Job summary
- Main area
- 317 Newcastle Advanced Therapies
- Grade
- Band 3 to Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 317-2026-06-22-DR-A
- Employer
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Trustwide
- Town
- 317 Trustwide
- Salary
- £24,937 - £30,162 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 15/03/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 14/04/2026
Employer heading
Laboratory Assistant
Band 3 to Band 4
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country. We have around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion.
With strong history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation regionally, nationally and internationally, we’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country.
As well as providing a wide range of hospital and community services, we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Newcastle Advanced Therapies Team in a brand-new job progression post. The candidate will start as a Band 3 Laboratory Assistant and following successful completion of an in-house training program will be promoted to a Band 4 Laboratory Technician.
Newcastle Advanced Therapies are an integral part of the Pharmacy Directorate of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We work in partnership with Newcastle University to provide a comprehensive service in processing, storage, development and manufacture of advanced therapy products. Newcastle Advanced Therapies operate a JACIE accredited, MHRA and HTA licensed GMP cleanroom complex across two sites at the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the International Centre for Life. We have a well-established Haematology Transplant Service and a strong track record in delivering ATIMP clinical trials.
Please note progression from 3 to 4 is dependent on successful completion of the training program within 18 months.
- Interview Date 14 April 2026
- 37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
Main duties of the job
- To undertake a full range of technical activities within cleanroom and laboratory environments.
- To carry out preparation and / or cryopreservation of cells and tissues from donations, having successfully completed the in-house competency-based training programme that encompasses the concepts of Quality Assurance, Regulatory Compliance with HTA & JACIE, GMP and Quality Control.
- To carry out the manufacture of advanced therapeutic investigational medicinal products, from cells or tissue, having successfully completed the in-house competency-based training programme that encompasses the concepts of Quality Assurance, Regulatory compliance with MHRA, GMP and Quality Control.
- Provides technical support to production services by carrying out routine procedures, facility maintenance, calibration checks, patient record collation and product receipt, distribution, storage and disposal.
- Provides support to external user groups by orchestrating and delivering clinically based patient product reinfusions.
Undertakes the safe supply of prepared or manufactured sterile cellular or tissue based medicinal treatments in accordance with defined regulatory guidelines
Working for our organisation
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:
- Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
- Freeman Hospital
- Newcastle Dental Hospital
- Cramlington Manor Walks
- Urgent treatment centres
- Newcastle Fertility Centre
- Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
- Northern Genetics Service
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Job Purpose Band 3
- A Laboratory Technician is part of a clinical support team whose purpose is to provide support to Healthcare Scientists, Clinical teams and other service users from the hospital and community, in the provision of highly specialist treatment using cellular products and transplants.
- The post holder will use extended technical skills to carry out a variety of laboratory duties including registration and data entry of requests, under the direct or indirect supervision and guidance of a senior staff member.
- The post holder will use their scientific knowledge to perform maintenance and calibration checks of essential equipment and perform quality control testing of the cleanroom and related environment.
Job Purpose Band 4
- To undertake a full range of technical activities within cleanroom and laboratory environments.
- To carry out preparation and / or cryopreservation of cells and tissues from donations, having successfully completed the in-house competency based training programme that encompasses the concepts of Quality Assurance, Regulatory Compliance with HTA & JACIE, GMP and Quality Control.
- To carry out the manufacture of advanced therapeutic investigational medicinal products, from cells or tissue, having successfully completed the in-house competency based training programme that encompasses the concepts of Quality Assurance, Regulatory compliance with MHRA, GMP and Quality Control.
- Provides technical support to production services by carrying out routine procedures, facility maintenance, calibration checks, patient record collation and product receipt, distribution, storage and disposal.
- Provides support to external user groups by orchestrating and delivering clinically based patient product reinfusions.
- Undertakes the safe supply of prepared or manufactured sterile cellular or tissue based medicinal treatments in accordance with defined regulatory guidelines.
- Contributes to stock control and reduction in wastage of consumables and reagents.
- Contributes to training and supervision of Laboratory Assistants and external clinical staff undertaking reinfusion competencies.
- Leads laboratory assistants in facility maintenance, environmental monitoring, stock management and routine cleaning procedures.
- Leads laboratory assistants in technical transplant reinfusions and provides reinfusion competency assessments to laboratory assistants and external clinical staff.
- Assists production staff of all levels in the maintenance of the critical environments and departmental equipment.
- Supports seniors and scientific staff in coordination of specific area workload on a day-to-day basis. Assesses priorities and ensures effective utilisation of assistant staff.
- Collates all materials and reagents in preparation for routine and complex processing procedures.
Person specification
Qualifications & Education - Band 3
Essential criteria
- NVQ/BTEC level 3 in healthcare science, Pharmaceutical Science or related subject
Knowledge & Experience - Band 3
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in an NHS or clinical environment
- A desire to explore a career in stem cell science
- Previous experience working across multiple sites or sections of a department
Skills & Abilities - Band 3
Essential criteria
- High standard of computer skills including Outlook, Excel and Word
- High level of communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be highly emotive
- Good interpersonal skills
- An ability to interact professionally with staff from all disciplines
- Demonstrates an understanding of issues relating to confidentiality and adheres to Trust policy
- Ability to work independently, reliably and consistently
- Ability to show initiative when required and a willingness to share ideas with others
- An ability to work as part of a team and maintain good relationships with colleagues
- Ability to recognise limits of own expertise and to seek advice/support when necessary
- Ability to cope with and maintain professionalism in potentially upsetting circumstances around serious illness of a patient
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Glynis Lloyd
- Job title
- Operational Co-ordinator
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0191 9177259
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