Website Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Summary
Are you passionate about using your skills to improve the UK’s defensive capabilities against chemical, biological and radiological agents?
We have an exciting opportunity for three microbiology roles available within the Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) Division.
We need microbiologists who are passionate and enthusiastic in one or more of the following areas:
• Immunology – within Microbiology and Aerosol Science Group (MAS)
• Bacteriology – within Chemical and Biological Sense and Protect Group (CBS&P)
• Molecular microbiology – within Chemical Biological Attribution Analysis Group (CBAA)
The successful candidates will be responsible for applying their knowledge to the CBR Divisions work, contributing to a diverse range of projects, assisting in developing methods of analysis for highly pathogenic organisms, and designing and undertaking experiments that deliver evidence which will be used to provide advice to our customers, including both the Front Line Commands and wider Government.
Job description
Microbiology and Aerosol Science Group
• Lead small work packages, alongside senior technical leaders, being responsible for your own research and analysis supporting MoD’s High Containment Capability.
• Grow and manipulate bacteria and viruses at high containment.
• Plan and perform multiple, complex methods and procedures, such as cell culture, Flow cytometry, ELISA, Cytokine Bead Array technologies and general molecular biology techniques (e.g PCR).
• Interpret and analyse data using appropriate statistical analysis tools.
• Maintain detailed laboratory notes with keen attention to detail.
• Develop skill sets to undertake work with animal models.
Chemical and Biological Sense and Protect Group (CBS&P)
Support research, assurance and training activities within the Division by:
• Undertaking production and characterisation of a wide range of microorganisms, focussing on bacteria but with the potential to include viruses.
• Performing experimentation to provide our customers with assurance that the product they are buying meets performance requirements.
• Troubleshooting products to help our partners meet the required specifications.
• Have the opportunity to develop into working in high biological containment laboratories (e.g. ACDP containment level 3).
• Using your expertise to support and deliver military training and exercises simulating biological warfare agent detection.
Chemical and Biological Analysis and Attribution Group (CBAA)
• This capability is an exciting area where the successful candidate will be be part of a highly skilled team of scientific professionals. The work undertaken in this area ranges from fundamental to applied research, participation in international proficiency testing, through to real world operational sample analysis and attribution. The capability has impact at the highest levels of Government and through this opportunity you could become part of the team.
• Carry out laboratory research to support the development of methods and techniques to analyse and identify pathogenic organisms.
• Undertake research that provides the critical supporting evidence for the development of new scientific procedures for inclusion in the Chemical and Biological Analysis and Attribution capability.
• Be responsible for validation of new procedures to enable accreditation under our quality system (ISO17025).
We have strong links across the Defence industry, and with wider government, and to whom we provide advice and expertise. This can include answering high impact, short turnaround questions, undertaking research projects, and support to acquisition programmes. You will have the chance to be involved in all aspects, working within multidisciplinary project teams as the subject matter expert. Technical work is reported to the Project Technical Authority and individuals are line managed by a team leader in the relevant group.
There is an opportunity to join an on-call rota system once trained and established, which would involve working outside of normal hours and would attract an additional payment.
Responsibilities
Technical Skills
Essential Qualifications
Bachelor of Science an appropriate scientific area (e.g. Microbiology, Immunology, Bacteriology, Biological Sciences, Molecular Biology) or equivalent scientific experience.
Essential Skills
• Good communication skills, able to tailor the technical level to the given audience
• Enjoys problem solving
• Good time management and able to prioritise challenging demands
• Scientific writing
• Proficient in the use of MS Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)
• Collaborative team working within home area and across the Division(s).
Essential Experience
• Confirmed experience in applied microbiology research
• Laboratory experience and understanding of working practices in ACDP/ACGM containment level 2
• Experience of growing a variety of microorganisms including bacteria (CBS&P post)
• Laboratory experience of real-time qPCR and nucleic acid extraction methods (CBAA post)
• Experience in immunological assays and methods such as ELISA, flow cytometry, LUMINEX, ELISPOT, tissue culture and cell stimulation assays (MAS post)
• Experience in reaching evidence based conclusions, supported by analysis
Please see the attached job description for Desirable skills and experience
Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.
Important Information
Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be British Citizens who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to understand the work you will undertake to protect us from any security threats. For this reason, we regret that only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.
This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years.
If you are a current Dstl employee, you are encouraged to inform your line manager of your application as they can support you through the process and should you be successful it will help in negotiating a release date
Qualifications
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
Technical skills
We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Experience in applied microbiology research
Reference number: 131061