Research Scientist
Salary & Grade: £30,473 - £37,215, HEO (National)
Location: Manor Farm, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JG
Type and term of contract: FTC Contract (till 31st March 2025)
This is an exciting position within the Antigen Research Team. The ideal candidate must have practical experience of working in a research environment. We require candidates to have a BSc and either an MSc or equivalent experience in a relevant research environment. PhD or equivalent experience would be highly desirable.
The successful candidate will be part of a research team developing vaccines and therapeutics against human pathogens. The team uses a variety of techniques in the fields of molecular biology, microbiology and protein chemistry to produce and characterise antigens.
You will be collaborating with the Emerging Pathogen Serology group on a project concerned with developing high-throughput receptor binding inhibition assays for assessing the immunogenicity of vaccines for high-consequence infectious diseases.
You will have a track record of using insect cell expression systems to generate viral antigens which will be used to develop the immunogenicity assays. You will also need excellent attention to detail and the ability to clearly record results. The successful candidate will have good verbal communication skills and be able to give input at meetings with stakeholders.
Location
This role will be based at the UKHSA Porton Down office, Manor Farm, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JG. Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site. For certain roles, some additional flexibility may be possible, which will be agreed upon with the hiring manager based on individual requirements and business needs.
- Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available.*
Responsibilities section:
As the Research Scientist your main responsibilities will include:
- Implement/use a range of methods/assays/techniques in support of all activities associated with the project aimed to ensure project targets are met
- Take responsibility for the provision of reagents and consumables required
- Assist the team to identify, evaluate and adapt technologies where appropriate and to ensure that projects operate to a high scientific standard using current methods
- Take responsibility for the supervision and training of staff/labs allocated to the project as required
- Provide reports through analysis of data using software and databases as necessary, to meet project targets and for preparation of presentations and publications
The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.
Essential Criteria:
It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of 1000 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential criteria (for full details of all essential criteria please refer to the attached job description):
Essential
- Educated to degree level in a relevant subject
- MSc OR equivalent experience in relevant area
- Prior molecular biology experience in designing constructs for protein expression
- Prior laboratory experience with Insect cell protein expression system
- Prior laboratory experience of protein purification using chromatography systems
- Prior experience of working within a team
- Experience of individual research projects
Desirable
- PhD OR equivalent experience in relevant area
- Prior laboratory experience of characterising purified proteins (SDS-PAGE, Western blot, ELISA, size exclusion chromatography etc)
- Prior laboratory experience of developing Biacore binding assays
- Undertaking individual research projects with collaborators
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