Degree Laboratory Apprentice Technician

University of Liverpool; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution seeks a Degree Laboratory Apprentice Technician to assist in laboratory services while pursuing a Level 6 Laboratory Scientist degree. Responsibilities include maintaining a safe lab environment, supporting practical sessions, and delivering training. Suitable candidates should be proactive, willing to learn, and possess GCSEs in English and Maths. This role offers mentorship and training within a collaborative technical team, balancing study and practical lab experience.

Benefits

Real Living Wage employer

26 days annual leave

Mentorship and structured training

Qualifications

• Age 18 or older with the right to work in the UK.
• No prior degree or higher qualification required.

Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of laboratory services in the university.
• Maintain clean and safe lab environments.
• Assist with setup for practical sessions and simple analyses.
• Deliver basic skills training for students and staff.

Skills

Communication skills

IT skills

Attention to detail

Organization skills

Customer care skills

Problem solving skills

Presentation skills

Administrative skills

Logical thinking

Team working

Initiative

Education

GCSEs in English and Maths (Grade C or 4 and above)

A Levels (including Biology), BTEC, or T Level Science

Job description

As a Degree Laboratory Apprentice Technician, you will support the delivery of laboratory services across the University of Liverpool's central city campus while studying towards a Level 6 Laboratory Scientist (Biosciences) degree. You will be part of a collaborative technical team based in multiple buildings, contributing to the safe and efficient operation of teaching and research laboratories. Your responsibilities will include:

• Maintaining clean, safe, and well-equipped laboratory environments, including routine housekeeping, waste disposal, and equipment care.
• Assisting with the setup and clear away of materials for undergraduate and postgraduate practical sessions, including preparing media, solutions, and basic experiments.
• Supporting class preparation, simple laboratory analyses, and routine technical tasks under supervision.
• Delivering laboratory inductions and basic skills training for students and staff and assisting with occasional demonstrations.
• Monitoring and maintaining specialist equipment, arranging servicing, and helping users operate equipment safely and effectively.
• Taking a lead role in laboratory management, including safety, maintenance, and operational planning, as your experience develops.
• Developing and maintaining standard operating procedures and other relevant documentation, with guidance from senior staff.
• Applying health and safety procedures, including risk assessments, audits, and incident reporting, under supervision.
• Managing stock levels, handling deliveries, cataloguing samples, and supporting the organisation of laboratory assets.
• Participating in wider university activities such as open days, outreach events, and sustainability initiatives (e.g., LEAF).
• Contributing to experimental research and your final-year project as part of your degree qualification.
• Identify the limits of own practice and when to seek advice or refer to another professional or service.
• Recognise the need to manage own workload and resources safely and effectively, including managing the emotional burden that comes with working in a pressured environment.
• Keep own skills and knowledge up to date.
• Maintain high standards of personal and professional conduct.
• Promote and protect the service user's interests at all times.
• Actively look for signs of abuse and engage in relevant safeguarding processes.
• Respect and uphold the rights, dignity, values, and autonomy of service users, including own role in the assessment, diagnostic, treatment and/or therapeutic process.
• Recognise that relationships with service users, carers and others should be based on mutual respect and trust, and maintain high standards of care in all circumstances.
• Obtain valid consent, which is voluntary and informed, has due regard to capacity, is proportionate to the circumstances and is appropriately documented.
• Exercise a professional duty of care.
• Apply legislation, policies and guidance relevant to own profession and scope of practice.
• Recognise the power imbalance which comes with being a health care professional, and ensure it is not for personal gain.
• Work in accordance with the British, European and International Standards that govern and affect pathology laboratory practice.
• Identify own anxiety and stress and recognise the potential impact on own practice.
• Develop and adopt clear strategies for physical and mental self-care and self-awareness, to maintain a high standard of professional effectiveness and a safe working environment.
• Recognise that they are personally responsible for and must be able to justify their decisions and actions.
• Use own skills, knowledge and experience, and the information available, to make informed decisions and / or take action where necessary.
• Make reasoned decisions to initiate, continue, modify or cease treatment or the use of techniques or procedures, and record the decisions and reasoning appropriately.
• Make and receive appropriate referrals, where necessary.
• Exercise personal initiative.
• Demonstrate a logical and systematic approach to problem solving.
• Use research, reasoning and problem solving skills when determining appropriate actions.
• Respond appropriately to the needs of all different groups and individuals in practice, recognising this can be affected by difference of any kind including, but not limited to, protected characteristics, intersectional experiences and cultural differences.
• Recognise the potential impact of own values, beliefs and personal biases, which may be unconscious, on practice and take personal action to ensure all service users and carers are treated appropriately with respect and dignity.
• Actively challenge barriers to inclusion, supporting the implementation of change wherever possible.
• Adhere to the professional duty of confidentiality.
• Respond in a timely manner to situations where it is necessary to share information to safeguard service users, carers and/or the wider public and recognise situations where it is necessary to share information to safeguard service users, carers and/or the wider public.
• Use effective and appropriate verbal and non-verbal skills to communicate with service users, carers, colleagues and others.
• Communicate in English to the required standard for the profession.
• Work with service users and/or carers to facilitate the service user's preferred role in decision-making, and provide service users and carers with the information they may need where appropriate.
• Modify own means of communication to address the individual communication needs and preferences of service users and carers, and remove any barriers to communication where possible.
• Use information, communication and digital technologies appropriate to own practice.
• Communicate the outcomes of biomedical procedures.
• Keep full, clear and accurate records in accordance with applicable legislation, protocols and guidelines.
• Manage records and all other information in accordance with applicable legislation, protocols and guidelines.
• Use digital record keeping tools, where required.
• Recognise and communicate the risks and possible serious consequences of errors and omissions in both requests for, and results of, laboratory investigations.
• Use systems for the accurate and correct identification of service users and laboratory specimens.
• Work in partnership with service users, carers, colleagues and others.
• Contribute effectively to work undertaken as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Identify anxiety and stress in service users, carers and colleagues, adapting own practice and providing support where appropriate.
• Identify own leadership qualities, behaviours and approaches, taking into account the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Demonstrate leadership behaviours appropriate to own practice.
• Act as a role model for others.
• Promote and engage in the learning of others.
• Engage in evidence-based practice.
• Gather and use feedback and information, including qualitative and quantitative data, to evaluate the responses of service users to own care.
• Monitor and systematically evaluate the quality of practice, and maintain an effective quality management and quality assurance process working towards continual improvement.
• Participate in quality management, including quality control, quality assurance, clinical governance and the use of appropriate outcome measures.
• Evaluate care plans or intervention plans using recognised and appropriate outcome measures, in conjunction with the service user where possible, and revise the plans as necessary.
• Select and apply quality and process control measures.
• Identify and respond appropriately to abnormal outcomes from quality indicators.
• Apply the principles and applications of scientific enquiry, including the evaluation of treatment efficacy and the research process.
• Evaluate analyses using qualitative and quantitative methods to aid the diagnosis, screening and monitoring of health and disorders.
• Change own practice as needed to take account of new developments, technologies and changing contexts.
• Gather appropriate information.
• Analyse and critically evaluate the information collected.
• Select and use appropriate assessment techniques and equipment.
• Undertake and record a thorough, sensitive, and detailed assessment.
• Undertake or arrange investigations as appropriate.
• Conduct appropriate assessment or monitoring procedures, treatment, therapy or other actions safely and effectively.
• Critically evaluate research and other evidence to inform own practice.
• Engage service users in research as appropriate.
• Perform and supervise procedures in clinical laboratory investigations to reproducible standards.
• Operate and utilise specialist equipment according to own discipline.
• Validate scientific and technical data and observations according to pre-determined quality standards.
• Demonstrate proficiency in practical skills in cellular science, blood science, infection science, molecular and genetic science and reproductive science, where appropriate to the discipline.
• Demonstrate practical skills in the processing and analysis of specimens including specimen identification, the effect of storage on specimens and the safe retrieval of specimens.
• Demonstrate practical skills in the investigation of disease processes.
• Work in conformance with standard operating procedures and conditions.
• Work with accuracy and precision.
• Perform calibration and quality control checks.
• Demonstrate operational management of laboratory equipment to check that equipment is functioning within its specifications and to respond appropriately to abnormalities.
• Formulate specific and appropriate management plans including the setting of timescales.
• Select suitable specimens and procedures relevant to service users' clinical needs, including collection and preparation of specimens as and when appropriate.
• investigate and monitor disease processes and normal states.
• Use standard operating procedures for analyses including point of care in vitro diagnostic devices.
• Use statistical packages and present data in an appropriate format.
• Design experiments, report, interpret and present data using scientific convention, including application of SI units and other units used in biomedical science.
• Safely interpret and authorise service user results.
• Comply with all relevant health and safety legislation, local operational procedures and policies.
• Work safely, including being able to select appropriate hazard control and risk management, reduction or elimination techniques in a safe manner and in accordance with health and safety legislation.
• Select appropriate personal protective equipment and use it correctly.
• Establish safe environments for practice, which appropriately manages risk.
• Empower and enable individuals, including service users and colleagues, to play a part in managing their own health.
• Engage in occupational health, including being aware of immunisation requirements.
• Start your bioscience career with a fully funded Applied Biosciences Degree (Level 6) while gaining hands‑on lab experience in a leading research environment., Age 18 or older with the right to work in the UK
• No prior degree or higher qualification
• GCSEs in English and Maths (Grade C or 4 and above)
• A Levels (including Biology), BTEC, or T Level Science, You will be expected to demonstrate a positive, proactive attitude and a willingness to learn. As part of a professional technical team, you should communicate clearly, follow instructions reliably, and take responsibility for your tasks. You will be trusted to work independently on routine duties, solve straightforward problems, and make minor decisions related to your work. A flexible approach to working hours may be required, and you should be ready to support others, challenge poor practices, and uphold the University's values around safety, equality, and inclusion., GCSE in:
• English Language (grade C/4 or above)
• Mathematics (grade C/4 or above)
• A Level in: x 3 A Levels - 1 must be in Biology (grade C/4 or above) Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
• Communication skills
• IT skills
• Attention to detail
• Organisation skills
• Customer care skills
• Problem solving skills
• Presentation skills
• Administrative skills
• Logical
• Team working
• Initiative
• Real Living Wage employer
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays and Christmas closure
• Mentorship, structured training time, and career development

Part of this role will involve working with gas cylinders and liquid nitrogen vessels. You must be physically fit and comfortable with heavy lifting, including manual handling.