Specialist Biomedical Scientist- Microbiology

Are you seeking sponsorship to move to the UK or are in Country and would like to switch who sponsors you so you can gain access to comprehensive development? Quiet nights on shift? Ability to have time off during the week to attend to personal matters and seeing more of your family?

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (A 24-hour rotating shift pattern with night shifts)

Site: Friars Bridge Court, London

Salary: £47,950 to £56,863 per annum depending on experience

As a Specialist Biomedical Scientist, you will join the Synnovis Infection Sciences team providing support for a specialist service for a range of complex patients, over a 24/7 shift pattern - enhancing your earning potential. Due to some night working, you will then have time off during the days, following steady night shifts. This will also strengthen your existing skill set and will provide an opportunity for advanced professional development.

You will be joining an exceptional and dedicated team who always go the extra mile for the benefit of our patients. We are a progressive, UKAS ISO 15189:2012 accredited service that provides a comprehensive range of investigations which include bacteriology, parasitology, mycology, virology and infection surveillance for Synnovis NHS Partners and the local community.

Working Pattern Details:

• This role requires working a rotating 24-hour shift pattern across Infection Sciences, including night shifts (8:30pm to 8:30am), long early shifts (7:30am to 6:30pm), and long late day shifts (9:00am to 9:00pm).
• An example of the current operational rota is attached; this may be subject to change due to operational requirements.

Main duties of the job:

• Perform and interpret routine and specialist biomedical investigations in line with skills, experience, and competencies.
• Maintain professional standards required by the HCPC and provide technical advice to clinical colleagues.
• Process specimens and handle sensitive patient information with care, following SOPs.
• Contribute to the development, verification, and validation of new tests, including clinical trial samples.
• Supervise, support, train, and mentor MLAs, APs, and BMSs to ensure laboratory standards are met.
• Ensure compliance with safety regulations, legislation, and quality standards (CQC, UKAS, Synnovis policies).
• Participate in quality management activities, audits, inspections, EQA, and IQC procedures.
• Accurately use LIMS, Q-Pulse, and other systems for reliable data capture and reporting.
• Report incidents and adverse events, supporting junior colleagues in the process.
• Demonstrate ongoing competency, professionalism, and effective communication with colleagues of varying knowledge levels.
• Prioritise workload effectively, meet deadlines, and maintain high standards of work.
• Engage in CPD to keep knowledge and practices up to date.

Working for your organisation:

We are an IBMS-approved training laboratory and support career development through various pathways, including opportunities for higher degrees, specialist portfolios, and leadership roles.

Your development and learning:

You will have a suite of learning opportunities available through The Synnovis Way Development programme, the Scientific Learning and Development Fund and the Synnovis Academy through which you can receive funding/support for advanced qualifications. Through our Innovation Accelerator Fund, you can apply for finance to get that new innovative scientific project off the ground, and participate with the wider scientific community through symposiums, conferences and other peer group meetings.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

This role supports the delivery of biomedical investigations as part of the laboratory in Synnovis. Reporting to the Operations Managers, you will hold a variety of responsibilities to ensure the successful delivery of pathology services, in line with our corporate objectives. You will hold a variety of accountabilities in the laboratory environment. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Perform and interpret routine and specialist biomedical investigations by participating in regular daily workloads, as directed by management, in line with your skills, experience and competencies.
• Maintain standards of conduct required by the HCPC to practice as a registered Biomedical Scientist.
• Provide technical advice to clinical colleagues as required and within limits of competency.
• Process specimens and handle sensitive information with care and due diligence, such as patient results, in line with local SOPs.
• Propose and implement changes to SOPs, policies and work practice as required.
• Participate in the development of new tests, as directed, including alignment with accreditation bodies and local management processes.
• Where necessary this will include analysing clinical trial samples.
• Participate in verification and validation work when required.
• Day to day supervision of MLAs, APs and BMSs, providing support, training and mentoring to ensure performance is in line with laboratory standards.
• Observe all safety regulations and ensure others are doing the same. This includes holding people to account when standards fall short of expectations and raising concerns about safety in the laboratory.
• Ensure compliance for your area of work with all legislative and quality requirements of regulatory directives, accreditation bodies, and local management including: Care Quality Commission, UKAS, Synnovis policies and SOPs, and any other body in area of responsibility.
• Participate in quality management activities including inspections, audits, EQA and IQC procedures as required.
• Utilise the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), Q-Pulse quality management database and other relevant software to ensure high quality reliable data capture and entry.
• Complete data entry accurately to record sensitive patient information, requiring frequent, long periods of concentration whilst maintaining patient confidentiality and following Information Governance (IG) guidelines.
• Work closely with colleagues in the quality team to identify best practice and embed a culture of high quality and performance across your area.
• Report all incidents and adverse events to management and enter the information in the CAPA module of Q-pulse in a timely manner as directed, supervising and assisting junior colleagues with the process.
• Demonstrate ongoing laboratory-based competency against training plans.
• Demonstrate professionalism, patience and empathy when explaining complex subjects, and in particular when communicating with people who do not share the same level of knowledge or understanding.
• Prioritise your workload effectively to ensure that deadlines are met, and that work is delivered to the highest standards possible.
• Take part in CPD activities to ensure that your practices and knowledge are always relevant and up to date to your specific area.