Laboratory Technician - Quality Control

Enherts Tr; Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Northwood; On-site; GBP 25,000 - GBP 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in the UK is seeking a Laboratory Technician to ensure high-quality care for patients. The successful candidate will monitor physical air quality and microbiological conditions in controlled healthcare environments. Responsibilities include organizing testing schedules, conducting laboratory analyses, and ensuring compliance with regulatory guidelines. Qualifications include an NVQ3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical science and experience in related technical procedures. This role supports flexible working patterns and is essential in providing exemplary service.

Benefits

Flexible working patterns

Support for personal development

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

Qualifications

• Experience in pharmaceutical technical procedures acquired through training or practical experience.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake investigations of Quality Exceptions.
• Experience in handling hazardous materials and undertaking risk assessments.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for monitoring physical air quality and microbiological conditions.
• Organize external testing schedules ensuring compliance and deadlines.
• Undertake microbiology, chemistry and physical testing in the Lister QC laboratories.

Skills

Good IT skills including Microsoft Word, Excel

Excellent customer care skills

Interpersonal skills

Education

NVQ3 or BTEC in pharmaceutical science or equivalent

Tools

Laboratory testing equipment

Job description

Here at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust

Our mission is:
Providing high-quality, compassionate care for our communities

Our vision to 2030 is:
To be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service

Our values - We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do. Our values are:

Include
We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.

Respect
We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.

Improve
We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.

Job overview

We are recruiting for a Laboratory Technician who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

You are responsible for physical air quality and microbiological monitoring of pharmacy clean rooms and other controlled healthcare environments as well as testing of quality of air generated by compressed air plants.

To organise and monitor external testing schedules for all site visits, ensuring deadlines are met and all relevant reports are generated and submitted on time.

This role may occasionally involve working outside normal hours, including weekends and bank holidays.

At the heart of everything we do are our core values:Include,Respect, andImprove. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is responsible for physical air quality and microbiological monitoring of pharmacy clean rooms and other controlled healthcare environments as well as testing of quality of air generated by compressed air plants. All testing must be undertaken in strict compliance with all regulatory guidelines and quality standards and involves regular travel to customer sites.

Organise and monitor external testing schedules for all site visits, ensuring deadlines are met and all relevant reports are generated and submitted on time. Monitor workflow and turnaround times for testing and communicate any delays to your line manager.

To undertake microbiology, chemistry and physical testing in the Lister QC laboratories.

Working for our organisation

At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.

We run the following hospitals:

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Person specification

Qualifications/Training

• NVQ3, BTEC inpharmaceutical science or equivalent level of qualification in a live science based discipline

Previous Experience

• Experience in a range of pharmaceutical technical procedures acquired through training or practical experience whilst working in Hospitals, Pharmaceutical or other scientific environments
• Demonstrated ability to undertake staff supervision, training and coaching and day to day organization of tasks or staff rota.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake investigations of Quality Exceptions
• Experience of writing of test reports and preparation and implementation of standard operating procedures
• Experience in use and understanding of a range of analytical techniques and measurement instrumentation and calibration processes
• Experience in handling hazardous materials and undertaking risk assessments

Skills

• Good IT skills to include proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and Power Point
• Ability to use the technical knowledge and reasoning to review and assess data and information.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to communicate with all levels of staff and customers Excellent customer care skills.
• Ability to allocate and check work of laboratory support staff and less experienced technical staff

Knowledge

• Knowledge of both chemical and microbiological analytical techniques
• Knowledge of a range of pharmaceutical technical procedures and scientific testing processes including chemistry, physical and microbiological testing
• Awareness of the Health and Safety at Work act, COSHH legislation and understanding of laboratory safety

Other Requirements

• Understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion issues
• Role model our Trust values every day
• Must be able to travel easily between sites as regular travel to customer sites is required and may be necessary out of hours and at short notice

When you apply...

Please note we do not offer visa sponsorship for roles unless clearly stated in our adverts. This means even if you have the right to work currently but will require a new sponsorship to work for our Trust your application will not be considered.

Vacancies may close earlier than the advertised closing date where a high volume of applications are received. We therefore encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the opportunity to join the Trust or develop your career with us.

While we recognise that AI can support in drafting an application, you are encouraged to clearly demonstrate your personal skills, experience and behaviours that align with the role, and this is usually best done in your own words. We reserve the right to review all applications for the use of AI tools and where this is inconsistent with our values and standards of behaviour your application may be rejected

All correspondence relating to vacancies will be via the e-mail address you have provided on your application form. Some servers automatically send e-mails to your junk mail so please check as well as your inbox.

Secondments/Fixed term

Where a vacancy is advertised as a temporary position, the duration will be specified in the advert. If the vacancy becomes permanent towards the end of the specified duration, the successful applicant may not be required to re-apply and can be slotted into the role on a permanent basis if appropriate.

If you are an internal applicant applying for a temporary working arrangement, please see the attached notes on secondments.

Committed to our Community

East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under-represented in various parts of our workforce .

We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.

We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing [e-mail]

We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.

We are committed to being a carer-friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.

King's Trust Support

If you’re aged between 16 and 30 years-old, you can get FREE employability support from The King’s Trust. The King’s Trust will help build your CV and cover letter, offer advice and top tips for future interviews and support you with research about working in the NHS. Please contact Enquiries.H&[e-mail] for support.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.