Job summary
- Main area
- Chemical Pathology
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 249-7140054
- Employer
- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Great Western Hospital
- Town
- Swindon
- Salary
- £46,148 - £52,809 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 18/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Senior Biomedical Scientist - Chemical Pathology
Band 7
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital.
Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.
We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.
The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.
If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.
Job overview
This role is an opportunity for an experienced Biomedical Scientist to join the Great Western Hospitals Chemical Pathology section within Blood Sciences department in a Senior role.
The post holder will join a team of dedicated professionals working to deliver high quality test results and excellent care to patients across Swindon and the surrounding area. The Great Western Hospitals Blood Science department handles over 6 million test requests per year and offers a large repertoire of tests for our patients.
The post holder will act as senior support to the staff within the Chemical Pathology department, providing their expertise guidance in tasks such as troubleshooting analytical equipment and helping maintain the workflow through the section. A primary focus for this post is to provide training and quality support for the department. Strong leadership skills, experience in training staff and an understanding the IBMS Registration and Specialist portfolios will be essential to achieve success in this role. This post is one of three senior roles within Chemical Pathology and the post holder will work alongside the other seniors to lead the department and the junior staff members.
Main duties of the job
It will be expected that the post holder will manage their time well to be able to deliver the workload, under guidance from the Laboratory Manager. It will be important to balance the time spent supporting staff through training, completing quality work such as incident investigations, audits, document control, etc and helping on the bench depending on the current needs of the department.
There could be a requirement to cover occasional out of hours shifts to maintain the service during times of extreme staffing shortages. These will be minimised and shared between all senior staff in the department.
The successful candidate will be an experienced HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist with deep knowledge of clinical biochemistry. An MSc in biomedical sciences or clinical biochemistry or similar will be an advantage.
This post is focused towards providing training support for staff completing IBMS registration/specialist portfolios and supporting the departmental quality management system. Time should be managed to effectively deliver all training related work, contribute significantly to the audit and incident investigation work and support staff on the bench to complete routine work.
Working for our organisation
Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
It will be expected that the post holder will manage their time well to be able to deliver the workload, under guidance from the Laboratory Manager. It will be important to balance the time spent supporting staff through training, completing quality work such as incident investigations, audits, document control, etc and helping on the bench depending on the current needs of the department.
There could be a requirement to cover occasional out of hours shifts to maintain the service during times of extreme staffing shortages. These will be minimised and shared between all senior staff in the department.
The successful candidate will be an experienced HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist with deep knowledge of clinical biochemistry. An MSc in biomedical sciences or clinical biochemistry or similar will be an advantage.
This post is focused towards providing training support for staff completing IBMS registration/specialist portfolios and supporting the departmental quality management system. Time should be managed to effectively deliver all training related work, contribute significantly to the audit and incident investigation work and support staff on the bench to complete routine work.
There is opportunity for an enthusiastic scientist to become involved in a range of projects ongoing within the laboratory to bring improvement to the overall department.
The successful candidate should be able to successfully communicate with a wide range of staff groups, both internal and external, and successfully manage potential barriers to communication to achieve positive outcomes to discussions.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- IBMS accredited Biomedical Sciences degree (or equivalent approved by the IBMS)
- HCPC registration as a biomedical scientist
Desirable criteria
- Specialist portfolio in Biochemistry
- Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences or related subject (or equivalent)
- Health and Safety training
- Quality management training
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience working and communicating as part of a diverse team
- Experience working in a clinical laboratory in biochemistry
- Strong team leader
- Prepared to work with biological materials and a variety of sample types
Desirable criteria
- Experience managing staff
- Experience conducting appraisals for staff members
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- A good standard of written and spoken English is required to be able to undertake the relevant duties
- Specialist knowledge of main techniques within clinical biochemistry
- Good IT skills and knowledge of Microsoft Office software packages
- A good communication skills
Desirable criteria
- A high level of commitment and drive to improve
- Knowledge of IT architecture used in running complex analytical equipment and laboratory information systems (LIMS)
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Kirk Allott
- Job title
- Laboratory Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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