Quality Officer

Job description

Job responsibilities

Responsibilities section:

Clinical Governance

• To conduct and participate in audit processes, clinical trials, research and development projects, as required by the Head of VEU.
• To assist in the management and monitoring of Quality Assurance and Quality Control activities, and ensure the Unit meets UKAS ISO 15189, Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP), GCP (Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) guidance standards.

Quality Management

• To be responsible for implementation, management and maintenance of the VEU Quality Systems.
• To assist in the review and maintenance of the Laboratory Quality Manual and supporting documentation, for the MMMP.

Risk Management & Safety

• To manage the reporting of adverse incidents and their outcomes from the VEU, in conjunction with Section Heads and the MMMP Quality Manager.

Management and Leadership

• To be responsible for the planning, organisation and delivery of own work and of the day-to-day work of the Laboratory and Equipment Officer (LEO) and Quality Assurance Practitioners (QAP).
• To extract data and produce reports, including the use of spreadsheets to provide statistical information on audit and workload monitoring.

Education and Development

• To undertake on-going training and development and update Professional Development Plan, as required by the Head of the VEU and Director of the Regional UKHSA Laboratory keeping up to date with advances in medical microbiology and vaccinology.
• To provide and develop training for staff.
• To assist with the development of the VEU training plan.

Scientific and Clinical

• To ensure data integrity when entering demographics and results into the laboratory information system.

Policy

• To work in a safe manner in accordance with Laboratory Health and Safety policies and procedures.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Please see job description attached for full list of duties and competencies associated with the post.

Essential Criteria:

It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of 1250 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential criteria (for full details of all essential criteria please refer to the attached job description):

Essential

• BSc Hons in appropriate biological degree
• Post-Graduate qualification (MSc) or demonstrate equivalent related experience
• Experience with laboratory computer systems. Comprehensive IT skills Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Internet and email
• Understanding of ISO 15189 and Good x Practice (GxP) issues within scientific specialist area
• Understanding of clinical governance
• Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales

Desirable

• Able to provide professional leadership for lower staff grades
• A high level of theoretical and practical scientific knowledge

Please ensure that your statement of suitability does not contain any personal identifiers such as Name, Gender, Location, Marital Status, Sexual Orientation or Religion. The UKHSA operates a fair and open recruitment policy.

Selection process details

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:

You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the full list of essential criteria as detailed in the attached job description please do provide evidence of how you meet this.

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

STAGE 2 INTERVIEW

This competition will involve an in-person interview (Remote interviews available upon request)

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. Candidates will also be asked to participate in a session where they will be required to prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation to the panel. This will be followed by a question-and-answer segment. The presentation will be designed to assess each candidates experience in line with the requirements of the role. Full details will be provided prior to the interview.

Your Statement of Suitability 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.

The Competency-Based framework will be used to assess and recruit the most suitable candidate. The following will be assessed at the interview:

• Knowledge
• Experience
• Technical Skills

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs on 17th April 2024 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.

Shortlist: 26th April 2024

Interviews: w/c 13th May 2024

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

Essential

Essential

• BSc Hons in appropriate biological degree
• Post-Graduate qualification (MSc) or demonstrate equivalent related experience
• Experience with laboratory computer systems. Comprehensive IT skills Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Internet and email
• Understanding of ISO 15189 and Good x Practice (GxP) issues within scientific specialist area
• Understanding of clinical governance
• Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales

Desirable

• Able to provide professional leadership for lower staff grades
• A high level of theoretical and practical scientific knowledge

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

Manchester Royal Infirmary

Manchester

M13 9WL

Employer's website

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