King's College London

About Us

The School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, within the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King’s College London, is seeking a motivated physicist to support advanced research and clinical activity on its Siemens 7T Terra.X MRI scanner. Based at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, the system operates as the London Collaborative Ultra-high Field Scanner (LoCUS) facility.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the forefront of ultra-high-field MRI within a vibrant, multidisciplinary research environment. The 7T system is housed within the Advanced MRI Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital, which also includes a Siemens Vida 3T scanner and the UK’s first Siemens Free.Max 0.55T system. All three scanners are supported by fully equipped clinical infrastructure, an RF engineering laboratory, and a core team of expert physicists and clinicians. The Advanced MRI Centre forms a key part of the School’s wider imaging infrastructure, which also includes multiple high-specification 1.5T and 3T MRI systems and an ultra-low-field 0.064T MRI scanner.

The LoCUS facility supports a diverse portfolio of clinical and technical research projects, including neurological, musculoskeletal, and oncological imaging. In addition to research activity, the scanner delivers specialised clinical neuroimaging services, receiving referrals from centres across the UK. LoCUS has a uniquely strong focus on paediatric imaging and hosts the UK’s only ultra-high-field neonatal imaging programme.

About The Role

You will play a key role in enabling cutting-edge MRI research by working closely with researchers and clinicians from King’s College London, Guy’s & St Thomas’, London and beyond to support, optimise, and implement advanced imaging methods. You will provide expert advice on protocol design and parameter optimisation, stay engaged with developments in the ultra-high-field MRI literature, and contribute to the adaptation or development of novel acquisition techniques and sequences.

Alongside this research-focused activity, you will help ensure the safe, reliable, and effective operation of the 7T system. This includes maintaining scanner performance through regular quality assurance, providing hands-on technical support during scanning sessions, and contributing to the investigation and resolution of technical issues in collaboration with on-site engineers and the manufacturer. You will also support scanner hardware and software upgrades, including testing and validation.

Safety, governance, and quality are central to the role. You will contribute to safety and risk assessments, support the development of MRI safety policies, and help train clinical and technical staff in relevant aspects of MR physics. While primarily a technical support role, the post offers scope for professional development and active involvement in collaborative and independent research. Due to the nature of the role, regular onsite attendance (at least 3 days p/w) will be required, as well as occasional out of hours work.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD awarded (or near completion) in medical physics, engineering or other relevant subject or equivalent experience
2. Sound understanding of MRI physics and image acquisition principles, with awareness of safety considerations in high-field MRI.
3. Experience working with MRI systems in a research or advanced technical environment, with hands-on involvement in data acquisition or system support.
4. Ability to work collaboratively with clinicians and researchers to support and optimise MRI protocols, translating scientific requirements into practical implementations.
5. Experience using scientific computing tools (e.g. MATLAB, Python, or similar) for data analysis, quality assessment, or method development.
6. Demonstrated ability to diagnose and resolve technical issues in complex systems, and to escalate appropriately when required.
7. Good written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to contribute to technical documentation, standard operating procedures, and reports.
8. Experienced in working independently, managing competing priorities, and operating in accordance with safety, governance, and good research practice requirements, planning and responding to changes to the regulatory and wider context.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience with ultra-high-field MRI (7T or above) or advanced MRI methods.
2. Experience modifying or developing MRI pulse sequences or working with vendor research platforms.
3. Experience performing or interpreting MRI quality assurance measurements.
4. Experience contributing to MRI safety assessments, risk assessments, or safety policy development.
5. Evidence of contribution to research outputs (e.g. publications, conference presentations), or a clear interest in developing research profile alongside technical duties.

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 page. 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.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

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.

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearances.