The Role
The role requires a talented Research Technician to work on a Rosetrees Trust funded project investigating the role of Immunosuppressive Macrophages in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC).
The post will join a wider community of technical professionals within the Faculty of Medicine overseen by the technical manager. The role will be is based in the Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group.
The post will join the wider research group working on Immunosuppressive Macrophages in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) which is the 3rd major cause of cancer related deaths. This research project will use complex human and mouse (including humanised mice) ex-vivo and in vivo pre-clinical models of HCC to explore if manipulating the biology of immunosuppressive macrophages in HCC and inhibiting their ability to infiltrate tumours enhances immunotherapy in metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)-HCC.
This post is full time, for a fixed term period until 31 October 2028. Applicants who wish to work less than full time may be considered.
For informal inquiries, contact Professor Fiona Oakley () or Professor Derek Mann ().
Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here:
Key Accountabilities
1. To be responsible for day-to-day management and support of experimental work involving human and mouse tissue/cells
2. To gain familiarity in the relevant human and mouse models of HCC to conduct relevant experiments (initially under supervision, and then independently)
3. To keep accurate, secure, detailed and up to date records of all work carried out under the guidance of research staff
4. Liaise with suppliers and manufacturers to resolve problems and investigate replacement options
5. Assist with the completion and updating of a wide range of safety paperwork
6. Oversee compliance tasks ensuring timely completion and maintenance of appropriate records
7. Maintain broad and up to date health and safety knowledge providing support/advice to others
8. Schedule, prioritize and monitor work and performance in line with demands and deadlines
9. Attend research seminars and other departmental meetings as required
10. Contribute to the presentation of results to the academic leads and to the group more widely.
11. Hold delegated responsibility from the academic/technical lead for the planning, operation, and supervision of a variety of laboratory spaces
12. Work collaboratively with the other areas to ensure efficiency and elimination of duplicated effort
13. Be a key contributor to service development, delivery and planning
14. Contribute and support change
15. Monitor resource usage and stores operations
16. Create, update and implement procedures to deliver an aligned, efficient and effective service
17. Provide a broad range of skilled research/teaching support
18. Prepare and manufacture a range of specimens/samples with limited direction
19. Design, develop and deliver inductions, demonstrations and training covering a broad range of activities (not limited to techniques and equipment)
20. Assist managers with the identification of training and development needs
21. Develop a broad knowledge and skills base, sharing with others
22. Out of hours work if required
23. Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required
The Person (Essential)
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
24. Thorough working knowledge of Health and Safety procedures, and experience of safe waste management within a workshop/laboratory environment
25. Demonstrable work experience in a relevant technical laboratory role eg: experience of PCR, ELISAs, sterile cell culture, histology, immunohistochemistry
26. Excellent team working skills
27. Demonstrates technical and problem solving capability
28. Demonstrates good organising ability to meet deadlines with a positive and proactive approach to duties and attention to detail
29. Contribute to design and specification of teaching/research activities (Desirable)
30. Flow cytometry experience (desirable)
31. Ability to adapt to changes in teaching/research priorities
Attributes and Behaviour
32. Passionate about cancer research and/or liver diseases
33. Eagerness to develop new skills
34. Excellent oral and written communication skills
35. Good interpersonal skills to interface with staff
36. Attention to detail to ensure accuracy and precision
37. Work in a collaborative and flexible way
38. To exhibit University and Faculty values and principles
Qualifications
39. BTEC HNC/HND or equivalent in a biosciences subject or related field or equivalent experience in this area
40. A BSc in a related Biosciences field (Desirable)
41. An MSc or MRes in Cancer Research or Biosciences related field (Desirable)
42. Professional registration with an accredited professional body (including HEA) or working towards this on appointment (Desirable)
Success Factors
Team-working (Self)
43. Co-operative
44. Respects the expertise and contribution of others even if own opinion is different
45. Shares relevant and useful information with others
46. Keeps other team members up to date with progress
47. Gets involved with team tasks
48. Willing to help others and share workloads
49. Supportive of team decisions
50. Asks others’ opinion
51. Encourages others to get involved
52. Talks about other team members in a positive way
53. Respects the value that different views bring to the team
Planning and organising (Self)
54. Planning and managing own work
55. Works in a planned and structured way
56. Uses own and others’ time effectively
57. Sets own priorities in conjunction with team and area objectives
58. Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way
59. Ensures that all activities are completed on time
60. Uses systems and tools to ensure records and audit trails are clear and up to date
61. Keeps work systems up to date, neat and tidy
62. Ensures that others know how process and systems work
Delivering services (Self)
63. Getting the job done well
64. Sees others departments and colleagues as “customers” and follows through on their enquiries and requests
65. Keeps fellow team members up to date with progress
66. Co-operates with others in achieving targets
67. Takes responsibility for achieving own targets
68. Has a positive attitude for doing things better
69. Looks for ways to make immediate improvements (quick wins)
70. Pays attention to detail
71. Strives to deliver high quality results
72. Is enthusiastic in getting the job done on time
Embracing Change (Self)
73. Making improvements in your own role
74. Comes forward with new ideas and concepts
75. Anticipates change and prepares for it
76. Accepts change and “runs” with it
77. Willing to experiment, enterprising in approach
78. Builds on others’ ideas and suggestions
79. Willing to change ways and policies in light of new information
Communicating (Self)
80. Clear communicator
81. Is factually correct and gives consistent verbal and non verbal messages
82. Clear and concise; gets the message across to others
83. Chooses communication tools appropriately e.g. selective use of emails and other channels of communicationTailors content of communication to the audience, changing style, tone and format appropriately
84. Uses face to face communication regularly; team meetings, one to ones, informal discussions/chats, briefing sessions etc
85. Can hold attention of others using appropriate techniques; questioning, rhetorical questions, changing tone and pace of voice and animated style
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a Gold award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 29057