Senior Laboratory Support Technician - School of Chemistry - 106539 - Grade 5

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 36,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading university in Birmingham seeks a Laboratory Technician to provide essential technical support in the School of Chemistry. You will ensure safe and efficient laboratory operations while assisting with various tasks, including equipment maintenance and compliance with health and safety regulations. Ideal candidates will have a degree in Chemistry and relevant laboratory experience. The position offers competitive salary and benefits within a supportive academic environment.

Benefits

Generous paid holiday

Pension scheme

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Extensive relevant workplace experience in laboratory settings.
• Ability to organize and manage tasks independently.
• Proficiency in using commonly used software packages.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support to laboratories.
• Diagnose and resolve problems with lab equipment.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety legislation.

Skills

Laboratory equipment expertise

Problem-solving

Team collaboration

Health and safety compliance

Education

Degree in Chemistry or relevant subject

GCSE in Mathematics and English

Job description

Position Details

School of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £29,647 to £31,460, with potential progression once in post to £35,388

Grade: 5

Part Time (15 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to November 2028

Closing date: 4th November 2025

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, andweare equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector‑leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state‑of‑the‑art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham is a vibrant and thriving academic community, with over 140 academic and research staff, 25 professional services staff and over 600 students. With a strong focus on its three main research themes, energy, sustainability and health, and a number of interdisciplinary interest groups, the School has ambitious plans to grow research activity; indeed, major investment from the University for a state‑of‑the‑art Molecular Sciences research building in 2023 and a new Collaborative Teaching Laboratory in 2018 that is revolutionising how we teach undergraduate practical chemistry, means we are entering an exciting period. We provide an inclusive and supportive environment where we strive to support every member of staff in realising their career potential.

Role Summary

You will work as part of a team to provide technical support to designated laboratories and/or researchers operating in the School of Chemistry. This support will include ensuring that the laboratories function in a safe, efficient and effective manner, providing guidance and training to users, where appropriate, and any other duties as may reasonably be requested by the Senior Laboratory Technician. You will be expected to act as a good team member, assisting colleagues when asked and being open to new challenges and activities. You may need to operate out of normal working hours to accommodate experimental procedures and will be expected to train and advise others as appropriate.

An ideal candidate would have knowledge of the main duties listed below prior to taking on the role, but technical training courses and/or specialist training will be made available as necessary.

To flexibly use resource you may be offered the opportunity to work in different areas of the department or wider university.

Main Duties

• You will be responsible for providing support to the experimental laboratories.
• You will need to be able to diagnose and resolve problems and suggest solutions regarding lab equipment, safety and maintenance of a working laboratory.
• Reporting, monitoring, and resolution of any failures in the infrastructure supporting the laboratories and managing/communicating such maintenance/installations.
• Remove waste and refill stocks as required, including solvents.
• Monitor and coordinate equipment usage logs for charging.
• Manage compressed gas cylinder inventory, providing details of cylinders purchased by the group and charge codes to cover rental costs.
• Ensure basic lab equipment (ovens, rotary evaporators etc.) are maintained and repaired as required.
• Manage and lead maintenance of vacuum pumps.
• Ensure compliance with legislation relevant to the area of research/activity.
• Comply with and promote the operating procedures for the area, including the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures regulation.
• You may contribute to internal and external audit procedures and to regulatory inspections.

Health and Safety Duties

• Proactive support for health and safety within the laboratory. This may include being required to look after a communal area as part of your duties. Comply with all current rules and ensure all required assessments are in place, approved and up to date. Act as role model regarding the health and safety aspect of the daily activities within the laboratory, handling maintenance/inspection and calling out unsafe practices,
• Fully understand the safety aspects of equipment operation and be able to demonstrate/train staff (at all levels) on the correct usage of the equipment. Test the elephant nose LEV’s and cabinets monthly to ensure they meet the legal requirements.
• Ensuring that regular maintenance processes are carried out and that appropriate records are maintained.
• Reporting any breaches or non‑compliance with H&S procedures to the relevant manager(s).
• Upholding the correct waste disposal stream as governed by College and local policy for the laboratory.
• Provide lab safety tours, reports and general lab inductions.
• Post holders may be asked to undergo training as a First Aider and Fire Warden.

General Administration and Organisation

• Ensuring all records are accurate and kept up to date.
• Proactively maintain stocks of consumables, and when required generate purchase order requisitions using University systems. Provide details for purchase for all lab work, including equipment consumables.
• Support group members by liaising with and chasing up orders with suppliers and sales representatives regarding chemical and equipment purchasing.
• Receipt and correct storage of consumables/equipment and chemical reagents.
• Ensuring that the facilities are maintained in a clean, functional and safe condition, reporting any problems through the appropriate channels.
• Ensuring that PAT testing, calibration of equipment and locally and centrally held equipment inventories are up to date and maintained.
• Adopt a proactive attitude to assisting with and implementing carbon reduction and energy saving measures.
• Maintain a technical support based teaching laboratory website (how to guides for the preparation of materials, practical setup guides), and keeping these up to date as and when session requirements or protocols change or maintaining relevant research lab databases/records.

Other Duties

• In collaboration with the relevant manager the post holder will take an active role in the training and mentoring process for junior or newly appointed staff.
• Supports equality and values diversity, moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
• Any other duties as may reasonably be required.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Extensive relevant workplace experience, equivalent professional qualification or degree in Chemistry or other appropriate subject.
• GCSE level 2 (A*- C/4-9) or equivalent level 2 qualification in mathematics and English.
• In‑depth practical knowledge of relevant technical and scientific methods.
• Experience of similar laboratory‑based work, together with familiarity with a wide range of laboratory equipment.
• Shows courtesy in dealing with others.
• Ability to organise and manage own workload and demonstrate flexibility in terms of work practices/requirements.
• Ability to work under minimal supervision but function as part of a team.
• Knowledge of current legislation relevant to the role.
• Knowledge of current H&S policies and ability to uphold same.
• Proficiency in commonly used software packages.
• Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Dimensions

You will provide specialist expertise in your area and provide advice and support to a range of customers. You may supervise staff; even where you do not have supervisory responsibilities you will be expected to act as a role model for other staff. You may be involved in budget monitoring.

Planning and Organising

You will be required to work independently on daily, weekly and monthly tasks but also on projects with medium‑longer‑term horizons without daily supervision. You will ensure that you have the resources required, which will require planning ahead and procurement of goods.

Problem Solving and decision making

You will be able to research, modify and adapt protocols after consulting relevant manager, and prepare for research experiments. You will be able to uphold Health and Safety procedures. You will need to be confident in identifying problems, breaking them down and implementing solutions. Although you will work under the direction of more senior staff you will be able to carry out your work with a large amount of autonomy.

Internal and External relationships

Informal enquiries to Trevor Hardy, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviours here

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.