View Vacancy -- Pathology Manager - MLC 2089

Open Date
01/03/2023, 14:00
Close Date
02/04/2023, 23:55
MRC Mary Lyon Centre

The Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC) https://www.har.mrc.ac.uk/ is located in an expanding science and innovation campus in Oxfordshire and is an internationally renowned centre at the forefront of genetics research.  As the hub of the new National Mouse Genetics Network, the specialist facilities and capabilities of the MLC support a number of research groups across the UK to accelerate our understanding of human diseases, such as cancer, developmental disorders and neurodegeneration. 

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a great place to work and progress your career.  The MRC encourages the integration of clinical and discovery research to elucidate both disease processes and potential new therapies. The MLC provides vital scientific support for the UK biomedical community and focuses on preclinical research using mouse models, which supports clinical research and therapy discovery.  

The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council.

UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org

MRC - 4
Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire
£32,005 – £35,143 per annum (depending on experience)
Permanent
Technical & Scientific Professionals
Full Time

Overall purpose:

To oversee management of the clinical pathology platforms offered by the Mary Lyon Centre (MLC) at Harwell.  This post would be responsible for the running of the complex scientific assays which are offered as a service for scientific users of the MLC. This includes assay design, equipment purchases and maintenance, operational service delivery, data analysis and the provision of training to external researchers as well as within the operations team. They will line manage a team of 2 laboratory technicians. Clinical pathology includes clinical chemistry, haematology, immunoassays, multiplexing and flow cytometry processes. 

Main duties / key responsibilities: 

Line Management

  • Day-to-day overall responsibility of the Clinical Pathology Service Laboratory
  • Line management of laboratory technicians who run the clinical chemistry, haematology, immunoassays, multiplexing and flow cytometry platforms 

Lab Management

  • Oversee rotation of staff within the laboratory to ensure fair distribution of workload
  • Oversee the timely execution of equipment calibrations, QC regimes, maintenance and service visits
  • Develop SOPs for all relevant platforms
  • Monitor performance / output against annual objectives
  • Process and analyse clinical chemistry, haematology, immunoassays, multiplexing and flow cytometry samples in times of staff shortages

Advisory role / responding to enquiries

  • Liaise with internal and external users in response to enquiries about sample collections, sample types, stability, volumes, dilutions, suitability of tests and interpretation of test results
  • Act as key contact for external users when new projects are designed and planned - advising on the feasibility of conducting e.g. a range of tests at different time points, suitable samples turn-around times and stability of analytes
  • Consider and explore feasibility of requests for extension of new applications and test profiles on existing platforms 

Training

  • Ensuring that anyone performing clinical pathology has the necessary training required to deliver services, effectively operate and troubleshoot key platforms.
  • Assemble and deliver training courses (e.g., pipetting skills, general laboratory skills etc.) 

Working relationships:

The post holder will work within the Pathology team and be line managed by the Head of Pathology Services. They will share laboratory practices and meetings with the Necropsy and Histology teams and will have line management responsibility for the clinical pathology team, consisting of 2 technicians. 

The post holder will be expected to attend management meetings and have significant day to day working interactions with other teams and users of the MLC.

Equality & Diversity:

The MRC values the diverse skills and experience of its employees and is committed to achieving equality of treatment for all.  Our objectives are that all individuals shall have equal opportunities for employment and advancement on the basis of their skills, aptitudes and abilities.  The MRC is committed to the engagement and retention of the best possible talent and to creating an environment that encourages excellence in scientific research through good equality and diversity leadership and management. 

Corporate/Local Responsibilities & Requirements:

The post holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the MRC’s:

  • Code of Conduct
  • Equality and Diversity policy
  • Health and Safety policy
  • Data Protection and Security policy 

Job descriptions should be reviewed on a regular basis and at the annual appraisal.  Any changes should be made and agreed between the post holder and their manager. 

The above lists are not exhaustive and the post holder is required to undertake such duties as may reasonably be requested within the scope of the post.  All employees are required to act professionally, cooperatively and flexibly in line with the requirements of the post and the MRC.

Education/Qualifications/Training Required:

Essential:

  • PhD or BSc with extensive relevant experience in the Biological or Biomedical Sciences

 

Desirable:

  • Home Office license
  • Teaching/Training qualification or experience 

Previous Work Experience Required:

Essential:

  • Experience in clinical chemistry
  • Experience in flow cytometry
  • General laboratory experience
  • Experience handling blood samples
  • Experience of blood sample analysis

 

Desirable:

  • Experience in haematology, ELISAs, multiplexing, FACS
  • Experience of working in a commercial or service led environment
  • Experience working under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986

Knowledge and Experience:

Essential:

  • Computer Literacy
  • Ability to accurately follow protocols/SOPs

Desirable:

  • Experience with laboratory information management systems
  • Experience writing SOP’s
  • Experience handling complex datasets

Personal skills/Behaviours/Qualities:

Essential:

  • Excellent communication skills
  • Excellent attention to detail
  • Flexible and adaptable in approach to work to ensure changing priorities and deadlines are met
  • A service delivery focus
  • Ability to work on day-to-day functions both independently and as part of a team
  • Acute attention to detail. 

Desirable:

  • Experience in training others
The MRC is a great place to work and progress your career, be it in scientific research or the support functions.The MRC is a unique working environment where our researchers are rewarded by world class innovation and collaboration opportunities that the MRC name brings. The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council.

Choosing to come to work at the MRC (part of UKRI) means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement to access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme, as well as the chance to put the MRC and UKRI on your CV in the future.

Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We welcome applications from all sections of the community irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability or age. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.

We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.  The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role.  UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

This opportunity is closed to applications.