Post Doctoral Scientist

Job description

Job responsibilities

The Respiratory Virus Unit (RVU) within the Virus Reference Department (VRD) provides:

• national surveillance of influenza and other respiratory viruses
• antigenic and genetic characterisation of circulating influenza strains
• data to the World Health Organisation (WHO) as evidence from the UK to guide the annual formulation of the influenza vaccine
• surveillance of antiviral susceptibility of influenza viruses derived from community and hospital sources, with monitoring achieved through genotypic and phenotypic analysis

The unit contributes virological data (antigenic and genetic) to assist determination of seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates.

The work of RVU also involves the development of diagnostic tests for current and emerging respiratory viruses, and vaccine evaluation studies.

The unit is 1 of 4 WHO global RSV Reference Laboratories, and as such collaborates with WHO, providing technical support and advice to national laboratories.

The unit is a WHO MERS CoV Reference Laboratory, providing confirmatory and reference services for MERS CoV, and WHO Reference Laboratory for confirmatory testing for COVID-19

Selection process details

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:

You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the advertised essential criteria please do provide evidence of how you meet this.

Your Statement of Suitability of no more than 1500 words should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section).

You will also be asked to provide information within the Employer/ Activity history section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.

STAGE 2 INTERVIEW

This competition will involve an interview in person on site at Colindale.

As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.

For further information on the selection process, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs on 20th September 2023 unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Interviews: w/c TBC 2023

Please note these dates could be subject to change.

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants)

Nationality requirements

Appointments to roles within UKHSA will be made in accordance with the Civil Service nationality rules. These can be found athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rulesThis job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of theEuropean Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• Certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

Security clearance level requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard. People working with government assets must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard checks.

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Please Note

This role is to be appointed under Civil Service Terms & Conditions. Full details on the T&Cs are found https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Are you already a civil servant, or employed by a Civil Service Commission accredited public body? Please state home department on your application form.

Do you meet the nationality requirements for this post? https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Complaint process:

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email:Complaints1@ukhsa.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website.

Person Specification

Education and qualifications

Essential

• PhD in Virology / Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology
• Mammalian cell culture and virus culture
• Previous experience in techniques such as ELISA and cell-based assays (including neutralisation and agglutination inhibition)
• Previous experience of cloning and site directed mutagenesis
• Demonstrated interest in serology/virology/vaccine development
• Experience of laboratory safety requirements and procedures and quality system management.

Desirable

• Health and Care Professions Council Registration (or on target to be achieved within six months of appointment)
• Experience of mammalian cell or baculovirus expression of proteins, their purification and analysis (e.g. Western Blotting etc)
• Experience in molecular techniques, including sequencing
• Previous experience in enzymatic methods (iei.e. measurement of enzyme activity and kinetics)
• Experience of work at BSL3
• Demonstrated interest in virology bioinformatics, including phylogenetic analysis

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

UK Health Security Agency

Address

Colindale Avenue

London

NW9 5HT

Employer's website

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency (Opens in a new tab)