Research Chemist; Metals

Salary - £38,939 to £41,321. Permanent. Full-time or part-time >0.8

FTE. We reserve the right to close this advert early if we find the right candidate, so we encourage you to apply early.

We have an exciting opportunity for an Inorganic Research Chemist to join our Analytical Chemistry team in Lancaster, within the acclaimed Environmental Pressures and Responses Group. This multidisciplinary team is at the forefront of understanding how pollution, land‑use change, and climate pressures affect ecosystems. Working across air, land, and water, we generate high‑quality evidence that directly informs action on environmental change.

We are seeking a driven and experienced analytical Chemist with strong expertise in inorganic analysis, particularly metal analyses, who is motivated by both scientific excellence and real‑world impact. In this role, you will work in close collaboration with colleagues across UKCEH and the wider scientific community, helping to identify emerging research challenges and shaping compelling ideas that attract funding. For individuals who enjoy translating scientific insight into funded research and innovative analytical capability, this is an especially rewarding opportunity.

You will thrive in this role if you are ideas‑driven, collaborative, and proactive, with a genuine curiosity for solving complex scientific problems. Comfortable working across multiple projects, you will bring a high level of accuracy, attention to detail, and personal ownership, alongside the creativity to develop and implement novel analytical approaches. Innovation is actively encouraged, and your contributions will directly influence the direction and capability of the team.

We are particularly keen to hear from chemists who are excited by the funding and partnership‑building aspects of research. You will enjoy seeking out opportunities for collaboration, developing research ideas, writing grant applications, and responding to tenders. Whether through advancing laboratory methodologies, building on existing professional networks, or generating fundable ideas rooted in PhD‑level or applied research, you will be resourceful, investigative, and motivated to generate income and impact.

• Leading the development of analytical methods arising from new scientific and funding opportunities, including method validation and the preparation of robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Contributing to, and leading where appropriate, high‑impact scientific outputs, providing analytical data and methodological content for peer‑reviewed publications, customer reports, presentations, and book or book chapters.
• Ensuring the quality and integrity of analytical data, including oversight of data generation where required.
• Training, mentoring, and supervising laboratory staff, supporting skills development and maintaining high technical standards across the team.
• Managing laboratory operations, including responsibility for the safe use of facilities, compliance with COSHH, and day‑to‑day lab management.
• Working within the laboratory quality system and ISO 17025, including managing inorganic non‑conforming work investigations and undertaking internal audits across the group.
• Liaising directly with instrument manufacturers, contributing to the evaluation and selection of new analytical instrumentation.
• Performing routine analyses when required, ensuring continuity and resilience of laboratory capability.
• As the role develops, there may be opportunities to take on line management responsibilities.

In this role, you will join a well‑established team working in world‑class laboratories, equipped with cutting‑edge analytical instrumentation, advanced methodologies, and comprehensive sample preparation facilities. You will contribute to the delivery of high‑quality, innovative analytical data, including work accredited to UKAS ISO 17025:2017, supporting a wide range of impactful projects. The Lancaster laboratories have achieved the highest certification (Gold) under the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), the world’s largest green laboratory certification scheme.

This is an opportunity for someone who…