Assistant Bacteriology Scientist Id4132

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 436055

**Salary**:

- £29,770
- A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

**Job grade**:

- Administrative Officer- Assistant Scientific Officer

** Contract type**:

- Permanent

** Business area**:

- APHA - Science

** Type of role**:

- Science

** Working pattern**:

- Full-time, Job share, Part-time

** Number of jobs available**:

- 1

**Contents**:

- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know

** Location**:

- New Haw, South East England, KT15 3NB

** About the job**:
** Job summary**:

- Do you want a role safeguarding standards of animal and plant health and welfare?
- Do you love working as part of a team, bringing an enthusiastic approach every day?
- The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.
- The Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our people are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes.
- You will use your scientific technical skills as part of a team to deliver a wide range of projects in the bacteriology field within the Department of Bacteriology, APHA Weybridge. This might include work for Defra, government organisations such as the Food Standards Agency, veterinary customers, and academia or for those in bio-veterinary pharmaceuticals. Individual posts may be focused on specific types of activity, such as field investigations, culture of bacteria from samples, bacterial identification, typing, characterisation, aiding in production of diagnostic reagents or disinfection.

** Job description**:

- This is a junior position where full training and guidance across a range of bacteriological techniques will be provided. You will be expected to work flexibly on various scientific activities which could include some of the following:

- Culture of different organisms (e.g. E. coli, Salmonella spp., Staph aureus, Brucella spp., Campylobacter spp., Mycoplasmas or TB) on specialist media from a wide range of biological samples (e.g. faeces, tissues, swabs or food samples).
- Phenotypic tests including serological identification and/or typing, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, including minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone diffusion testing.
- Assistance with the collection of samples farm animal premises, feed mills, abattoirs and hatcheries (requires availability to perform physically demanding field work, partly during unsocial hours, and occasional overnight stays in different parts of the country).
- Production and standardisation of reagents for surveillance projects and international trade assays.
- Tests to determine the efficacy of disinfectants
- Molecular tests including antimicrobial resistance gene detection by either single gene (PCR) or whole genome sequencing (WGS) approaches, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and other WGS related analysis.
- Basic immunology including cell counting and immunoassay of cytokines.
- Undertake serological tests to support research projects, international trade and OIE collaboration projects
- Identification and speciation of bacteria by biochemical, genetic and MALDI-ToF approaches.
- Presentation of data in tabular or graphical formats for compilation in reports or papers.
- Responsibility as a room officer for a laboratory.
- Working to quality standards (ISO 9001:2015 or ISO 17025) and to APHA safety policies and standards.
- Flexible working to contribute to a range of scientific projects in the laboratory and in the field
- Quality assurance testing of media.
- Working to tight deadlines of commercial customers** Person specification**:

- You will need- Basic microbiology and/or immunology knowledge
- Experience in the use of computer software including Microsoft Office.
- Ability to organise own work and time.
- An interest in the food animal production sector
- Experience in performing basic laboratory techniques including scientific data collection.
- To be currently resident in the UK & have at least three years continuous UK residency as this is a requirement to work at the Weybridge site where the team and work is situated.** Behaviours**:

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

- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together**Technical skills**:

- We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:**Benefits**:

- Alongside your salary of £29,770, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £8,624 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pe