Senior Technician/Senior Technical Officer

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About us

The School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences (SCMMS) provides an outstanding multi-disciplinary environment for the pursuit of cutting-edge cardiovascular and metabolic research. We study the fundamental molecular, cellular, and physiological processes that underly normal and abnormal cardiovascular and metabolic function and drive the translation of this strong basic science into advances in clinical practice. Our research focuses on four main Themes (Cardiac, Vascular, Cardiometabolic, Diabetes & Obesity), with two cross-cutting Themes (Basic and Clinical). The School is led by Professor Mauro Giacca and comprises over 65 clinical and non-clinical academic groups, hosting 400 personnel and 110 PhD students. Our community of world-renowned researchers and educators have access to state-of-the art core facilities and expertise, including facilities for high-throughput screening and high content imaging, multimodality in vivo imaging, proteomics, integrative physiology and viral & non-viral vector production. The School activities are carried out at three main locations: James Black Centre in Denmark Hill, St Thomas's Hospital and Franklin-Wilkins Building in South Bank and the Hodgkin Building and New Hunt House/Randal Centre in Guy's Campus. As part of King's Health Partners, we have an excellent environment for basic-clinical interaction and a strong focus on mentoring and career development. The School hosts the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence at King's, which brings together a unique range of internationally recognised scientists and clinicians from across the School and King's College London.

More information: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/scmms

About the role

Applications are invited for a talented and enthusiastic Senior Technician/Senior Technical Officer to join Prof Mauro Giacca's and Dr Miguel Mano's laboratories at the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences at King's College London. The postholder will be part of a vibrant multi-disciplinary environment across different research themes in cardiac biology.

The post holder will provide high quality technical support to the groups and their associated research activities. In particular, the post holder will work within the scope of activities of the High-Throughput/High-Content Screening Facility (HCS) under the supervision of the Head of the facility, Dr. Mano.

It is expected that 80% of the time will be spent on ensuring smooth operation of the HCS Facility, supporting, on a daily basis, cell biology procedures (i.e. cell culture and transfection), high-content microscopy-assay development (i.e. immunofluorescence assays, live cell assays, gene reporter assays), image acquisition using dedicated equipment and specialist software, provision of basic training on image acquisition and analysis, handling of genomic and small molecule libraries, and maintenance of adequate supplies for the above-mentioned activities.

The rest of the time will be spent providing experimental support to the two Groups and participating in School's projects and activities as directed.

This role can be offered at a Senior Technician (Grade 5) or Senior Technical Officer (Grade 6) depending on the level of experience.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30 September 2025 with the possibility of further extension.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Senior Technician (Grade 5)

Essential criteria

1. Relevant degree or significant professional experience in high throughput screening (academia/industry).
2. Comprehensive technical knowledge and skills in a broad range of experimental methods and scientific practices.
3. Previous experience in molecular and cellular biology (cell culture, transfection, immunofluorescence), histology, and advanced microscopy.
4. Excellent spoken and written communication skills, and strong interpersonal skills
5. Well-developed analytical capabilities, gathering, manipulating, interpreting, evaluation and analysing data, information, concepts, and ideas.
6. Planning and organization skills, with the ability to work independently with minimal supervision and to manage competing priorities and changing.

Desirable criteria

1. Able and willing to provide support beyond core hours, as required.
2. Previous experience working with high-content microscopy and automated image analysis, liquid handling platforms, and cell culture systems.
3. Previous experience experimental approaches for gene modulation (e.g. siRNA, microRNA, CRISPR) and/or in development of assays for large-scale high-throughput/high-content screenings.
4. Computational/programming skills for implementation of image/data analysis and data visualization workflows (e.g. R, Python).
5. Knowledge and understanding of the Laboratory Health and Safety Regulations (COSSH) governing the area of work, with NEBOSH/IOSH certification in relevant areas such as cryogenic gases safety training.

Senior Technical Officer (Grade 6)

Essential criteria

1. Relevant PhD degree or significant professional experience in high throughput screening (academia/industry).
2. Comprehensive technical knowledge and skills in a broad range of experimental methods and scientific practices.
3. Previous experience in molecular and cellular biology (cell culture, transfection, immunofluorescence), histology, and advanced microscopy.
4. Excellent spoken and written communication skills, and strong interpersonal skills
5. Well-developed analytical capabilities, gathering, manipulating, interpreting, evaluation and analysing data, information, concepts, and ideas.
6. Planning and organization skills, with the ability to work independently with minimal supervision and to manage competing priorities and changing.
7. Knowledge and understanding of the Laboratory Health and Safety Regulations (COSSH) governing the area of work, with NEBOSH/IOSH certification in relevant areas such as cryogenic gases safety training.
8. Prior experience in laboratory automatization or use/management of complex laboratory instrumentation

Desirable criteria

1. Able and willing to provide support beyond core hours, as required.
2. Previous experience working with high-content microscopy and automated image analysis, liquid handling platforms, and cell culture systems.
3. Previous experience experimental approaches for gene modulation (e.g. siRNA, microRNA, CRISPR) and/or in development of assays for large-scale high-throughput/high-content screenings.
4. Computational/programming skills for implementation of image/data analysis and data visualization workflows (e.g. R, Python).

This role can be offered at a Senior Technician (Grade 5) or Senior Technical Officer (Grade 6) depending on level of experience.

Further information

This post is subject to 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 review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.