King's College London

About Us

The Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine (FoLSM) is seeking to appoint a Senior Technician (Education) to support the delivery of practical education within the Centre for Education. Working as part of a multidisciplinary technical team across several departments, the post holder will primarily support the delivery of teaching and learning activities associated with engineering degree programmes within the multidisciplinary teaching laboratories at Guy's Campus and will manage the teaching-focused Engineering Workshops at St Thomas' Campus.

The role requires practical technical expertise and working knowledge of engineering workshop and prototyping technologies, including 3D printers, CNC machines, laser cutters, and electronic prototyping and testing equipment. The post holder will support academic staff and students in the safe and effective use of these facilities and technologies to deliver practical teaching, design projects, coursework, and independent student projects.

The role includes preparing laboratories and workshops for large-scale practical teaching sessions, specialist teaching activities, student projects, outreach activities, and events. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to innovation in engineering education and enhance the student experience. While the primary responsibility is supporting engineering teaching activities, the post holder will also provide technical support to other laboratories and workshops as required.

The post holder will report to the Technical Managers at both Guy's and St Thomas' Campuses and play a key role in delivering an excellent student experience through the effective management and continuous development of engineering teaching facilities, so is expected to be flexible and amenable to working across campuses, as needed.

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

About The Role

• Provide in-depth knowledge of technical or scientific practices, methods and procedures gained through experience and/or formal qualification.

• Be responsible for the delivery and day-to-day management of a range of technical services, ensuring an efficient use of resources.

• Engage in Continuing Professional Development and training initiatives, in line with the Technician Commitment and Research Concordat for a minimum of 10 days pro rata per year.

• Manage/ supervise the installation, maintenance and security of equipment, systems, and software, with control over service budgets, stocks/stores equipment and supplies.

• Manage/supervise a small team, advising and providing feedback and identifying training and development needs.

• Manage own workload, pattern of work and resources based on an agreed work plan.

• Be responsive to changing priorities and an evolving environment/context, maximising the efficiency of the technical support being provided.

• Use a systematic and timely approach to solve problems that have a moderate impact on the service of potentially up to a year making decisions independently using agreed guidelines.

• Use well-developed analytical skills to identify trends and patterns, using appropriate techniques and procedures to inform decisions.

• Work with colleagues and network within and beyond King’s.

• Actively engage in the King’s Technical Network, building a network across the Faculty to provide peer support and opportunities to share best practice.

• Forge relationships with colleagues in the university and externally, to build relationships, disseminate and get information, coordinate, and deliver the service.

• Provide advice/ guidance and, where appropriate, training.

• Communicate complex information in a clear and precise way, both orally and in writing.

• Adapt local procedures to improve the service to meet the needs of the users.

• Demonstrate leadership and innovation in the implementation of environmentally sustainable practices, recording progress through the King’s sustainability audit process and sharing good practice. Nurture and encourage sustainable practices and leadership within your team and networks.

• Be responsible for the compliance with relevant regulations governing the service, completing risk assessments to inform actions and ensure a safe and environmentally sustainable workplace.

• Report accidents/ incidents and participate in accident investigations where appropriate.

• Facilitate an inclusive culture and ethos working with academic, research and other professional services staff and colleagues external to King’s.

• Participate in cross-School/ Faculty/ university projects and initiatives for up to 10% FTE.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. Minimum level 4 qualification, e.g., higher apprenticeship, HNC or other Level 4 award, plus work experience in relevant technical/scientific posts OR Considerable knowledge and skills gained through work experience in relevant technical or scientific posts 
2. Evidence of an active commitment to career development including professional registration, such as RSci, or working towards CSci and clear progression in increasingly demanding jobs.  
3. Extensive technical experience and knowledge of a range of scientific procedures and the underpinning scientific theory applicable to the work area and the environmental impact.  
4. Clear spoken and written communication skills, with proficient computer use and strong interpersonal and influencing/behavioural skills.  
5. Proactive and responsive to contacts in immediate area, across the wider organisation and externally (e.g., suppliers) to build relationships and network.  
6. Solutions-focused self-starter, with excellent planning and analytical skills, able to manage competing priorities and work with minimal supervision.  
7. Good working knowledge of regulations and best practice governing area of work, including Health & Safety and environmental sustainability.  
8. Knowledge of environmental impacts of laboratory work and an interest in reducing the negative impacts. 

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of supervising/advising junior team members, giving feedback on performance levels and training/coaching where necessary.  
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 page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

 

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

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 person specification section of the job description. 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.