MLA Team Leader in Sutton

The MLA Team Leader will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of Medical Laboratory Assistants within Specimen Reception and associated Blood Sciences services. The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring samples are received, processed and referred efficiently while maintaining service quality, turnaround times and compliance with ISO 15189 standards.

Main duties of the job include:

• Supervise, carry out and assign MLA team activities and duties in all specimen reception areas to ensure workflow turnaround time (TAT) targets are achieved.
• Conduct performance reviews and appraisals in line with Trust policy.
• Allocate work and assist with recruitment, selection, and training.
• Provide training and competency assessments for new MLA and Biomedical Scientist staff in Pathology Reception.

The Blood Sciences Department provides diagnostic services that support patient care across The Royal Marsden. The department is undergoing significant service and equipment modernisation, providing opportunities to contribute to service development, innovation and continuous improvement.

Our Offer:

• NHS Pension Scheme
• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Access to learning and development opportunities
• Flexible working arrangements where service needs allow
• Staff wellbeing and support programmes
• Opportunity to work within a leading specialist cancer centre

Person specification:

• Good general education. GCSE grade C or higher in English and Maths. A levels or equivalent relevant experience.
• ECDL or equivalent.
• Previous experience in a laboratory role.
• Experience of MS Excel and MS Word, including creating and using spreadsheets.

Skills Abilities/knowledge:

• Ability to write clearly and concisely.
• Able to work to deadlines.
• Ability to express themselves clearly and communicate information.
• Experience of working in a Blood Transfusion department or NHS organisation.
• Understanding of Good Manufacturing Principles in hospital blood banks.
• Knowledge of Quality Management Systems.
• Experience of using a blood tracking application.
• Able to perform basic training.
• Demonstrates proactive approach to problem solving.
• Ability and experience of understanding and following Standard Operating Procedures.
• Experience of effective team working.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work closely and effectively with staff at all levels within the organisation.
• Good organisational skills.
• Ability to filter and prioritise workload.
• Ability to work independently but within limits of the role.

Other Requirements:

• Able to work flexibly to meet the unexpected needs of the role.
• Self-confident, contributes to meetings.
• Understanding of laboratory H&S procedures.

The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Please ensure your information is accurate to avoid errors with processing your application.

All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.

Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff:

At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.

The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the utmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.