Technical Manager (Advanced Therapies and Biological Services Specialist)

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About Us

The School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Medicine & Sciences (SCMMS) provides an outstanding multi-disciplinary environment for the pursuit of cutting-edge cardiovascular and metabolic research ( https://www.kcl.ac.uk/scms ).

We study the fundamental molecular, cellular, and physiological processes that underly normal and abnormal cardiovascular and metabolic function and we drive the translation of this strong basic science into advances in clinical practice to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This activity provides a high-quality research and training environment for non-clinical and clinical scientists.

The School occupies facilities across the Guy's, St Thomas' and Denmark Hill campuses of King's College London and comprises over 65 academic groups, hosting 300 staff and over 100 PhD students.

Our community of world-renowned researchers and educators have access to a state-of-the art core facilities and expertise, including for high-throughput screening, multimodality in vivo imaging, proteomics, integrative physiology and viral & non-viral vector production. 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 post is based within the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences at the James Black Centre (King's Denmark Hill campus) as part of the King's College London BHF Centre of Research Excellence and the MRC/BHF Centre for Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics (REACT). The School and these Centres provide an outstanding highly multidisciplinary environment with state-of-the-art equipment, facilities and technical support for both laboratory work and animal studies.

About The Role

The School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences seeks to appoint an enthusiastic Technical Manager (Advanced Therapies and Biological Services Specialist) to join our team in the James Black Centre, Denmark Hill Campus. The post holder will work alongside the Schools Professional Services Team, providing high quality specialist support to laboratory and Biological Services.

The post holder's responsibilities will include:

1. Oversee laboratory management including finance/budget management, ordering stock supplies, and service and maintenance of laboratory equipment
2. Ensure the smooth running of the laboratories, liaising with external suppliers, providing training and inductions for new staff and ensuring compliance with health and safety procedures
3. Implement and coordinate activities of research facilities for the production of clinical grade viral vectors and RNA/lipid nanoparticles for cardiovascular applications
4. Coordinate activities aimed to isolate primary neonatal and adult cardiac myocytes from mice and rats
5. Compose project applications, study plans and health and safety documentation such as standard operating protocols and biological risk assessments, and implement controls and safety procedures
6. Coordinate management of mutant and transgenic rodent colonies, maintaining applicable records for these colonies, as needed by the research staff

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

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. Extensive work experience in relevant technical/ scientific posts with management experience and supervision or coordination of other technical staff
2. Laboratory management experience, including financial planning, budgeting and reporting
3. Expertise in preclinical advanced therapies, including the production of production of viral vectors, lipid nanoparticles and RNA
4. Knowledge of cardiovascular experimental models, including expertise in the isolation of primary cardiac cells and management of mouse lines
5. Excellent spoken and written communication skills, with advanced computer use and strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills to build a strong network to support the delivery of the service
6. Solutions-focused self-starter, with excellent planning and analytical skills, able to manage staff and facilities, setting performance standards, and establishing protocols to deliver these
7. Experience of supervising/advising junior team members, giving feedback on performance levels and training/coaching where necessary
8. Evidence of an active commitment to professional development, such as membership to a professional body and clear progression in increasingly demanding jobs

Desirable criteria

1. Able and willing to provide support beyond core hours, as required.
2. Biological Safety Management & Practice (Institution of Occupational Health and Safety) certification, and successful completion of other relevant safety training i.e., dangerous goods awareness training, MRI safety, cryogenic gases and compressed gases safety training

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 page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King's, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King's guidance.

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 person specification section of the job description. 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.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.