Senior Clinical Scientist and Head of Section
As a Band 8A Head of Section in the Clinical Transplantation H&I Laboratory, the post holder will supervise one of the two sections in the laboratory: Molecular or Serology. The post holder will be responsible for the managerial and scientific leadership of the band 3-7 staff in the section and for the provision of highly specialised advice with regards further investigations and donor/patient selection for transplant etc.
The post holder will work with the Head and Deputy Head of Department and key stakeholders in the development of clinical policy and in the planning, initiation and performance of both routine clinical services and R&D that lead to service improvements.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be required to accurately and efficiently undertake and manage staff to undertake a range of highly specialist clinical and technical tests and services either in the Molecular or Serology Sections. These include HLA characterisation, antibody analysis and crossmatching activities in day time and out of hours.
Core duties will include the provision of highly specialised advice and laboratory services concerning the care or treatment of transplant patients. This will include final verification and clinical interpretation of laboratory results before release to clinicians, provision of clinical advice in person and over the phone as well as attendance at several MDT meetings each week.
The post holder will have responsibility for the delivery of the service in support of thymus, kidney and cardiothoracic transplantation programmes, this includes virtual crossmatching and transplant immunological risk assessment in liaison with the clinical team.
With delegated authority from the Head and Deputy Head of Department, the post holder has overall responsibility as line manager to provide strategic and day to day leadership to the Molecular or Serology Sections of the laboratory as appropriate, managing staff and supervising the validation/trouble shooting of assays.
The post-holder will attend clinical meetings in support of transplant programmes. The post-holder will actively participate in Quality Management Systems of the department.
About us
The NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership is an arms-length organisation providing pathology services to Barts Health NHS Trust, Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. The Pathology Partnership is hosted by Barts Health.
The Pathology Partnership was formed in May 2021. Between 2021 and 2024 the Partnership undertook a complex transformation programme to establish a single network of laboratories, underpinned by a single Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and single Quality Management System (QMS).
The Partnership has a main hub laboratory at the Royal London Hospital and Essential Service Laboratories (ESL) as a minimum at the six other hospital sites served by the Partnership.
The 2024/25 total operating costs across the Partnership were c. £121m per annum with a workforce establishment of circa.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within the Pathology Partnership and Barts Health at this band
Job responsibilities
We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledgerequired. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
Person Specification
Experience
* Highly developed specialist knowledge in immunology and H&I serology and molecular genetics (gained over at least a 4 year post HCPC state registration period) covering all routine and non-routine H&I tests
* Significant theoretical knowledge and practical experience in HLA routine and non-routine serological techniques including Luminex antibody screening and identification, and flowcytometric crossmatching
* Experience of virtual crossmatching and transplant immunological risk assessment in support of solid organ transplantation
* Regularly required to lead the design and implementation of validation of new processes, kits, reagents and equipment and developing and carrying out laboratory audits that lead to changes in practice in the department
* Experience of non HLA antibodies and their role in solid organ transplantation
Skills
* Ability to provide and receive complex information, with good persuasion and motivational skills. Tact and diplomacy
* Proven organizational skills with experience of planning complex activities, requiring the formulating and adapting of plans
* Will be required to take overall strategic responsibility for managing all aspects of the section. Day to day operational management will be delegated to an experience band 7 Ops Lead as appropriate
* Must be able to apply own judgement to the interpretation of a range of highly complex laboratory results, including Luminex antibody, HLA type and Flow crossmatch, correctly analysing the data and making judgements about clinical options available in each scenario
* Must be able to take into account patient clinical history, including relevance of patient disease type and stage, treatments and medication the patient might be on, as well as impact of previous transplants and other sensitizing events and type of donor and nature of any HLA mismatches before making a decision about the best options for a patient
* Be required to lead changes to clinical and operational policies and procedures in their own section and to help propose changes to policies and procedures covering all aspects of the laboratory service beyond their immediate department
* Must also be able to propose quality improvement changes to all areas of the laboratory beyond their immediate department
Knowledge
* Highly developed specialist knowledge in immunology and H&I serology and molecular genetics (gained over at least a 4 year post HCPC state registration period) covering all routine and non-routine H&I tests
Qualifications
* BSc in a biological science
* FRCPath Part 1 in H&I or MSc degree in a biological science and be actively working towards FRCPath Part 1
* A PhD in a biological science or DClinSci
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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