Become an Assistant Scientist with Fera Science and make your contribution to the UKs biosecurity specialising in Bacteriology or Virology!

From farm to fork, we help to protect the food we eat and the world in which we live. Join Fera today and play an important role in plant health and biosecurity and help protect the UK’s agricultural and natural environment. With a heritage stretching back over 100 years, we built our reputation on delivering science for the public good against threats including plant pests, diseases and chemicals that have a global impact on our food security and natural environment.

As an Assistant Scientist you will assist with bacteriology or virology diagnosis within the Plant Protection Programme. We have vacancies in each discipline area (Bacteriology and Virology); your duties and adopted diagnostic methods may differ. Please state a preference in your application and a brief overview on why.

Job title:

Assistant Scientists- Bacteriology & Virology

Job Description:

What you’ll be doing:

• You will aid the processing of samples for diagnostic analysis.
• Assist with preparation, labelling and ordering of consumables.
• Contribute to the validation and implementation of improvement in detection methods.
• Carrying out result entry through an electronic database as required.
• Provision of support for other work in the Plants Programme as required.

• Carry out work in accordance with ISO17025 and ISO9001 quality accreditation standards.
• Assist with the production of media and buffers where necessary

In Bacteriology:

• Assist with survey work to monitor for the presence of specific bacterial plant pathogens in a range of sample types. Key elements include:
  • Booking in, coring & processing of Ring rot & Brown rot potato survey samples.
  • Preparation and mailing of Ring rot & Brown rot coring kits.
  • Processing of other latent surveillance samples submitted to the Bacteriology department to include screening river water for Brown rot and plant samples for Xylella fastidiosa and Erwinia amylovora.
  • Processing of seed samples to aid detection of specified plant pathogenic bacteria.
• Assist in testing of commercial potato samples for soft rot loading levels.
• Assist with immunofluorescence microscopy work.

In Virology:

• Assisting with the diagnosis of plant diseases caused by viruses, viroids or phytoplasmas, using molecular diagnostics (including real-time and conventional PCR) and traditional virological techniques (e.g. sap inoculation, electron microscopy and ELISA). 

What we’re looking for:

• Ideally, you’ll be a graduate in a relevant science subject e.g. Biology, Plant Science, Environmental Science or Microbiology and may have some lab experience from university or post-graduation.
• Preferably you will have a strong interest in Virology or Bacteriology and keen to progress in this field.
• You will have a methodical approach to work and have excellent attention to detail.
• Customer service skills are also key as you may respond to customer queries as you gain more experience.
• It’s a busy laboratory so you will need to be able to effectively prioritise work, be a keen collaborator as well as having the ability to work autonomously.
• Additional skills that will be desirable are practical laboratory experience in plant pathology, working with quarantine pathogens, an interest in plants and plant diseases.

This is a career not just a job, which means that there is potential to move onto senior scientist roles in the future based on your ability, aspirations and passions.

About Fera

Fera are part of Capita Plc, a leading UK provider of technology enabled business services. We’re supporting and improving the lives of millions of people every day and we can only do this with the right people in place, working towards a shared goal. We encourage an open, honest working environment where everyone can be true to themselves and people are valued for their differences. We’re always challenging each other to learn and improve, because we know when we work together, we can deliver better outcomes. We work across such a huge range of businesses and sectors, that you’ll have the opportunity to grow and develop your career in any number of directions.

What’s in it for you?

• A competitive basic salary £18,525
• 23 days’ holiday (rising to 27) with the opportunity to buy extra leave
• The opportunity to take a paid day out of the office, volunteering for our charity partners or a cause of your choice
• Company matched pension, life assurance, a cycle2work scheme, 15 weeks’ fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, paternity pay of two weeks…and plenty more
• Voluntary benefits designed to suit your lifestyle – from discounts on retail and socialising, to health & wellbeing, travel and technology
• Access to our Employee Network Groups, which represent every strand of diversity and allow colleagues to connect and learn from each other on an open, inclusive platform
• This is a career not just a job, which means that you’ll be able to move onto senior scientist roles in the future based on your aspirations and passions.
• You will be based at our world class research facility near York, UK and have access to an array of amenities

You’ll get the chance to follow your chosen career path anywhere in Capita. You’ll be joining a network of 55,000 experienced, innovative and dedicated individuals across multiple disciplines and sectors. There are countless opportunities to learn new skills and develop in your career, and we’ll provide the support you need to do just that. Our purpose is to create a better outcome for you.

What we hope you’ll do next:

Choose ‘Apply now’ to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you.

To view our Covid-19 and process adjustments information, please visit the Capita Careers site.

Equal Opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer, which means we’ll consider all suitably qualified applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, age, sexual orientation, disability status or any other protected characteristic. We recruit and develop our people based on merit and their passion for creating better outcomes, and we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. During the application process, you’ll be asked to share your personal characteristics and data with us. This helps us understand our audience so we can make sure we are doing everything we can to attract a diverse range of people and ensure our recruitment processes are fair and inclusive.