Laboratory Technician (in vivo models)

at  Kings College London

Job id: 106545. Salary: £33,879 - £35,505 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.
Posted: 04 February 2025. Closing date: 18 February 2025.
Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Wolfson SPaRC.
Contact details: Emma Hartill. emma.hartill@kcl.ac.uk
Location: Guy’s Campus. Category: Professional & Support Services.
About Us
About the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre
The Wolfson SPaRC (Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre) is one of four departments in the School of Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. The department, formerly known as the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, is located on the Guy’s Campus in a dedicated building which was generously supported by the Wolfson Foundation.
Research in the department spans three main themes: Chronic Pain & Migraine, Spinal Cord & Brain Repair, and Hearing Loss & Sensory Systems. Our fundamental mission is to understand the biological mechanisms behind these neurological and sensory disorders and harness this knowledge to develop new therapeutic strategies. We have world-leading experts who interrogate these conditions at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and whole systems level. Cross-cutting strengths lie in our world-leading expertise in neuroplasticity, interdisciplinary neuro-immune research, high-throughput sequencing technologies, drug discovery and advanced therapeutics. We have excellent facilities to support our parallel use of pre-clinical cell and in vivo models, alongside human cellular models, which provide an essential platform for us to forward- and back-translate our fundamental research to and from the clinic.
About the School of Neuroscience
The School of Neuroscience is UK’s 2nd largest Neuroscience school with over 500 researcher and 200 PhD students. It is one of three schools at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. We are ranked 4th in the world for the total number of publications in neuroscience, 4th for the number of publication outputs in top 5% citations in neuroscience, and 4th for top 5% citations in neurology.
Our academic and research staff are integral to our school. Their work is supported by a group of Professional Services staff members within the departments as well as at the school level. We support staff members requiring flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments. Upon consultation at the points of recruitment and onboarding, we will strive to provide the best adjustments for you.
We strongly encourage our staff to dedicate time to their professional development through training courses and participation in working groups and networks. We also encourage our staff to seek mentoring outside their direct line management. Mentoring, both via formal and informal arrangements, allows individuals to fully explore their career situation and development. Our weekly school circular regularly captures and promotes opportunities open to all staff.
About the role
We are seeking an enthusiastic, self-motivated research technician with an interest in Biomedical Research to become part of a dynamic research group studying spinal cord and brain repair and advanced regenerative therapies.
You will be working with a team of PhD students, post-doctoral researchers and undergraduate/postgraduate students. We are a collegiate, collaborative group who foster a supportive, inclusive environment and a positive research culture. We are based in the heart of London, at the Guy’s Hospital Campus of King’s College London. Our world-leading University is linked with three teaching hospitals, and with King’s Health Partners we are at the forefront of developing new advanced therapies for disorders that are currently untreatable.
We specialise in in vivo experimental models of nervous system disease and injury and developing new regenerative therapies for treating these disorders.
The candidate will provide support for ongoing in vivo studies involving experimental rodent models and will be required to assist with animal handling, surgical support, pre and post operative care and animal behaviour.
The candidate will also assist with histological techniques and with general technical support required for maintaining the surgical and behavioural experimental laboratories.
This post is suited to a candidate with previous experience in working with experimental rodent models, who would like to gain more technical skills and expertise in this area.
The candidate may sometimes be required to work out of hours and occasional weekends, when support for animal care is needed.
Prior experience in working with experimental research animals is essential, but additional training will be provided.
This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31 March 2026.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• Experienced with working with experimental animals (rodents) and animal in vivo experimentation
• PIL holder (or recent PIL holder)
• Previous experience of work in a research environment
• A levels or vocational qualifications (HNC, NVQ3) and/or skills and experience acquired through relevant work experience
• Ability to work proactively within in a team as well as independently
• Dynamic and highly motivated
• Excellent time-management skills
• Excellent communication skills

Desirable criteria

• Background in animal technology and/or in vivo models of disease
• Experience of histological techniques (tissue processing, cutting etc)
• Experience with providing general lab support
• BSc in biomedical sciences (or similar subject)

Downloading a copy of our Job Description
Further Information
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King’s.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Interviews are due to be held on mid Feb.
We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.
This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances

Please refer the Job description for details