Senior Laboratory Technician; Paleoceanography

Role

Senior Laboratory Technician (Paleoceanography)

Grade 6: £31,236 - £36,636 per annum

Position available for 5 months full time (1 FTE) or 6 months at 0.8 FTE; flexible working possible.

33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings‑closed days and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday.

Support the UKRI funded Future Leaders Fellowship ‘Fate of ocean oxygenation in a warming world’ project.

Provide technical and logistical support for proxy reconstructions of seawater oxygen levels and outreach work.

• Sample preparation (weighing, sieving, drying of sediment samples)
• Identifying and picking foraminifera
• Carrying out sedimentary and specialist foraminifera geochemical analyses in laboratory

• A degree in environmental/earth and ocean sciences, including oceanography, marine biology, geology, biogeochemistry
• Analytical and technical problem‑solving skills
• IT skills, proficient in the use of computers and general software
• Good communication and presentation skills
• Team player with good interpersonal skills
• Demonstrate self‑motivation and desire to achieve objectives agreed with managers
• Demonstrable ability to work quickly, flexibly and accurately in a dynamic, changing and pressured environment
• Demonstrable professional and proactive approach
• Willingness to travel and perform laboratory work with partner institutes

• A MSc degree in paleoceanography
• Experienced in identification of benthic and planktonic foraminiferal species
• Working experience in applying palaeoceanographic proxies, including running specialist laboratory equipment
• Working towards deadlines
• Analytical and technical problem‑solving skills
• Experience of relevant health and safety protocols

Heriot‑Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.