About us

The Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine (FoLSM)’s dissecting room has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Technician (Education) to join the Centre for Education.  The post holder will have a great opportunity to be part of a team helping to deliver world class practical education and enhancing the student experience. FoLSM is an ambitious and forward-thinking Faculty, with an outstanding reputation across a range of disciplines in Life Sciences and Medicine.

The Faculty’s dissecting room uses the bodies of people who have kindly donated their bodies after death for the benefit of our undergraduate, postgraduate and professional students. It provides our students with practical skills in anatomy and clinical procedures used by clinical and healthcare scientists, and provides ongoing skills training for clinical professionals.King’s College London is a signatory of the UK’s Technician Commitment, and actively supports the skills development and progression of staff on this pathway. This post represents an opportunity for an experienced technician to develop more management skills, while developing additional practical skills. King’s is a highly supportive environment that recognises the important role that technical staff have in the student experience and learning. This post will support your development as an integral part of the teaching and learning environment.

About the role

The purpose of this post is to assist with leading the team in preparing and caring for donor bodies in accordance with the law including embalming, dissecting, keeping accurate records and making funeral preparations.

Planning, preparing and assisting with classes, projects and courses including liaising with internal and external users, making expert dissections, maintaining equipment, assisting with demonstrating anatomy, supporting users of the rooms and assisting in supervising and training junior staff.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you

As the successful candidate for this post, you are expected to have worked in a similar setting – working in a dissection room or mortuary, using technical dissections skills, and/or laboratory technical and practical skills. You will have extensive knowledge of topographical human anatomy.

The dissecting room is very highly regulated environment, where full compliance with regulations is essential, along with treating the donors with due respect. As a consequence, having a systematic approach to work, following well-established protocols, is an essential attribute for the post. Being proactive in relation o process improvement is also important to ensure that processes remain efficient and fit-for-purpose.

As it can be an emotionally challenging environment for some users, it is essential that the post holder has a strong sense of empathy and be an effective communicator. 

Essential Criteria

1. Extensive technical experience and knowledge of topographical human anatomy. Proficiency in dissection or similar fine motor skills and an ability to work with human remains in a respectful manner 
2. Evidence of an active commitment to career development including professional registration, such as RSci, or working towards CSci and clear progression in increasingly demanding jobs.
3. Clear and empathetic spoken and written communication skills, with proficient computer use and strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills.
4. Proactive and responsive to contacts in the immediate area, across the wider organisation and externally (e.g., suppliers) to build relationships and networks.
5. Solutions-focused self-starter, with excellent planning and analytical skills, able to manage competing priorities and work with minimal supervision. Experience in accurate record keeping/attention to detail
6. Good working knowledge of regulations and best practice governing areas of work, including Health & Safety and environmental sustainability and the Human Tissue Act 2004.
7. A reasonable level of physical fitness is needed for this role

Desirable criteria:

1. Experience in using audio/visual and other technological equipment
2. Experience or knowledge of basic surgical instrumentation & infection control
3. Experience of supervising/advising junior team members, giving feedback on performance levels and training/coaching where necessary.
4. Experience of risk assessment and use of standard operating procedures

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information

This post is subject Occupational Health clearances.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’ pages.

We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.