Salary: £38,939 to £41,321 permanent full‑time or part‑time (>0.8 FTE). We reserve the right to close this advert early if we find the right candidate, so we encourage you to apply early.
Job Overview
We have an exciting opportunity for a Metals Research Chemist to join our Analytical Chemistry team in Lancaster, within the acclaimed Environmental Pressures and Responses Group. This multidisciplinary team is at the forefront of understanding how pollution, land‑use change, and climate pressures affect ecosystems. Working across air, land, and water, we generate high‑quality evidence that directly informs action on environmental change.
We are looking for a motivated analytical chemist with strong expertise in inorganic analysis, in particular metal analysis, who is driven by scientific excellence and real‑world impact. In this role, you will collaborate widely across UKCEH and the broader scientific community, helping to shape innovative research ideas and secure funding.
You will thrive if you are creative, collaborative, and proactive, bringing accuracy, curiosity, and a passion for solving complex problems. Innovation is encouraged, and your analytical insight will directly enhance the team’s capability.
Key responsibilities
* Leading the development of analytical methods arising from new scientific and funding opportunities, including method validation and the preparation of robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
* Generating income through writing bids, grant applications, and tender responses.
* Contributing to, and leading where appropriate, high‑impact scientific outputs, providing analytical data and methodological content for peer‑reviewed publications, customer reports, presentations, and book or book chapter materials.
* Ensuring the quality and integrity of analytical data, including oversight of data generation where required.
* Training, mentoring, and supervising laboratory staff, supporting skills development and maintaining high technical standards across the team.
* Managing laboratory operations, including responsibility for the safe use of facilities, compliance with COSHH, and day‑to‑day lab management.
* Working within the laboratory quality system and ISO17025, including managing inorganic non‑conforming work investigations and undertaking internal audits across the group.
* Liaising directly with instrument manufacturers, contributing to the evaluation and selection of new analytical instrumentation.
* Performing routine analyses when required, ensuring continuity and resilience of laboratory capability.
* May take on line management responsibilities as the role develops.
In this role you will join a well‑established team working in world‑class laboratories, equipped with cutting‑edge analytical instrumentation, advanced methodologies, and comprehensive sample preparation facilities. You will contribute to the delivery of high‑quality, innovative analytical data, including work accredited to UKAS ISO17025:2017, supporting a wide range of impactful projects.
The Lancaster laboratories have achieved the highest certification (Gold) under the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), the world’s largest green laboratory certification scheme.
Qualifications
* PhD in Environmental Chemistry, or MSc in Environmental Chemistry (or related discipline) with substantial laboratory experience.
* Solid grounding in environmental chemistry, with particular expertise in how metals behave and can be analysed in diverse environmental matrices.
* Proven experience in environmental chemical analyses with working knowledge of ICP‑MS, ICP‑OES, and XRF techniques (incl. method development and optimisation).
* Specialist knowledge of method development for metals analysis in niche matrices and at trace levels.
* Established track record of publishing in peer‑reviewed journals and delivering impactful presentations at scientific conferences.
* Demonstrable success in securing research funding through competitive bids.
Benefits
* 27 days annual leave (rising to 29 days after 5 years of service) plus 3 days for Christmas closure.
* 10% employer pension contribution.
* Flexible and hybrid working arrangements (role dependent).
* Peer reward and recognition scheme.
* Dental insurance, gym/fitness discounts, retail discount portal.
* Enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
* 24‑hour, 365‑day support with physical, mental, social, health or financial issues.
Commitment to Inclusion
At UKCEH, we are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, abilities, and circumstances. As a Disability Confident employer, we actively encourage applications from neurodivergent candidates and people with disabilities, and we’re happy to provide adjustments or support at any stage of the recruitment process.
If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we’d love to hear from you anyway.
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