Histology and Laboratory Services Manager

The University of Edinburgh; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading academic institution in Edinburgh is seeking a highly experienced Histology and Laboratory Services Manager to oversee the histology lab and enhance operational excellence. This role involves delivering high-quality services for teaching, diagnostics, and research while managing a team and ensuring compliance with health and safety protocols. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in histology, management, and excellent communication skills.

Benefits

Generous holiday entitlement

Competitive pension schemes

Staff discounts

Family-friendly initiatives

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in histology post-qualification.
• Demonstrable Health & Safety knowledge in laboratory settings.
• Track record in managing documentation and quality systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead the histology laboratory and coordinate services.
• Deliver a high-quality histology service for teaching, diagnostics, and research.
• Manage laboratory operations and help coordinate service delivery.

Skills

Professional qualification in biomedical science (Fellowship/MSc)

Advanced technical understanding in histology and immunohistochemistry

Extensive post-qualification experience in Histology

Proven laboratory management experience

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Health & Safety knowledge in laboratory settings

Experience with quality systems

User-level expertise in MS Excel and MS Word

Education

Fellowship/MSc in biomedical science

Tools

LIMS

Q-Pulse

Provet

Job description

Grade UE08: £50,253 to £61,759 per annum

College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine / Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Open-ended (permanent)

The Opportunity

Easter Bush Pathology (EBP), the pathology department of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies is seeking a highly experienced and motivated Histology and Laboratory Services Manager to lead our busy histology laboratory and help coordinate operational excellence across Easter Bush Pathology’s diagnostic services. You will ensure the delivery of a high‑quality, robust, and responsive histology service for teaching, diagnostics, and research, coordinate laboratory services across EBP, and manage its reception. This is an excellent opportunity to join our team to continue enhancing our reputation as a specialist Veterinary Pathology Unit nationally and internationally.

About Easter Bush Pathology

EBP delivers clinical pathology, histology, microbiology, and necropsy services, supporting undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, resident training, and research projects. The histology team is composed of a manager and three technicians, who support nine academic pathologists, three clinical scholars (residents), and provide an active research histology service for internal and external users. Services include routine and special histology, immunohistochemistry, urgent cryostat support, photomicrography, and slide scanning. The reception team has 2 FTE receptionist staff, and is responsible for client support, and the management of diagnostic and research samples for all EBP’s services.

Your skills and attributes for success

Essential

• Professional qualification in biomedical science (Fellowship/MSc) with specialism in cellular pathology
• Advanced technical understanding/training and substantial practical experience in histology and immunohistochemistry
• Extensive post‑qualification experience in Histology
• Proven laboratory management experience (people leadership, stock/equipment management, scheduling)
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and cross‑functional collaboration and organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise, analyse data, and deliver against strategic goals
• Demonstrable Health & Safety knowledge in laboratory settings
• Track record in designing and managing operating documentation and quality systems
• Advanced knowledge of quality and document control; user‑level expertise in MS Excel, MS Word, Q‑Pulse, cloud storage systems, and clinical databases

Desirable

• Extensive post‑qualification experience in Histology and/or experience with animal tissues
• Experience with LIMS, Q‑Pulse, and Provet
• Project management track record and experience with implementation of new test modalities
• Experience in digital pathology; exposure to in situ hybridisation, fluorescent microscopy, and spatial transcriptomics

As a valued member of our team you can expect

• A competitive salary
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family‑friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages. On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 13th November 2025. Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.