Salary: £24,900.00 - £26,338.00 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 25 August 2025

The Role

Would you relish the opportunity to work as part of a dedicated team, supporting the delivery of first-class, specialist biobanking services for medical research? Access to human tissue samples is essential for many aspects of translational medical research undertaken in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. The Newcastle Central Biobank Facility delivers expert tissue access and storage services to researchers within the University, and to external customers, to facilitate high-quality research

The main purpose of the Biobank Clerical Assistant is to provide clerical support to the Newcastle Central Biobank Facility.

For more information about our facility and team, please click here: (https://www.ncl.ac.uk/biobank/)

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/

This is a part-time role (0.5 FTE), available on an open-ended basis. We would welcome requests for flexible working; blended working opportunities to work remotely as well as on campus may be considered.

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be addressed to Amy Peasland, the Central Biobank Facility Manager (Amy.Peasland@ncl.ac.uk)

To apply for this position, we will need a copy of your CV and ideally a covering letter, which should outline how you are suitable for the role, with a particular focus on the essential criteria in the knowledge, skills and experience.

Key Accountabilities

Take responsibility for arranging regular Biobank meetings, acting as secretary at these meetings. Organise other events in which the Biobank Manager and team are involved; this will include preparing agendas, taking minutes of meetings, and following up any actions/outcomes
Provide support in the preparation of written materials, including Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), new policies and user guides
Assist with the maintenance of the Biobank website and online platforms
Be a key point of contact for internal and external telephone calls, enquiries and personal visitors for the Biobank team, answering routine questions, obtaining and furnishing information to help maximise the team’s efficiency. This requires knowledge of university policies and procedures, and those of other organisations with which the Biobank is actively involved
Arrange transport for Biobank staff and equipment to collect human tissue specimens from sites within Newcastle and to arrange shipment of specimens further afield via approved courier services, liaising with the other organisations to ensure a quality service is provided
Identify, implement and maintain effective procedures to ensure that the support to the Biobank team is achieved efficiently. For example, ensuring that there is an efficient filing system for storage and timely retrieval of information (paperwork and electronic documents); maintaining a methodical system to deal with follow up actions from minutes and meetings for the team; implementing an plan for handling large volumes of email enquiries, etc
Help maintain databases of tissue collections to ensure the Biobank has accurate, up-to-date information stored in case of audit or inspection
Store procurement information and details of all calibration, servicing and maintenance contracts to help the Biobank keep up-to-date with regulatory requirements
Assist with the purchasing of equipment and consumable items in the Biobank budget, following up delivery notes and invoices on behalf of the team
Maintain financial records to facilitate the preparation of invoices for Biobank storage, processing and slide scanning services

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Proficient IT skills and excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
Familiar with working in a clerical, office-based role
Experience of working with databases
Understanding of working with finance and budgets
Experience of organising meetings and training sessions, taking notes, and following up on actions
Skills and experience in website editing and maintenance (Desirable)
Experience of working with university finances and operating SAP to raise invoices (Desirable)
Appreciation of health and safety considerations involved in transporting human tissue (Desirable)
Experience of arranging travel (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour

Has a positive and proactive attitude and strives to deliver excellent service to Biobank users
Excellent organisational and communication skills
Minute-taking skills
Ability to schedule own workload and handle competing demands on time
Works precisely, paying attention to detail
Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams, working co-operatively, and establishes and grows relationships across the organisation where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued
Self-confident with strong interpersonal skills
Appreciation of the importance of maintaining confidentiality
Exhibits University and Faculty values and principles

Qualifications

NVQ2, GCSEs Grade A-C/ O-levels, City & Guild, RSA II plus experience in a relevant role OR relevant work experience in a Higher Education establishment or large organisation

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 28410