Principal Radiation Protection Scientist (Team Leader)
Salary & Grade: Grade 7, National, £51,824 - £61,414
Location: CRCE Scotland, 155 Hardgate Road, Glasgow, G51 4LS
Type and term of contract: Permanent Contract
The Radiation Hazards and Emergencies Department (RHED) leads UKHSA's emergency response and preparedness function in case of radiation and nuclear emergencies. It also provides advice and support to external organisations and central Government on issues surrounding emergency response and countermeasures to be taken.
The Radiochemistry Group (RG) has a primary role to provide analytical measurements of environmental and biological samples to support emergency response advice, as well as providing commercial services to a broad range of customers. The work is performed under accredited systems (ISO 17025, ISO 14001).
The postholder will be responsible for managing a team of staff within the Group, focussed principally, but not exclusively, on researching, developing, and applying radiochemical analysis methods, ideally including Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), supporting the RG's primary roles. This involves developing and maintaining a range of suitable testing and reporting procedures for environmental, industrial, and emergency samples and ensuring staff are fully trained and competent in these procedures.
They will be responsible for the training of their Team ensuring training programmes are prepared, in place and adhered to, as well using their expertise and experience to provide on-the-job training to a range of staff members Reporting to the Radiochemistry Group Leader, the postholder will be required to act on behalf of the Group Leader on occasions. The postholder may also be asked to undertake more general corporate duties, in areas such as safety management, environmental management or radioactivity management
Location
Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site. This role will be based at the Glasgow site, 155 Hardgate Road, Glasgow, G51 4LS. 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
Responsibilities section:
As the Principal Radiation Protection Scientist (Team Leader) your main responsibilities will include:
- Manage a team of staff working in radiochemical analysis, ideally including ICP-MS
- Contribute to current commercial contracts e.g. sample analysis, report preparation etc
- Project manage commercial contracts or developmental work within the group
- Contribute to the development of UKHSA's radiation emergency preparedness and response arrangements
- Develop testing protocols for required analyte/matrix combinations for commercial and emergency samples
- Ensure the work of the team satisfies applicable QA requirements
- Work with the team to ensure new protocols are written and implemented, and staff competency has been demonstrated. Manage the accreditation process for new procedures as required
- Work with other Team Leaders and RG Group Leader to develop polices and business plans for RG
- Work with staff across RHED and broader RCE/UKHSA to ensure emergency testing procedures are integrated with broader ER response systems
- Undertake broader corporate tasks as directed by the Group Leader and/or Head of Department
Essential Criteria:
It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of 1250 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
- Graduate level, or higher, in chemistry or a related discipline
- High level of experience in all aspects of radiochemical analysis, ideally including ICP-MS (laboratory processing and use of instrumentation)
- Good understanding of the principles of analysis, detectors, and instrumentation for a wide range of radiochemical processes, ideally including ICP-MS
- Experience of working in a formally accredited QA environment
- Experience in setting up and managing development or application projects to completion and evaluating effectiveness
- Ability to work on several separate tasks at the same time, often independently, whilst keeping to agreed deadlines often working under pressure with competing priorities
Desirable
- Full UK driving licence.
Selection process details
STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:
You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the full list of essential criteria as detailed in the attached job description - please do provide evidence of how you meet this.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.
STAGE 2 - INTERVIEW
This role will involve an interview onsite at 155 Hardgate Road, Glasgow, G51 4LS.
As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.
Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section).
You will also be asked to provide information within the 'Employer/ Activity history' section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history.
The Success Profiles framework will be used to assess and recruit the most suitable candidate. The following behaviours will be used at the interview:
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Developing Self and Others
Expected Timeline:
Advert close: 23:55hrs on 31st July 2024 - unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.