Postdoctoral Research Officer in Public Health Surveillance

School of Computer Science and Engineering, Bangor University; Bangor; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading university invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Officer to contribute to the National Wastewater Programme focused on public health and environmental science in Wales. The role involves managing research activities, mentoring students, and expanding techniques in microbial detection in wastewater. This three-year position provides a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of environmental science and public health, with a focus on meaningful research outcomes.

Benefits

Opportunities for remote work

Collaboration with international partners

Qualifications

• PhD (or near completion) in clinical or environmental microbiology.
• Demonstrated experience managing research projects.
• Expertise in microbial quantification techniques.

Responsibilities

• Manage key research activities for wastewater epidemiology.
• Mentor Masters and PhD students.
• Expand molecular and bioinformatic methods for pathogen detection.

Skills

Microbial quantification techniques

Bioinformatics analysis

DNA/RNA extraction

Statistical skills

Communication skills

Education

PhD in clinical or environmental microbiology

Job description

Job Number

BU03814

School/Department

School of Environmental & Natural Sciences

Grade

7

Salary Information

£37,099 - £44,263

Contract Duration

36 months

Responsible to

Professor of Soil & Environmental Science

Closing Date

03-08-2025

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Officer to join Prof Davey Jones in leading the National Wastewater Programme for Public and Environmental Health in Wales.

This 3-year position offers an exceptional opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research monitoring pathogens (viruses, bacteria), antimicrobial resistance, and illicit chemicals in water and wastewater environments. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in advancing wastewater-based epidemiology for public health surveillance, managing key research activities that translate environmental monitoring into actionable public health insights. This position represents a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of environmental science and public health in a nationally significant research programme.

The position involves shaping research direction, helping manage the laboratory team and mentoring Masters and PhD students. You will help expand molecular and bioinformatic approaches for detecting novel pathogens and quantifying functional genes across diverse environments including community and hospital wastewater, coastal waters, and rivers. Additionally, you will work closely with key stakeholders, including Verily for international collaborative projects, Welsh Government officials to inform policy decisions, and Public Health Wales professionals to translate research findings into actionable public health measures. This role requires excellent communication skills to bridge scientific research with practical applications for governmental and healthcare partners. Strong contribution to scientific publications, both as lead author and collaborative team member, is a key expectation.

Qualified candidates should possess a PhD (or be near completion) in clinical or environmental microbiology or a related field, demonstrated experience managing research projects and publishing in high-impact journals, and expertise in microbial quantification techniques (including DNA/RNA extraction from environmental samples, qPCR, and/or metagenomics).

This is a 3 year postdoctoral position and is full time hours across a normal working week.

The position is available from August 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

This role will be located on campus at Bangor. Through our Dynamic Working framework, there will also be the option to spend some time working remotely (although remaining in the UK) to support work life balance, which will be discussed further with candidates at interview.

Applications will also be considered to carry out this role on a part-time or job share basis.

Applications must be submitted through our online recruitment portal at jobs.bangor.ac.uk. However, in cases of access issues due to disability, paper application forms are available by telephoning 01248 383865.

Committed To Equal Opportunities

Overview

The National Wastewater Programme for Public and Environmental Health in Wales

The successful candidate will join our comprehensive research and monitoring programme studying a wide range of respiratory, skin-borne and gastrointestinal pathogens (e.g., Mpox, Influenza, Norovirus), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers and their host organisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi), illicit drugs and substances of abuse, and water quality indicators. The high throughput lab has state-of-the art equipment under gold-level service contracts. For example, we use qPCR, dPCR, Illumina NextSeq and MiSeq platforms for short read sequencing and the MinION, and GridION platforms for long read sequencing with access to the Wales Gene Park for NovaSeq analysis and the Wales Supercomputer network for bioinformatic processing. We hold the national bioarchive of preserved wastewater samples. The programme also runs an extensive infrastructure of refrigerated composite autosamplers deployed across 41 wastewater treatment plants throughout Wales and at strategic hospital sites, providing excellent access to longitudinal environmental data.

Our multidisciplinary approach is supported by dedicated sample collection, laboratory processing, and data analysis teams, ensuring a collaborative environment for research and innovation that delivers impact. The team is also supported by a dedicated administrator.

College

The College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at Bangor University is one of the leading centres in the UK for teaching and research in a range of science subjects. With over 2,500 students and 350 academic, technical and administrative staff, the College consists of three academic schools: Environmental and Natural Sciences; Ocean Sciences; and Computer Science & Engineering.

School

The School of Environmental and Natural Sciences conducts world-leading research and teaching across a diverse range of topics including zoology, biology, forestry, geography, agriculture and conservation. The School benefits from close links with the School of Health Sciences within the College of Medicine and Health, offering an interdisciplinary environment for students and researchers interested in protecting human health and the wider environment.

Located in Bangor, North Wales, we have the forests and mountains of Eryri and the cliffs and sandy beaches of Anglesey and beyond on our doorstep.

The Project

The National Wastewater Programme for Public and Environmental Health in Wales directly supports the Welsh Government One Health agenda delivering policy-relevant information to a range of public organisations (e.g. Public Health Wales, Natural Resources Wales).

Purpose of the Job

This 3-year postdoctoral position is full-time and will directly support Prof Davey Jones in delivering high-quality science focused on understanding the fate and behavior of human pathogens within Welsh communities and the wider environment. The role encompasses wastewater-based surveillance of viruses and other microbiological agents for public health benefit, as well as molecular analysis of bacteria and viruses in soil, water, and sediments addressing the One Health agenda.

The research will deliver policy-relevant information and insights to various public organizations (e.g., Public Health Wales, Natural Resources Wales) while supporting ongoing and future UKRI-funded activities. The post holder will help formulate research direction, contribute to grant submissions, and develop projects with industrial partners such as Verily LLC. The post holder will also provide guidance for the effective management of an experienced and dedicated laboratory team.

Additionally, the successful candidate will have opportunities to supervise Masters-level research projects and PhD students (currently 6 within the team) and will contribute strongly to publishing journal papers as both lead author and collaborative team member. The post will be based in Environment Centre Wales at Bangor University.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• To liaise with and support the management of the lab and field operations team.
• Oversee the downstream quantification and accurate reporting of microbiological targets and substances of abuse to public health agencies.
• To develop new approaches to quantify, visualise and assess the infectivity of viruses and bacteria in environmental samples.
• To write high quality journal papers.
• To help guide the research agenda on wastewater-based epidemiology and environmental microbiology.
• To help supervise Masters-level research projects and PhD students.
• To maintain and further develop the collaborations with our stakeholder community (e.g. water companies, Verily LLC, DEFRA, UKHSA, Environment Agency, Public Health Wales, Natural Resources Wales).
• To write and complete reports associated with the research projects.
  
  

Other Duties And Responsibilities

• The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities.
• The post holder will operate in a laboratory environment working towards ISO accreditation, ensuring procedures and outputs meet quality assurance standards
• The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme.
• The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for themselves and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by their actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.
• The post holder will be encouraged to pursue professional development, as appropriate to their career goals
• The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.
  
  

Person Specification

Essential

Qualifications/Training

• A PhD or equivalent in clinical or environmental microbiology, or a related subject.
  
  

Essential

Experience/Knowledge

• Strong background in clinical and/or environmental microbiology.
• Experience in the quantification of human or animal pathogens (e.g. including DNA/RNA extraction from clinical/environmental samples, use of quantitative or digital PCR).
• Experience with bioinformatics analysis tools for metagenomic and/or amplicon data, and familiarity with command-line environments.
• Expertise in processing and interpreting microbial community data.
• Good track record in producing high quality journal publications.
• Experience of presenting at national and international conferences.
• Experience of working as part of a wider group and the supervision of technical support staff.
• Experience of working with the wider community (policymakers, regulators etc).
• Good statistical skills, including general statistical methods.
  
  

Desirable

• Proven ability to help capture funds from external organisations.
• Experience in wastewater microbiology.
• Experience in the analysis of viruses and bacteria by qPCR.
• Experience in the metagenomic sequencing of microbial communities.
• Experience of working in an ISO accredited environment.
• Good knowledge of quality assurance procedures.
  
  

Essential

Skills/Abilities

• The ability to work independently to deadlines, and to take responsibility for research outcomes.
• Motivation and enthusiasm about the aims of the project.
• Good time-management skills, and ability to maximise personal research output.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including willingness to coordinate with others and the ability to work as part of a team.
• Good organisational skills in relation to research at the bench and report writing.
• Appreciation of the importance of Health and Safety at work.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the bilingual nature of the institution and area.
  
  

Desirable

• A valid UK driving licence for accessing remote sites and sample collection on occasion.
  
  

General

The University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We strive to develop a workforce from all sections of the community regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age.

We promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language through our progressive Welsh Language Policy. We comply with the Welsh Language Standards and are committed to equality of opportunity. You are welcome to apply for any job in English or Welsh and all applications submitted will be treated equally.

We are a member of Advance HE's Athena SWAN Gender Equality charter and hold a Silver award in recognition of our commitment to and progress towards gender equality within the University's policies, practices, and culture.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

All members of staff have a duty to ensure their actions are in line with the overall environmental aims of the University and minimise their environmental impact.

All offers are made subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK and receipt of satisfactory references.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that you have the right to work in the UK before you can start working for us. When you apply for this post you will be required to explain the basis upon which you believe you will able to live and work in the UK legally on the commencement date of the role should your application be successful. If you do not have the right to work freely in any position in the UK already, any offer of employment we will make to you will be subject to you obtaining a right to work visa. The following link provides information on the various visa routes into employment and the eligibility requirements (including switching visa status where permissible) https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas. If you are successful in your application we will discuss visa options with you at the time of making the offer of employment.

Candidates should also note that they may be required to apply for an ATAS certificate (Academic Approval Technology Scheme) from the Counter-Proliferation and Arms Control Centre of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before being able to apply for a visa - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme

Please note that, in the event of applications being received from candidates on the University's Redeployment Register with a reasonable skills match to the post specification, these applicants will be given prior consideration.

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