Scientific Sample Administrator

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

It’s not every job where you make a difference for the people of Scotland. But it’s what’s behind every job here. Our work keeps Scotland’s water flowing, from reservoir to tap - and from sewer to treatment plant.

Do your bit by joining our Juniper House lab on the outskirts of Edinburgh - home of our Technical Support Team for Scientific Services.

What you’ll be doing:
Clean water doesn’t just happen. Our team of 300 samplers, scientists and support staff analyse their way through an average of one test every minute. As a Scientific Sampling Administrator within our Technical Support Team, you’ll play a crucial role in our extensive analytical testing service.

You’ll be following our processes to register and receive a high volume of water and wastewater samples from all over Scotland, from both internal and external customers. To keep the high volume of work flowing, you will investigate and resolve regular customer queries. You’ll help schedule and prioritise work within your team and carry out routine maintenance and calibration of equipment.

Naturally, we’ve got a big focus on health and safety. The standard? 100% compliance with the strictest standards - many of them set out in law.

This role is an ideal entry level role for people looking to start their Scottish Water career.

What you’ll need:
When you join us, you’ll be part of Scientific Services development programme which lasts 2 years, and where you can perfect your customer service and administrative skills. But you’ll need some foundational knowledge to get you off to a flying start.

You’ll need top-notch customer service skills and the confidence to talk to anyone. And of course, you’ll know your way around Microsoft Office - even the fiddly bits, like table formatting.

Attention to detail is a must: you will need to make sure all sampling data is entered correctly to allow technical interpretation of laboratory results by others.

Beyond that, we’re looking for a few ‘nice-to-haves’. Experience working in a UKAS-accredited laboratory environment would be ideal. With that probably comes awareness of ISO 17025 or 14001 accreditations for health and safety (if you know, you know) and experience of LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System).

What you’ll get:
While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.

You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take time off to volunteer in your community.

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working. For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), and life assurance.

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash - handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The not-so-small print

The starting salary for this role is £21,053 (part time pro rata).

You’ll be placed on our Scientific Sampling Administrator Progression Plan, which starts from £21,053 and reaches £25,468 (part time pro rata) over a 2-year period. Progression is 6 monthly and tied to completion of specific training milestones in your development plan.

The role will be based at Juniper House in Edinburgh and is not suitable for flexible/home working.

All new Scottish Water employees are required to complete pre-employment security checks before they can start work.

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Working at Scottish Water

Scottish Water is one of the UK's leading water companies, the quality of drinking water and satisfaction with the service we provide our customers has never been higher - but we want to be even better - and you could help play an important part

We take employee engagement very seriously and have an inclusive and collaborative work environment where we respect people’s differences. We are committed to creating an engaging environment and a positive experience for our employees.

We were recently recognised as a Top 10 Flexible Employer in Scotland at the Flexibility Works Awards 2021 and by The Times as a Top 50 Employer for Women in 2019.

In 2019 we also won the Age Inclusive Award at The Herald and GenAnalytics Diversity Awards and were winners of the Best Public Sector Employer at the Family Friendly Working Scotland Awards 2020.

We have Carers Positive Exemplary Status and were Silver Award 2019 & Gold Award winners 2020 of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS).

We aim for work to be an energising and fulfilling experience and everyone plays their part to ensure that Scottish Water is trusted t