician

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£32,979 - £37,297 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
27 Jun 2021

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Academic Discipline
Biological Sciences, Life sciences
Job Type
Professional Services, Administrative
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

Job description
 
The King’s Health Partners Cancer Biobank has been supporting translational cancer research at a national level since the 1970’s and has accrued and made available a significant number of samples during that time, all of which have been acquired under documented procedures and linked to prospectively collected and verified clinical data. 
 
The Biobank is a core facility within the School and supports numerous KCL researcher-led programmes and projects. Alongside direct biobanking activities, the facility also provides specialist sample processing for translational research and clinical trials. 
 
The post holder will join a team of Advanced Practitioners and technicians who collect and distribute a variety of biological sample types from patients attending Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals with a diagnosis or possible diagnosis of cancer. The post holder will be responsible for implementing pathways to expand the Cancer Biobank to include collection of samples from patients with gastrointestinal and gynaecological cancers. Surgery for both of these cancer types is primarily undertaken at St Thomas’ Hospital and the post holder will need to closely liaise with the diagnostic histopathology service to identify and access suitable specimens.  
 
In addition, the post holder will need to liaise with study teams and local NHS Trust clinicians to maximise number of samples collected whilst monitoring quality. 
 
The ideal candidate should have previous experience of working within a biobank environment, including sample handling and processing a range of sample types with minimal supervision. They should also have experience of training and/or supervising staff or students. 
 
The post holder will be based in the Innovation Hub, Guy’s Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital but will frequently need to travel to St Thomas’s Hospital site to support biobanking activities. 
 
All tasks will be carried out to the highest quality and within the guidelines set out by current legislation.
 
This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 12 months 
This is a full-time  post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities

  • To provide recognised specialist technical expertise for a specialised technical service, where the primary focus will be on operating as technical advisors or service providers, supporting research activity. There will be a need for liaison with service users and the coordination of activities across a number of sections of a School and NHS Trust.  
  • To be responsive to changing priorities and an evolving environment/context, maximising the efficiency of the technical support being provided  
  • To forge relationships with colleagues in the School, Faculty, university and NHS Trust in order to contribute to process development and adoption of best practice   
  • To foster a stimulating, innovative and inclusive cultural environment across the School enabling students and staff to thrive and develop, ensuring that processes and policies are visible, accessible and transparent   
  • To provide advice and guidance and, where appropriate, training on University policies, processes and where required, source information and support for colleagues to facilitate their work  
  • To actively engage in Continuing Professional Development and training initiatives, in line with the Technician Commitment.  

 
The post holder will report to the KHP Cancer Biobank Manager. 
 
 
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 4 qualification (e.g. higher apprenticeship, HNC or other level 4 qualification) plus work experience in a relevant technical/scientific post OR  
  2. Considerable knowledge and skills gained through work experience in a relevant technical or scientific post. 
  3. Evidence of an active commitment to professional development such as RSci,.or working towards CSci 
  4. Have in-depth knowledge of specialist technical or scientific practices, methods and procedures applicable to work area and to share best practice. 
  5. Proven technical experience within the Biobanking field with a good understanding of technical/scientific theory underpinning this. 
  6. Strong communication skills – orally and in writing. 
  7. Full working knowledge of Health & Safety regulations relating to laboratories. 
  8. Have proven experience in handling biological specimens. 
  9. Experience of molecular pathology techniques. 
  10. Experience of teaching and/or supervision of staff or students. 
  11. Flexible team-worker, being proactive and responsive to colleagues. 

Desirable criteria 

  1. Previous histology experience. 
  2. Prior experience of quality management systems. 
  3. Previous experience of working within a NHS environment. 

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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