Senior Civil and Geotechnical/Geoenvironmental Technician in North East

The role will involve working as part of an experienced technical team under the guidance of the Laboratories and Facilities manager, providing expert civil geotechnical and civil geo-environmental support to a wide range of research and teaching projects in the geotechnical and geoenvironmental field. One day you could be running our new £400K Instron testing machine, the next you could be advising a researcher on appropriate geotechnical testing methodologies, and the day after that carrying out microbiological work investigating water treatment systems. Your “clients” could range from internationally renowned academic staff through to local school pupils as part of an outreach project. Your extensive knowledge of civil and geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering, initiative and teamworking skills will let you adapt to the wide-ranging challenges you might face but the regular 9-5 weekday hours will ensure you have time outside of work too. In order to assist you in this role you will receive training to build your range of competencies within these fields. As a technical and predominantly lab-based role, most of your time will be spent on-site in Durham, with only limited opportunities to work from home if tasks and workloads permit. The role will involve a degree of manual handling to assist in the set up and maintenance of laboratory experiments.

The Department of Engineering at Durham is consistently one of the very best UK Engineering Departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and the employability of our students. The strategic vision for the Department includes a growth plan over the next five years, with a significant enhancement of our research and teaching provision. It’s an exciting time to join the Department and make your mark.

Essential Criteria

• Significant demonstrable experience in a hands‑on civil geotechnical engineering or civil geo-environmental engineering laboratory role.
• Experience of laboratory-based testing of geotechnical/geoenvironmental engineering materials (e.g. drained and undrained triaxial testing, direct shear testing, oedometer testing, contaminated environmental materials testing, water quality testing).
• Extensive knowledge and experience of health and safety regulations, generation of risk assessments, standard operating procedures and ensuring that these are adhered to.
• Five GCSE’s at least Grade C or level four (or equivalent) including English Language and Mathematics or Post-16 qualification or equivalent experience for example: Level 4 qualification (such as BTEC HNC) in Civil Engineering (or related discipline) plus proven experience in an appropriate field or, Level 3 qualification in Civil Engineering (or related discipline) plus significant experience in an appropriate field.
• Experience of working in a team.
• Experience or ability to provide advice and guidance on civil geotechnical engineering or civil geo-environmental engineering to a range of people.
• Experience leading projects working within an educational, commercial or industrial environment.
• Good spoken and written communication skills including the ability to develop effective working relationships, both internally and externally.
• Strong digital competence across a range of digital devices and apps including instrument control software, digital communication tools and Microsoft 365 applications.
• Committed to continuing professional development.
• Ability to solve problems and decide on and plan appropriate solutions.
• Professional knowledge and expertise in civil geotechnical engineering or civil geo-environmental engineering and the application of skills to support teaching and research.
• Demonstrable ability to deliver high precision technical skills and the operation of standard and complex scientific and technical equipment.
• Experience/expertise in unsaturated geotechnical soils testing.
• Experience/expertise of laboratory analysis of environmental samples (e.g. wastewater, river water, and/or soils).
• Ability to work under aseptic techniques.
• Ability to assist with field-based testing, surveys, and student field trips.

Role Key Responsibilities

Service Delivery

• Provide specialist advice and make decisions to resolve problems relating to civil geotechnical and civil geo-environmental engineering.
• Share technical knowledge and expertise to support other team members.
• Use your experience and problem‑solving skills to investigate and resolve issues relevant to your role and make recommendations based on your findings.
• Provide the best possible service to people by reviewing and making suggestions to improve the service.
• Collect, organise and record data and information accurately to provide reports.
• Manage, maintain and monitor designated civil geotechnical engineering and civil geo-environmental equipment, facilities, and systems to ensure safety, security and compliance.
• Carry out specialist risk assessments and resolve incidents that require specialist expertise.

Planning and Organising

• Plan and organise own workload to deliver the role.
• Deliver assigned civil geotechnical engineering and civil geo-environmental projects in accordance with agreed objectives ensuring a high level of accuracy, complexity, originality and excellence.
• Supervise the work of staff and teams involved in delivering project work or core operational service.
• Seek feedback from people to ensure that the service is updated to meet customer expectations.
• Manage budgets and expenditure including buying (and returning) goods and services.
• Show a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and the University’s values.
• Ensure that the University’s procedures and values are always reflected in all aspects of the service and adapt ways of working where this is not evident.

Teaching and Learning Support

• Commission, construct and set up test and experimental scenarios and practical sessions.
• Construct, test, repair and calibrate tools, resources, equipment, components and instrumentation.
• Be an expert in the use of a range of civil geotechnical engineering and geo-environmental engineering machinery and equipment either physical, virtual or digital.
• Provide high-level technical guidance and advice to solve problems and help shape the delivery of teaching, learning and research outcomes.
• Arrange the maintenance of civil geotechnical engineering and civil geo-environmental engineering technical and experimental facilities, teaching and research environments.
• Set up, demonstrate, instruct and supervise the use and operation of specialist pieces of equipment.
• Record, monitor and collate information, analyse patterns and trends as part of teaching and research activities.

Communication / Liaison

• Develop and improve services by taking part in meetings, working groups and committees.
• Explain and demonstrate to others how to carry out tasks and use a range of tools, machinery, equipment and digital services.
• Create good working relationships, including internal and external networks which allow you to increase your knowledge and skills, while swapping information with peers.
• Build relationships with contractors and third‑party suppliers to share good practice, exchange information and work together on joint initiatives.
• Any other reasonable duties.

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries: Prof Paul Hughes (paul.hughes2@durham.ac.uk) or Dr Steve Robertson (steven.robertson@durham.ac.uk). University recruitment support: e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk. Phone: 0191 334 6801 (UK), +44 191 334 6801 (outside UK). Hours 09:00‑17:00 Monday to Friday.

How to Apply

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification below. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria. We prefer to receive applications online.

What to Submit

• A CV.
• A covering letter or statement which shows examples of how you meet all of the criteria within the Person Specification. Please format your covering letter to include a table or some other way that clearly shows how you meet each of the criteria.

Benefits

You’ll receive 27 days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 39 days per year. The University closes between Christmas and New Year. We offer a generous pension scheme, and as a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS). No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have ample parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies. You can also take advantage of our cost-effective and environmentally friendly Tusker Car Benefit Scheme, allowing you to lease a brand-new electric or hybrid vehicle with savings on tax and National Insurance. We have a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally. There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University. All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities. We provide wide-ranging health and wellbeing support including discounted membership for our state-of-the-art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24‑7 Employee Assistance Programme. Our on-site nursery is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and you can access holiday camps for children aged 5‑16. Our family-friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers). We offer all staff the opportunity to take part in volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community. You can access exclusive discounts via our benefits portal including money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, eating out and days out at various attractions. Various salary sacrifice schemes are also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits. If you are moving to Durham, you may be eligible for help with removal costs, and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools. If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest‑free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under‑represented in our workforce, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups. We are an awardee of Disability Confident Leader status and are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.