Senior Biomedical Scientist / Team Manager - Infection Sciences

Job summary
We are seeking an experienced Microbiology Biomedical Scientist Team Manager (Training) to join the Infection Sciences Laboratory at Jersey General Hospital. This is a key senior position within the Infection Sciences team, with primary responsibility for Microbiology service delivery and training. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in providing high-quality diagnostic services while supporting the development of our workforce and laboratory systems.

Applicants must be HCPC registered Biomedical Scientists. Have a minimum of 6 years' post-registration experience. Hold an MSc, Fellowship, IBMS Higher Specialist Diploma, or equivalent qualification in Medical Microbiology. Demonstrate extensive experience in diagnostic microbiology and laboratory management. Have a strong commitment to staff development, quality improvement, and service excellence. The post is full-time and includes participation in the weekend and bank holiday rota.

Our well-equipped laboratory maintains a comprehensive diagnostic microbiology service and is equipped with a MALDI-ToF, BACTEC and a GeneXpert. The department is UKAS accredited and an IBMS-approved training laboratory, with a long-standing reputation for developing staff and supporting professional advancement.

Main duties of the job
Lead a team of specialist biomedical scientists and support staff, and oversee training, competency assessment and continuing professional development for the infection sciences laboratories, to guide the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases, protecting the health of islanders.

The post holder will:

• Manage and support staff within the Bacteriology Laboratory.
• Perform and oversee diagnostic testing across all sections of the bacteriology service, requiring extensive knowledge of microbiological investigations.
• Act as the department's Training Officer, supporting staff undertaking the IBMS Specialist Portfolio and other development programmes.
• Work alongside the Health & Safety Biomedical Scientist Team Manager and Quality Manager to provide technical leadership for the Bacteriology service.
• Lead and contribute to: staff training and competency assessment; audit programmes; verification and validation activities; management of laboratory documentation; investigation and management of non-conformances; quality improvement initiatives.
• Support the Laboratory Manager in the operational management of Infection Sciences, ensuring service continuity and effective risk management.

About us
Jersey is idyllically situated between England and France. As an Island it offers the best of both worlds; a beautiful coastline with a great beach vibe, plus quaint and quiet countryside. A small population with clear parish identities, our Islanders benefit from true community spirit and a relaxed lifestyle.

Our Organisation
We want you to be your best, and we know that to achieve this we need to support the whole you. That's why our offer is much more than pay and pension. A career with the Jersey Public Service comes with a range of benefits, as well as offering the opportunity to make a tangible impact on the lives of Islanders.

Job responsibilities

• Lead a team performing a range of advanced infection and molecular sciences analyses on a variety of samples, giving advice on appropriate techniques, to guide and contribute to clinical diagnoses, treatments and the evaluation of the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
• Manage the work of a laboratory specialism, using personal knowledge, experience and interpersonal skills, to meet urgent clinical need and agreed turnaround times, and contributing to the control of infection, preventive programmes, and hospital bed occupancy management, aligned with evidence-based best practice and prioritising resources.
• Support and mentor the team to take personal ownership of scientific decisions that impact on patient care by enabling prompt and appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
• Network with other professionals at all levels, some of whom may be off island, to give advice on guidelines and techniques, appropriate specimens and examinations, to manage users expectations and to collaborate on new service developments.
• Implement systems for the introduction of new employees to the organisational environment, training, the supervision of training, the assessment of employees competency, reassessment at regular intervals and retraining as required, to ensure a competent workforce.
• Maintain with the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), the laboratory's approval for the training of support staff, and registration and post-registration training of biomedical scientists, so that the island is able to recruit and train a sufficient number of employees to deliver a high quality service.
• Establish a system for IBMS portfolio review and completion, including obtaining and collating appropriate evidence, and facilitate external portfolio assessments and assessor visits, ensuring employees obtain IBMS qualifications relevant to their roles.
• Encourage a culture of career-long learning, through the provision of a variety of continuing professional development opportunities, focussing on reflective and evidence-based practice.
• Coordinate and monitor internal and external quality assurance, participate in internal audit, contribute to external accreditation, lead on document writing and review, and participate in verification and control of procedural change, giving assurance to service users that the quality of laboratory work can be relied upon.
• Assess and minimise clinical risk to ensure the safety and wellbeing of patients.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• MSc in medical microbiology or virology, accredited by the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), or IBMS Higher Specialist Diploma in medical microbiology or virology, or Fellowship of the IBMS by a route demonstrably relevant to infection sciences, and registered with the HCPC and the Jersey Care Commission as a biomedical scientist, and IBMS certificate of expert practice in training.

Desirable

• IBMS certificate of expert practice in quality management
• Health and safety qualification or certificate
• Relevant information technology qualification or certificate
• Job-related mandatory training in health and safety, data security and safeguarding

Experience
Essential

• Experience of working as an autonomous specialist practitioner in a relevant setting, acquired over approximately six years
• Evidence of continuing professional development that conforms to HCPC standards

Desirable

• Experience of leading, supervising and motivating a team

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Contact
Chief Biomedical Scientist Microbiology: Victoria Atherton MBE, View email address on meeveem.com, View phone number on meeveem.com

Location: Jersey General Hospital, St. Helier, Jersey, JE1 3QS
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