Scientific Administration Support Officer (Band 6/AO)

Buxton, Derbyshire, SK179JN

Job Summary

At HSE, we work with one goal in mind – to help keep Britain’s workforce safe and healthy. Our work touches virtually every sector of Great Britain’s industries. Combining specialists from numerous fields, we strive to keep people and their working environments safe.

We don’t just inspect workplaces and investigate incidents; we campaign for better Health & Safety practice, craft and review guidance and regulations, provide specialist products and services both here and overseas, and produce crucial research and statistics – all towards our goal of helping Great Britain work well.

We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated individual, with an interest in administrative duties within a science setting to join the Health – Exposure & Control Group (H-EC Group) at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), Science Division.

This exciting opportunity is a full-time position and will be based in the Science Division of the HSE at our research laboratory in Harpur Hill, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 9JN.

Job Description

You will provide essential daily administrative and scientific support duties for both the Proficiency Testing Schemes (PT) and Sample Reception (SR) Teams. Further details of SR services can be found on our website here: Health and Hygiene Testing.

The PT Scheme is a quality assurance tool used to assess the performance and accuracy of laboratories, organisations, or individuals conducting specific tests or measurements. It involves the participation of laboratories in a program where they are provided with samples or test materials to analyse, without knowing the correct results beforehand.

Your role will include handling the day-to-day administration of the service, including liaison with UK and international participants, packing and despatch duties, and processing daily sample bookings for analysis. You will prepare customer quotations, despatch sample kits to customers, and issue analysis reports to internal and external customers. Part of the role will involve working in a laboratory environment, handling packaged pathological specimen samples (for example blood and urine) and other packaged potential hazardous materials (for example environmental samples including anthrax and asbestos), in a controlled and safe laboratory environment.

You will be responsible for answering telephone and email enquiries in a timely manner, managing email inboxes, and issuing reports to internal and external customers. Your role will be split between working in an office and laboratory environment.

Full training will be provided for the role.

For this role, you will:

• Demonstrate discipline in adhering to safety, quality and operational procedures.
• Apply strong attention to detail to ensure accurate and error-free results.
• Be self-motivated and strive for quality outcomes, whilst ensuring delivery to time, cost and quality.
• Have periods of lone working both in an office and laboratory environment.
• Be handling packaged asbestos and potentially other hazardous materials (including blood and urine), in controlled and safe laboratory working environments.
• Proactively contribute to the work of the whole team and be open to taking on new and different roles and responsibilities.
• Be required to have routine health surveillance and vaccinations, dependent on tasks associated with the role.

Person specification

Essential Skills And Criteria

You will have:

• The ability to follow and adhere to safety, quality and operational procedures.
• The ability to demonstrate communication and interpersonal skills.
• Good organisational skills with the ability to work efficiently, manage multiple tasks and priorities effectively.
• Experience of using software packages, including Office 365, Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Adaptability to change and a willingness to learn.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Application Information
You Will Be Invited To Submit

• A Personal Statement of up to 750 words demonstrating the required essential skills listed in this advert using specific examples.
• An example of up to 250 words on the behaviour Managing a Quality Service.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Interviews will take place in person at HSE Buxton, SK17 9JN. Please ensure you prepare for interviews by having examples for Strengths and the two Behaviours.

Contact point for applicants

• Name: Gemma Gilbert
• Email: gemma.gilbert@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email: hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk