Imperial College London
Job Description
Job Title: Facility Manager
Section: BRC FACS & Confocal Imaging Facility /
Infectious Diseases and Immunity
Division: Infectious Diseases
Department: Medicine
Job Family and Level: Professional Services, Level 4
Salary Range: £42,670 - £42,260 per annum
Responsible To: Dr Rosemary Boyton
Working Relationships: Members of the Lung Immunology Group, Section of Infectious Diseases and Immunity and project research team. Research staff/students in the Department of Medicine and on the Hammersmith Campus using the Facility.
Location: Hammersmith Campus
Duration: Full-time, fixed-term until 31 March 2014
BRC Imaging and FACS Facility:
The BRC-funded Imaging and FACS (fluorescence activated cell sorting) facility is based on the 8th Floor of the Commonwealth Building, Department of Medicine, Hammersmith Campus. It offers state-of-the-art imaging and cell-sorting for cell phenotype and imaging studies. It is equipped with a customized BD FACS Aria II multi-parameter cell sorter and a Leica TCS-SP5 Confocal Microscope. Groups, drawn from the Hammersmith Hospital Campus and beyond in the Academic Health Sciences Centre and Imperial College London use the facility. Users have been drawn from diverse specialties and with different applications for multi-parameter sorting and phenotypic analysis including: Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Immunology, Neuroscience, Gene Therapy, Experimental Medicine, Haematology, Respiratory, Renal & Transplantation, Inflammation and Signal Transduction. The mission of the Facility is to enable researchers to perform cutting edge research. There are multiple research projects being carried out through the Facility.
Job Summary
Based in the Lung Immunology Group in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Department of Medicine at the Hammersmith campus, you will be responsible for the day-to-day running and management of the BRC facility. This will include providing training, assistance and technical support to users. You will ensure that all users receive adequate training, comply with all health and safety requirements and provide assistance with the analysis of results.
Research Duties
- Operational management of the Facility, ensuring all users meet the relevant training requirements and provide support and troubleshooting assistance to users of the facility. For the confocal facility this includes training in use of the microscopes, image acquisition, and image manipulations. For the FACS facility this includes training on flow analysis and flow sorting, as well as sample preparation techniques.
- Maintain accurate records of the work performed and publications resulting from work carried out in the Facility.
- Oversee cleaning and alignment, regular diagnostics and calibration of scientific instrumentation
- Act as an ambassador for outreach of the services on offer at this facility, potentially including the organisation of workshops, seminars or other user discussion sessions.
- Provide consultation and technical support, discussing researcher’s requirement and advising users on the appropriate instruments, tools and preparation techniques to use as well as the experimental design. Providing advice and expertise in the preparation of researchers’ grant applications.
- Apply clearly defined research methods and techniques to research questions for the collection and analysis of data
- Conduct data analysis and interpretation of research data
- Participate in Lung Immunology Group and laboratory research meetings, journal clubs, Work in Progress and research seminars
- Attend relevant workshops, meetings and conferences as required
- Preparation of data for publications and presentation at conferences
- Maintaining scientific knowledge to provide advice on how the latest scientific advances and new technologies in the field might benefit researchers using the facility
- Participation in development of new imaging strategies, evaluate new software for image or flow data analysis, test out new microscopy or flow cytometry hardware, etc.
- Comply with the College, Division, and Unit safety practices and to attend courses on safety when appropriate
- Promote the reputation of the Group, the Department and the College
- Facilitate and conduct scientific research projects within the Lung Immunology Group
- Maintain and regularly update a lively and outward looking Facility Web page.
- Work with the Laboratory Manager to ensure that all Health and Safety, documents and procedures are in place, up-to-date and complied with.
- Any other duties as may be deemed reasonable by Head of Group
Other Duties
- To assist with general laboratory administration and scientific activities
- To undertake appropriate administration tasks
- To attend relevant meetings
- To undertake any necessary training and/or development
- Teaching as directed by the line manager
- Any other duties commensurate with the grade of the post as directed by line manager
- Supervision and training of BSc, MSc, PhD, Research Fellows, Postdoctoral Research Associates as directed by line manager
- Developing the Facility and the service as directed by line manager
- Working with the line manager to draft grant applications
- Preparing grant reports
To observe and comply with all College policies and regulations, including the key policies and procedures on Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest, Data Protection, Equal Opportunities, Financial Regulations, Health and Safety, Imperial Expectations (for new leaders, managers and supervisors), Information Technology, Private Engagements and Register of Interests, and Smoking.
To undertake specific safety responsibilities relevant to individual roles, as set out on the College Website Health and Safety Structure and Responsibilities page (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/safety/policies/organisationandarrangements).
Job descriptions cannot be exhaustive and the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.
Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity and to eliminating discrimination. All employees are expected to adhere to the principles set out in its Equal Opportunities in Employment Policy, Promoting Race Equality Policy and all other relevant guidance/practice frameworks.
Person Specification
These are the 7 principles that Imperial leaders, managers and supervisors are expected to follow:
- Champion a positive approach to change and opportunity
- Communicate regularly and effectively within, and across, teams
- Consider the thoughts and expectations of others
- Deliver positive outcomes
- Encourage inclusive participation and eliminate discrimination
- Support and develop staff to optimise talent
- Work in a planned and managed way
Qualification and Experience
Essential
- PhD or equivalent in Biological Science, Physical Science or a closely related discipline and/or solid experience in a similar role
- In depth experience of supporting researchers with microscopy and flow cytometry
- Experience of FACS Aria II, Leica Confocal and IVIS instrumentation
- In depth understanding of FACS principles and experience of software such as FACSDiva and FlowJo.
- In depth understanding in advanced microscopy and imaging instruments and a strong background in quantitative imaging analysis, image processing and analysis software systems
- In depth understanding of IVIS technology and software
- Experience of laboratory safety procedures, compliance with health and safety protocols
Desirable
- Previous experience in a similar facility management role
- Experience of teaching technical and research staff,
- Home Office Licence
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Proven troubleshooting abilities
- Demonstrated ability to work as a team member to accomplish research goals
- Ability to work effectively as part of a team and interact with a diverse group of individuals.
- Strong computer skills, including the maintenance of databases
- Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to organise and prioritise own work with minimal supervision and respond to deadlines
Personal Attributes
Essential
- An open, flexible and positive approach to working in a constantly changing environment
- Willingness to undertake any necessary training for the role
