Senior Research Technologist: Laboratory Assistant at South African Medical Research Council

Job Description:

• The job holder will be responsible for providing skilled technical support to the Platform, ensuring the efficient day-to-day functioning of the cell culture laboratories and assisting senior researchers with ongoing research activities as directed by the line manager. They will be expected to maintain a clean and safe laboratory environment, accurate record-keeping, equipment maintenance and the proper storage of chemicals and biological materials. In addition, the job holder will manage general cell culture laboratory consumable and reagent stocks (i.e. ordering, logging, aliquoting and recording usage), as well as ensure compliance with GLP in the laboratory. An integral part of the role is training of laboratory users in basic aseptic technique.

Responsibilities:

• Cell culture laboratory maintenance and support to staff and students, including cell culture laboratory stock inventory, record keeping, and preparation of basic solutions for the laboratory
• Training of staff and students in mammalian cell culture technique
• Management of cell culture laboratory budget and invoicing of staff usage
• Management of the chemical store and supply to the laboratory when required
• Monitoring of CO2 incubators and environmental controls in cell culture laboratory
• Conducting cell-based assays and optimisation of end-point assays using established protocols
• Implementation of quality control data and routine cell culture laboratory reports
• Ensuring SOP compliance, quarterly health and safety inspections and asset management in cell culture laboratory

Job Requirements
Core Requirements:

• BSc or BTech in Molecular Biology, Biomedical Science or similar qualification
• 2 -3 years’ hands-on experience in mammalian cell culture and aseptic technique
• Proficiency in culturing immortalised cell lines
• Familiarity with Good Laboratory Practices
• Maintaining experimental records (laboratory book) with accuracy and working with protocols and SOP’s
• Stock and reagent maintenance and logging in cell culture laboratory
• Experience in laboratory budgeting
• 2-3 years’ experience in training staff and students in aseptic technique for mammalian cell culture
• Understanding of quality control processes within a mammalian cell culture laboratory setting
• Proficient in MS Office for data recording and reporting.
• 2-3 years’ experience with basic mammalian cell culture end-point assay optimization and routine screening using established protocols

Advantageous:

• Experience with isolating and culturing primary cell cultures
• Experience with techniques such as confocal microscopy and Flow cytometry. Research
• Experience in running cell culture training workshops
• Experience of working in a SANAS-accredited laboratory or similar environment