Technical Specialist (Molecular Biology) Technical Operations & Resource Services Student & Academic Support Grade 6 - £32,080 - £38,784 per annum, depending on experience The role
In this role, you will be involved directly in supporting laboratory-based activities including under-graduate and post-graduate student research projects, other practical teaching, research and innovation activities.
You’ll work closely with team members to achieve this and support a range of areas of the University - the team section below details the areas we support. The key focus of this post is molecular biology, mainly within the School of Biosciences and Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre. As a Technical Specialist, you will have an important role in day-to-day management of the area, and will support the development of colleagues. You will need to have relevant practical experience and knowledge of a range of techniques in molecular biology, with proficiency gained from method development and troubleshooting; also, you should have good chemical safety knowledge.
Relevant experience includes setting up PCR, quantitative PCR, restriction enzyme digest and ligation reactions including gel electrophoresis and visualisation methods; extraction of DNA from bacterial and mammalian cells; preparation of competent cells, transformation and transfection. You will be expected to work flexibly, and have, or develop, skills to allow you to support delivery in other disciplines such as biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, cell biology and analytical science. You will be highly motivated and meticulous in your work, with a professional work ethic, and able to work both independently and collaboratively across team boundaries sharing knowledge and skills to ensure customer focussed results. The team
The Technical Operations, Resources and Services (TORS) Team provides unified technical support across the university. The service supports face-to-face teaching and all practical activities to a high standard, supported by having a highly skilled technical services team. The Science and Technology (S&T) technical team sits within TORS to provide specialist support for laboratory activities within three main schools: Biosciences and Chemistry, Engineering and Built Environment and Sheffield Business School.
To learn about some of the specific courses and research that we support see the web links in the Job Details document for this role. S&T works closely with other teams to provide an agile and responsive service that delivers highly skilled support with customer service at the heart of it. We aim to enable students and staff to access maximum value from the laboratory facilities through provision of excellent training and support. The main duties of the S&T technical team include; preparation of materials for under- and post-graduate practical classes; troubleshooting practical issues as they arise; demonstrating instrumentation and techniques; support for project students and researchers; developing future practical classes in collaboration with academic colleagues; and maintenance of the site's infrastructure and logistical arrangements such as: laboratory housekeeping, management of chemical inventories and waste, equipment maintenance and health and safety-related support. We offer and opportunities to pursue a rewarding and fulfilling career in a supportive environment. You will be contractually enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) – one of the largest and most generous defined benefit pension schemes in the country. Find out more about the LGPS. If you are, or have been, a recent member of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) directly prior to joining us, you can choose to opt out of the LGPS and remain in the USS. Please contact the Pensions team to discuss options available.
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