King's College London

About Us

PharosAI offers a unique cancer AI product development ecosystem for drug discovery and clinical applications, democratising access to data, AI assets, technologies, and capabilities. PharosAI unites large-scale multimodal cancer datasets with AI models through a highly secure, trusted, federated platform, offering state-of-the-art AI tooling for use by pharma/biotech/life-sciences, AI-pharma, and AI developers of clinical applications, in enterprises, growth companies, and research organisations. 

You will be based in the Innovation Hub, Guy’s Cancer Centre, Guy’s Hospital, within the King’s Health Partners Cancer Biobank. The Biobank has been supporting translational cancer research at a national level since the 1970’s and accrued a significant number of samples during that time, all of which have been acquired under documented procedures and linked to verified clinical data. The Biobank has a team of more than 15 full time staff, including Advanced Practitioners, Consent Co-Ordinator, Quality Manager and Specialist Technicians.

About The Role

We are seeking two enthusiastic Specialist Technicians to join PharosAI and the KHP Cancer Biobank to support the sample preparation and digitisation service. 

The postholders will have both a technical and administrative role, including requesting and preparing samples for digitisation and other tissue-based techniques including immunohistochemistry and DNA/RNA extraction. Training will be provided on equipment use and techniques, including microtomy and cryotomy, alongside locally used recording and quality management systems. The successful applicants will also be responsible for the maintenance of essential equipment, communicating with users, Technical Managers and service engineers. 

The role will require liaising with various hospital pathology departments to request tissue blocks and slides. An awareness and compliance with relevant regulatory requirements and a meticulous approach to record-keeping is paramount to ensure quality standards are met. 

The postholders may occasionally be required to support collection and preparation of clinical samples, including tissues, bloods and other biofluids for the KHP Cancer Biobank and subsequent incorporation of associated data into PharosAI.

We actively support career development of our technical staff, with opportunities for continued professional development, including working towards RSciTech/ RSci. The role may occasionally require working outside of core hours, including weekends and evenings, dependent upon deadlines or attendance at PharosAI events. 

This is a full time (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an fixed term contract until 31st March 2027.

About You

Candidates will be advised to review the document supplied in the advert to identify where these criteria will be assessed To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: 

Essential criteria

1. Minimum level 3 qualification (e.g. A levels, AS levels, International Baccalaureate diploma or other level 3 qualification) plus work experience in a relevant technical/scientific post or considerable knowledge and skills gained through work experience in a relevant technical or scientific post. 
2. Evidence of an active commitment to career development including professional registration, such as RSciTech or RSci and clear progression in increasingly demanding jobs 
3. Knowledge and practical use of a range of technical skills and their environmental impact. 
4. Ability to apply learnt techniques to the work context. 
5. Clear spoken and written communication skills, with proficient computer use and strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills. 
6. Proactive and responsive to contacts in immediate area, across the wider organisation and externally (e.g., suppliers) to build relationships and network. 
7. Solutions-focused self-starter, with strong planning and analytical skills, able to manage competing priorities and work with minimal supervision. 
8. Working knowledge of regulations and best practice governing area of work, including Health & Safety and environmental sustainability. 

Desirable criteria

1. Experience in supervising/advising less experienced colleagues, monitoring, and providing feedback on performance. 
2. Able and willing to provide support beyond core hours, as required. 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process. 

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.