Faculty of Medicine and Health
School of Medicine
St James’s Campus Infrastructure & Facilities (SCIF)
Infrastructure Assistant
SCIF is looking for a highly motivated individual to work as a member of a multi-skilled team dedicated to the smooth running, and provision of services that support and enhance the use of University facilities, in particular laboratories, research space and visitor reception areas. The ideal person will be professional and friendly with the ability to create a positive first impression and provide an excellent level of customer care. You will help to ensure the safety and well-being of users of the building.
You will be expected to work flexibly across the University buildings on the SJUH site Clinical Sciences Building (CSB), Wellcome Trust Brenner Building (WTBB), Cancer Research Building (CRB), Robert Ogden Building (ROB) and Cancer Genetics (CGB) providing a front of house service, laboratory and facilities support. The post is wide, ranging from routine daily duties to assisting Lab Managers with laboratory support duties and including occasional re-organisation of laboratory areas.
On reception, you will be the first point of contact, representing the University greeting staff, students and visitors alike. In the laboratories, you will have an important role under the guidance of Lab Managers with the general upkeep of all laboratories.
The University of Leeds is committed to providing equal opportunities for all and offers a range of family friendly policies (http://hr.leeds.ac.uk/homepage/4/policies). The University is a charter member of Athena SWAN and holds the Bronze award. The School of Medicine gained the Bronze award in 2013. We are committed to being an inclusive medical school that values all staff, and we are happy to consider job share applications and requests for flexible working arrangements from our employees.
University Grade 3 (£16,017 – £17,703 per annum) depending on qualifications and experience
Informal enquiries regarding the post should be directed to Janet Holt, 0113 206 5474,
If you have any specific enquiries about your online application please contact Colette Cornelly, 0113 206 9229,
Job Reference: MHCIF1007 Closing Date: 18 January 2016
Purpose of the post
To provide, under the guidance of the Laboratory Managers, a responsive facilities support for the smooth running of the laboratories and the University managed buildings on the St James`s University Hospital campus. This role is part of a small team of Infrastructure Assistants who together provide a seamless, customer focussed service.
Key Tasks
Laboratories
· Perform general laboratory housekeeping duties under the supervision of the Laboratory Managers including re-stocking stores areas, defrosting fridges and fridges and cleaning bench and shelving areas. Collection and effective disposal of waste, including packaging and clinical waste.
· Preparation of simple laboratory solutions, plates and media for microbiology and tissue culture, under Laboratory Manager instruction and supervision.
· Washing and sterilisation of the glassware (via glasswasher and autoclave equipment )
· Maintain a stock of general laboratory plastic ware, tissue culture and microbiology plastic ware on each lab floor.
· Undertake a weekly stock check of communal stores areas.
Facilities
· Providing basic security surveillance to the building/zone and reporting issues to Security, by ensuring visitors sign in and out of the buildings.
· Logging minor facilities/laboratory related faults when found or identified by contacting Estates’ help desk and notifying the appropriate line manager and ensuring the faults are attended to. Notify building occupants of the fault, if appropriate.
· Responsible for printing out and liaising with staff who have booked the WTBB L3 seminar room for set up of furniture required.
· Responsible for ensuring catering activity from WTBB L3 seminar room has been tidied and ready for collection. Also ensuring that any catering brought in to the building is cleared in a timely manner.
· To bring to the attention of cleaning or laboratory staff any problems to help maintain a clean appearance of the building/zone.
· To disseminate information using appropriate and effective methods of communication (passing email information on from colleagues) relating to facilities/lab issues, including cover.
Goods Receipting (SAP) and Goods Distribution
· Prompt receipt and sign off of deliveries as they arrive at delivery points in WTBB/CSB/ CRB. Effective distribution / storage of these deliveries.
· Collection and distribution of goods from the stores to laboratories and offices throughout the SCIF buildings.
· Receiving Institutes’ deliveries and ensuring delivered goods match the order specification. Goods Receipting all tangible goods’ purchases on SAP.
· Follow-up outstanding items for the communal stores areas. Liaise with Faculty Purchasing Office as necessary.
Reception (Admin & Clerical)
· To act as front of house, greeting visitors, students and new staff ensuring that they are dealt with in a professional, courteous and helpful way.
· To provide them with the information they require and / or direct them to their end destination in an efficient manner.
· To ensure visitors sign in and that staff and students are registered and use swipe cards.
· To allocate visitor parking permits when agreed and monitor approved parking.
· To open up WTBB and CSB reception areas
· To promptly answer, and respond to, all enquiries either by telephone, voicemail or email in a professional manner, using own initiative and discretion, when referring queries to the appropriate member of staff / team.
· To provide adequate cover on reception at all times, liaising and working with other team members in a proactive and effective way to ensure there is appropriate cover and handover.
· To manage the distribution of internal and external mail for staff. In addition, to process and record air mail, registered mail and packages for any events.
· Deal with lost property, notice board housekeeping in reception and in the allocated building/zone.
Service Provision
· Provide a high quality service to users of the St James’s University Hospital campus buildings.
· Ensure that WTBB and CSB reception and CRB goods delivery areas are covered between 8am and 5pm daily.
· Maintain a pro-active, customer focussed approach to identifying and resolving issues / problems within the individual areas of work outlined above.
· Reassure and help users, staying calm under pressure when resolving problems.
· Take ownership of your areas of responsibility, including ownership of problems from the start and act as an enthusiastic ambassador for the service,
· Escalate problems as appropriate to the relevant Laboratory Manager, describe problems succinctly to team colleagues and others,
Extra Duties
· Transferring between areas on a temporary basis to cover absent colleagues within the team, or support particularly busy periods within other areas, as requested.
· Always being aware of Health and Safety issues and taking reasonable precautions to ensure the health and safety of yourself and others at all times.
· Performing Fire Warden and First Aid duties.
· Undertaking any other reasonable duties as requested by your manager(s).
· Contributing to your own personal development by undertaking regular appraisal (via the University Staff Review and Development scheme) and training as necessary, to update skills and knowledge
Relationships
The post-holder is responsible to the SJUH Senior Infrastructure Assistant, and through them to a Laboratory Manager and to the SCIF Business Lead, Mrs Janet Holt, the SCIF Director, Professor Phil Hopkins and Dean of the School of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health, Professor Paul Stewart.
University Values
All staff are expected to operate in line with the university’s values and standards, which work as an integral part of our strategy and set out the principles of how we work together. More information about the university’s strategy and values is available at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/comms/strategy/
Person Specification
Essential
· Experience of, and a commitment to providing a high quality service within a busy customer focussed environment
· Ability to organise, prioritise and manage own workload and able to work independently and unsupervised
· Ability to maintain discretion and confidentiality particularly linked to SBS and security information
· Experience of working on own initiative, with a proactive and logical approach to problem solving
· Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
· Willingness to work outside normal office hours from time to time (by prior arrangement where possible)
· Flexible approach to work
· Efficient and able to provide a prompt response to requests
· Willingness and enthusiasm to be trained in new tasks
· Effective written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to describe problems succinctly to colleagues, compile and write simple notes and memos and reassure / help users whilst remaining calm under pressure
· Basic computing skills, including the ability to log on, send and receive emails and record and enter information into databases
· Ability to work alone or as part of a team
Desirable
· GCSE’s in Maths and English (or equivalent)
· Experience of working within a laboratory environment
· Understanding of Health and Safety requirements within the laboratory setting
· Working knowledge of SIPR and purchasing procedures
· Working knowledge of GRN procedures
· Basic technical safe manual handling skills
· Experience of University systems (eg SAP)
Faculty Information
With more than 6,000 students, 1,600 staff and annual research income of £50m, the Faculty of Medicine and Health at Leeds is bigger than some universities. Leeds has one of the largest medical and bioscience research bases in the UK, and is an acknowledged world leader in cancer, cardiovascular, psychiatric, genetic, musculo-skeletal and health services research. Treatments developed in Leeds are transforming the lives of people around the world living with conditions such as HIV, TB, diabetes and malaria.
The School of Medicine
The School of Medicine at the University of Leeds is a major international centre for research and education. Our ambition is to improve health and reduce health inequalities, locally and globally, through excellent scientific research and the translation of that research into healthcare practice, and through the education of future scientific and clinical leaders who will advocate and practise an evidence-based approach. Our major strategic aims are to:
· Deliver outstanding research including basic discovery science through to applied health research that makes a significant difference to health.
· Produce exceptional graduates, clinicians, educators, doctoral and post-doctoral fellows whose learning has been informed and inspired by our research excellence and who will form the next generation of academic and clinical leaders.
· Develop and support knowledge transfer activities that flow from our academic activities.
· Create and maintain an efficient and sustainable environment for research and teaching within an organisational culture and management style that enacts and supports the university’s core values of community, inclusiveness, integrity and professionalism.
The School of Medicine is organised into seven Institutes. All are committed to high quality research-led teaching, through their training of postgraduate research students, delivery of postgraduate taught courses, and its leadership in undergraduate teaching. The School works closely with the local NHS, having a number of jointly funded clinical posts to ensure this relationship is effective and strong for both research and student education.
Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM), Director: Professor Mark Kearney
LICAMM integrates basic and clinical scientists with a common goal of understanding the mechanisms underpinning common chronic diseases of human health and developing new approaches to treating patients at an individual and population level. At the heart of LICAMMs philosophy is a vibrant multidisciplinary approach to science that provides a platform to deliver internationally competitive translational research and teaching in disorders including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases) our key aim is to improve the lives of our patients and the experience of our students.
Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS) Director: Professor Tim Ensor
LIHS delivers problem-driven research that supports decisions about the content or delivery of healthcare. Our interdisciplinary approach incorporates expertise in applied health research designs, health implementation sciences, social sciences, health economics, informatics and statistics, as well as skills in communicating with basic scientists, policy makers, healthcare providers, public and patients. We conduct research at the individual, population and organisational level.
Leeds Institute of Medical Education (LIME) Director: Professor Trudie Roberts
LIME provides the administrative support, co-ordination and leadership for the School of Medicine’s undergraduate medical degree, including admissions, curriculum development, assessment, student support and clinical placement liaison. It provides the technology-enhanced learning and innovation support for the School of Medicine. LIME also has a very active scholarship programme of research and innovation in medical education and uses its expertise to influence medical education policy and practice nationally and internationally. To achieve this it works with a range of stakeholders including the academic community, the profession, the public, regulators and policy makers.
The Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology (LICAP) Director: Professor Tim Bishop
http://medhealth.leeds.ac.uk/info/900/leeds_institute_of_cancer_and_pathology
The Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology addresses both laboratory based and clinical research into cancer with a major focus on translational science. LICAP is one of the largest cancer Institute’s in the country and has major financial support from the cancer charities. The laboratories and clinical research are all based on the St James’s site with laboratory activities being located in the Wellcome Trust Brenner Building and adjacent buildings while the clinical work is based within Bexley Wing. The Institute consists of seven Sections: Epidemiology & Biostatistics; Experimental Haematology; Experimental Oncology; Oncology & Clinical Research (Clinical); Oncology & Clinical Research (Laboratory); Patient Centred Outcome Research; and Pathology & Tumour Biology.
Cancer Research UK Leeds Centre
http://www.cancerresearchukcentre.leeds.ac.uk
The Leeds Cancer Research UK Centre is a partnership between the University of Leeds, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Cancer Research UK, which aims to harness the scientific power of Leeds-based cancer researchers to deliver improvements in cancer care at local, national and international level. It fosters excellence in basic and translational research and offers services to all cancer researchers in Leeds, irrespective of their funding source. Beyond research, the Centre is also keen to build stronger relationships with the local community, with patients undergoing cancer treatment, their carers, cancer survivors and the wider public.