Position Details
College of Medicine and Health
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £35,880 to £45,163 with potential progression once in post to £47,874
Grade: 7
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 20th March 2025
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Background
The Microscopy Facility is part of the College of Medicine and Health (CMH) Technology Hub, a series of research facilities available to users across colleges. The facility offers state of the art equipment for widefield and confocal microscopy, including high throughput systems. The facility constantly is doing horizon scanning to incorporate new innovative technologies to our offering. The facility has strong collaborative links with local facilities such as the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors and the Intravital Facility, which synergise efforts to benefit our users. The success of this facility is due to the large number of users having easy access to powerful and relevant research instruments and the technical specialists who provide training and support for users.
Role Summary
The Microscopy Specialist will provide a full microscopy provision across all our equipment offering, including implementing and delivering training and access of users, users support and advice. The post is particularly focused on confocal microscopy and the development of data analysis workflows. The candidate will require substantial in-depth knowledge of the technology, and they will be pivotal in ensuring a high level of service provision. The ability of the candidate to provide expert advice on standard techniques but to also develop optimize novel approaches will be critical. The successful candidate will incorporate new technological developments as they become available which will require skills in continuous optimizing, improving, and implementing of new workflows.
The successful candidate will work closely with the Facility Manager and the Academic Lead on the development and implementation of management processes to ensure the facility works effectively for the users. The candidate will need to develop constructive working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders (both internal and external) and use project management skills to coordinate projects from initial plans to delivery, including quotation provision, communicating during the assay process as needed, and seeing the workflow through to data delivery and analysis advice, plus reporting and invoicing.
The successful candidate will supervise and mentor support staff and ensure compliance with local standard operating procedures, and all Health and Safety policies.
Main Duties
Provide a professional specialist service for the Microscopy Facility, which will include:
* Provide expert advice for internal and external customers wishing to use the service, providing expert advice, assistance, and guidance in establishing customer requirements, resolving high level problems with specific techniques/applications, answering queries and providing quotes for the use of the service.
* Providing full and bespoke service for light microscopy, confocal, including our high throughput systems for internal and external customers. This will include consultations with the customer on their experimental needs to optimize the cell sorting strategy to ensure success.
* Training users in equipment offering at the facility and curating competency training records to enable users to use equipment unsupervised where appropriate. Providing professional assistance, supervision and guidance to users to effectively use the equipment for their experimental needs.
* Providing professional specialist feedback on results to users, identifying and advising on enhancements to procedures/protocols which may elicit improvements in data.
* Ensuring the service always operates in an effective and efficient manner and the equipment is maintained, serviced, and calibrated to run to optimal parameters. And ensuring all necessary documentation pertaining to these activities is stored appropriately for review by the Research Facilities Manager.
* Organising and attending, together with the Research Facilities Manager/Technical Lead, user group meetings to review new technology and developments in the field as well as explaining the usage and capabilities of current instruments.
* Coordinating in the organisation and delivery of Continuous Professional Development by and for internal and external stakeholders.
* Promoting the Microscopy Facility services offered by the Technology Hub.
* Managing IT systems administration, with operations including file transfer, scheduled back-ups and long-term archiving of data.
Health and Safety Management
* Responsible for ensuring all facility users working within the area of responsibility, comply with all University/College Health & Safety policies. This will include compliance by all staff with current rules governing work with COSHH, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), biological samples, human tissue etc. and ensuring all required assessments are in place, approved and up to date.
* Responsible as a Laser Safety Officer for the area, ensuring that there is compliance with the local regulations, and documentation in place.
* Reporting any breaches or non-compliance with Health and Safety procedures to the Research Facilities Manager and/or College Health and Safety Manager.
* Ensuring the correct waste disposal protocols are complied with for laboratory, recycled and general waste.
* Proactively assisting with the implementation of carbon reduction and energy saving measures.
* Carrying out regular maintenance processes as appropriate and ensuring records are maintained.
Facilities Management
* Using the Stratocore management system to control and monitor users’ training records and access to equipment, reviewing information to ensure its accuracy and identify future planning requirements.
* Assist in the development and upkeep of the Microscopy Unit and the Technology Hub websites.
* Maintaining stocks of consumables, generating purchase order requisitions for the College finance office or via the web-based ordering system. When required engage with the Procurement team to deliver on tenders.
* Receiving and correctly storing consumables and chemical reagents.
* Ensuring that the facilities are maintained in a clean, functional, and safe condition, reporting any problems through the appropriate channels.
* Assisting the Research Facilities Manager in identifying and tracking items held on the University Asset Register.
Finance, procurement and purchasing - you will manage the Facilities budget which will include:
* Day to day management of the Facilities budget, monitoring spends, identifying any issues with orders, invoices and/or suppliers and taking the appropriate corrective action on own initiative.
* Ensuring all financial rules and procedures are followed.
* Assisting the Research Facilities Manager, when required, with invoicing and recharging users for access to equipment.
People Management - managing one or more Facilities and any allocated temporary resource, including:
* Ensuring (working with your manager) that the goals and objectives which are set for staff support the development and delivery of a quality, customer-focused service.
* Prioritising and allocating work to meet day to day needs.
* Checking on quality of work and customer feedback.
* Undertaking supportive interventions where staff are not meeting objectives.
General
* Representing the team as required at a variety of College and University meetings.
* Acting as a main contact for emergency call outs.
* Developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships with a wide variety of colleagues internal and external to the College, including contractors and suppliers.
* Promoting equality and valuing diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
* Supporting the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
* Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
* Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) or relevant technical qualifications and considerable relevant experience. Where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
* In-depth up to date specialist knowledge, extensive and substantial proven practical experience of light microscopy, including fluorescence, confocal and high throughput systems.
* Proficiency in commonly used software and in-depth knowledge of relevant image analysis related software. For data acquisition and analysis.
* Extensive experience of similar laboratory based work and Good Laboratory Practice by experience or by formal qualification.
* Positive service attitude and courtesy in dealing with users.
* Proven ability to develop constructive working relationships across a range of stakeholders.
* Proven ability to organise and manage own workload and demonstrate flexibility in terms of work practices/requirements.
* Proven ability to work independently but function as part of a team.
* Ability to data mine equipment usage information to provide strategic input to service provision.
* Ability to conceptualise user requirements and interpret data.
* Must be able to communicate effectively with all levels of users and stakeholders.
* Knowledge of current relevant Health and Safety policies.
* Evidence of literacy and numeracy.
* Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.
Role context
Roles at this level will require in-depth specialist technical/specialist/IT expertise. Role holders may have supervisory responsibility for a technical service or team, where the primary focus will be on planning, overseeing and reviewing the work of the team and/or will operate as individual technical, specialist or IT experts either supporting service delivery or contributing directly to local project implementation or problem solving through the provision of specialist support activity.
Core competencies/transferable skills
Working at this level you will be able to develop and successfully demonstrate the core competencies/transferable skills outlined in each of the areas shown below. As appropriate for the level, our Birmingham Professionals will take ownership for getting things done. You will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting your department and wider University.
Planning and organising
* Be responsible for the provision of a technical service through the day-to-day organization and technical supervision of a work area.
* Manage the prioritization, allocation and quality of work, developing the technical capability in the area.
* Manage a combination of technical and (where required) non-technical staff.
* Progress several initiatives concurrently and to plan effectively.
* Contribute to developments of the service and in policies, procedures and plans in own area.
* Ensure compliance with all legal, health and safety standards as applicable.
* Lead, if required, on project work.
and/or
* Advise on the development and application of specialist techniques/experiments and/or procedures and the analysis and interpretation of results (may run an advanced specialist service).
* Act as a recognised source of technical and/or specialist expertise in own area.
* Generate original ideas and innovative solutions and/or new techniques/experimental designs.
Problem solving and decision making
* Resolve high level problems with specific techniques/applications, or in the implementation of services and technical support.
* Provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision-making of others.
* Respond to changing priorities and differing situations.
Organisational understanding
* Understand their own and closely related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University.
* Understands how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others.
* Developing empathy with the academic endeavour.
Relationships and communication
* Develop excellent working relationships with customers, proactively anticipating their requirements in order to understand and deliver them.
Further particulars can be found here.
Informal enquiries to Adriana Flores-Langarica, email: a.floreslangarica@bham.ac.uk.
View our staff values and behaviours here.
We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.
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