Research Facility Manager - Clean Labs

We are seeking a Research Facility Manager who will play a leading role in managing our state-of-the-art isotope clean laboratories and providing technical and analytical development support for isotope geochemistry in these labs. The class 1000 clean laboratories contain 16 ~ class 100 workstations and support ~ 30 users at any given time, (including PIs, staff, post-doctoral research fellows, undergraduate masters and graduate students). These labs support a dynamic and diverse geochemistry group and are used to prepare and purify a wide range of geological samples (including but not limited to rocks, minerals, meteorites, waters, bio-minerals, soils) for isotope and trace element analysis using a suite of mass spectrometers (MC-ICPMS, TIMS, ICP-MS, ICP-OES).

The role of the successful applicant will include: i) developing, maintaining and managing the clean laboratories, and troubleshooting laboratory issues (e.g. de-ionised water supply, air handling, acid distillation) in a time and cost-efficient manner; ii) working with users (PIs, staff, post-doctoral research fellows, undergraduate masters and graduate students) to help develop and establish new laboratory procedures and instrumentation (e.g. reagent preparation, sample digestion and chemical purification, acid stills, development of isotope "spiking" techniques); iii) training laboratory users, including post-doctoral research fellows, masters and graduate students; iv) overseeing clean laboratory chemistry orders and budgeting; v) overseeing clean laboratory chemistry safety procedures; vi) taking responsibility for the maintenance and management of the ICP-MS and ICP-OES instruments; vii) optimising clean laboratory usage to balance research project data production with quick turn-around commercial contract work; advising research staff and group leaders (PIs) on the development and implementation of future research projects; viii) contributing to and (depending on interest) writing their own research papers for peer-reviewed journals. The successful applicant will also have the opportunity to carry out their own research and attend national and international conferences and workshops.

The successful applicant will have a comprehensive knowledge of clean laboratory work including the preparation and purification of geological and/or environmental samples (or equivalent) for isotope and trace element analysis, as well as experience in isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Applicants should have excellent communication skills, be well organised and flexible in their approach, and be able to work on their own initiative. They should have experience of working in a research environment and hold a PhD in a relevant scientific discipline, or have recently submitted a PhD dissertation in that area.

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Please ensure that you upload your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and covering letter in the upload section.

Further information on the position can be found in the Further Particulars document.

For any role-related queries, please contact Professor Helen Williams in the Department of Earth Sciences via email at; [email protected]

Please quote reference LB40314 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Further information
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