Scientific Officer

The role will be responsible for supporting ongoing research activities within the Energy Materials Laboratory within the School of Natural and Environmental Science under the direction of the academic lead. This will include providing research staff and students with technical advice to progress projects, managing the maintenance of equipment within the Energy Materials Laboratory, and training new users. The role also involves supporting the ReNU+ Centre for Doctoral Training; monitoring and maintaining stocks of key reagents, maintaining glove‑boxes, vacuum pumps, analytical equipment (including gas chromatography, ion chromatography and thermal analysis instruments) and performing routine analysis.

Responsibilities

• Manage, operate and maintain the Energy Materials Laboratory including specialist equipment such as gas chromatography, ion chromatography, thermal analysis instruments, ball milling, roll milling, spin coating, furnaces, glove boxes, vacuum/gas lines, pumps and chillers.
• Run the daily maintenance and booking system, write standard operating procedures and train new users.
• Provide specialist support for experimental set‑up, data acquisition and analysis, and archive data.
• Support materials preparation and characterisation activities, including purchasing and preparing specialised reagents for collaborative projects.
• Adapt existing protocols and develop new experimental procedures for various material applications.
• Supervise junior members of the team including ReNU+ CDT students, project students and interns.
• Carry out collaborative projects with colleagues in partner institutions and research groups.
• Work with the Academic Lead, manufacturers and users to develop cutting‑edge experiments using the full range of capabilities.
• Assist and advise users on the selection, design and execution of experimental techniques.
• Work with the Management Group and Enterprise team to support and prioritise user access and timetabling of experiments.
• Manage services to external users, including data acquisition and analysis.
• Effectively communicate and work within an international team composed of staff, postgraduate and undergraduate students and external partners, including regular reporting.
• Monitor and maintain a safe working environment in accordance with Health and Safety guidelines in conjunction with the School Safety Officer.
• Attend local safety committees relevant to the laboratory area.

Qualifications & Experience

• Substantial work experience in a scientific or relevant work environment.
• Up‑to‑date and detailed knowledge of Health and Safety policy and procedure in a laboratory setting.
• Proven written and verbal communication skills.
• High level planning, organising and technical problem‑solving skills, with a proactive and innovative approach.
• Evidence of project management and experience of financial budgetary management.
• Good numerical skills and the ability to manipulate, analyse and present information for management use.
• Experience of working collaboratively with academic staff.
• Experience in synthesis and characterisation of materials for solar cells and/or catalysis.
• Desirable experience using each piece of specialised state‑of‑the‑art equipment in the Energy Materials Laboratory, including analytical equipment (gas chromatography, ion chromatography and thermal analysis instruments), solar cell characterisation (J‑V measurement with solar simulators, internal/external quantum efficiency, frequency‑modulated photoelectrochemical techniques), materials synthesis and deposition (hydrothermal, microwave, solid‑state synthesis, ball milling, roll milling, spin‑coating), inert atmosphere glove boxes.
• Hold a PhD or a degree plus substantial work experience in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering.

Attributes & Behaviours

• Thoughtful strategic planning and the ability to see the big picture.
• Strong commitment to proactive change, improvement and adaptability.
• Team‑working skills: collaborative playing, positive relationship building and sharing information.
• Motivating and developing others, coaching, mentoring and providing constructive feedback.
• Effective management of time, resources and priorities, with flexibility for changing circumstances.
• Excellent record keeping, transparent audit trails and use of systems and tools.
• Strong client‑management skills and ability to build good working relationships across stakeholders and teams.

Benefits

Newcastle University offers a generous holiday package, the option to purchase additional holiday days, pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives.

Equal Opportunities

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We are a fully inclusive university that actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society and celebrate the contributions of diverse employees. We are an equal‑opportunity employer and encourage applications from a broad range of candidates. We hold a Gold AthenaSwan award and a Race Equality Charter Bronze award, and we are a Disability‑Confident employer. We are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.