Job Description
Job Title: Technician: Horticulture
Posting Start Date: 21/08/2025
Job Id: 1455
School/Department: Biosciences
Work Arrangement: Full Time (On site)
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary per annum (£): £27,319 - £31,236 per annum with the potential to progress to £39,906
Closing Date: 10/09/2025
The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.
We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more.

• Maintain the laboratories in the 3 sites (Annex, AWEC and High Bradfield) ensuring a fair use policy is complied with by all researchers, and provide technical support as delegated by the Technical Specialist: Controlled Environments.
• Take the lead in training students in horticultural techniques using skills and knowledge to implement and interpret experimental work.
• Advise researchers on the optimal cultivation techniques and growing conditions for their experiments and any other considerations that may need to be considered to ensure healthy plant growth, including advice on pest management.
• Order supplies and maintain adequate stocks of growing media and consumables across all sites to ensure continuity of research.
• Monitor and take environmental readings in the greenhouse, interpret the data and make changes in the greenhouse monitoring software as necessary.
• Provide technical support, including training, operation, running samples, demonstrating and troubleshooting laboratory equipment.
• Understand, promote and apply relevant COSHH/risk assessments and departmental health and safety protocols, ensuring procedures are followed at all times.
• Implement a fair use policy for storage of samples, preventing overcrowding of storage including cold storage.
• Along with the Technical Specialist: Controlled Environments, implement local safe systems of work pertinent to the facilities on all sites (transportation, biosafety, avoidance of cross-contamination between sites, waste disposal).
• Apply pesticides and biocontrol to plants as and when necessary; after consultation with users and their PI’s. Ensure application is carried out in accordance with the Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR) and the GB Biocidal Products Regulations (GB BPR).
• Ensure users follow safe systems of work, and escalate issues of those that do not, in specialist areas for example use of compressed gases, cryogens, packaging of biological samples for transport.
• Report faults with the infrastructure to the Technical Specialist: Controlled Environments relating to the upkeep of the infrastructure for the 3 sites.
• Carry out inductions for staff and students and maintain records of these.
• Actively contribute to a culture in the School of Biosciences where all staff and students are treated fairly, feel welcome, and can flourish professionally or academically.
• As a member of our Professional staff you will be expected to demonstrate a commitment to the professional behaviours set out in the Technical and Professional Services Shared Skills framework.
• As a member of staff you will be encouraged to make ethical decisions in your role, embedding the University sustainability strategy into your working activities wherever possible.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.