Brucella Immunology Research Scientist (ID 4031)
| Posting date: | 09 October 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £38,795 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 26 October 2025 |
| Location: | KT15 3NB |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 431346/1 |
Summary
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.
The Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our people are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes. The National Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis sits within the Bacteriology Department of the Science Directorate. It delivers a portfolio of applied research and development projects (both government and non-government funded) aimed towards enhancing the APHA’s capability to detect brucellosis and support delivery of an effective emergency response in the event of an outbreak of disease in GB. APHA is also an international (WOAH & FAO) Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis.
You will contribute to immunological research objectives of the national and international (WOAH & FAO) brucellosis Reference Laboratory. The focus of the research & development is to develop and validate superior immunodiagnostic tests for brucellosis. This will require ownership and timely completion of specific research goals, production of internal reports and scientific publications, as well as oral presentation of work. In addition to making use of existing resources and knowledge within the team the post holder is also required to bring relevant skills and be able to work independently, problem solve, develop their own ideas and skills and establish research collaborations.
- Develop, optimise and validate immunological assays such as ELISA and agglutination tests using existing and novel antigen products and formulations.
- Application of bulk and research scale separation methods to purify bacterial biological products of interest potentially taking the process all the way through from native, recombinant or synthetic production to finished product.
- Use biochemical and immunological assays to characterise and develop interesting antigenic candidates for immunoassays and vaccines, for example: protein assays, endotoxin assays, Thin Layer Chromatography, SDS-PAGE and Western blot.
- Use of advanced analytical approaches for antigen characterisation, for example: HPLC, Mass Spectrometry, antibody-antigen affinity interaction measurements
- Development and application of conjugation and labelling methods for reagent characterisation, evaluation, and assay development, for example: enzyme conjugation, biotinylation, fluorophores, carriers.
- Ability to combine the above approaches to develop and complete antigen discovery, characterisation, and development projects.
- Support national and international (WOAH & FAO) reference laboratory and routine immunodiagnostic laboratory to troubleshoot issues with tests and immunological products.
- Support the Brucella bacteriology CL3 laboratory by working with live Brucella when required to support surges in requirement, for example at particular stages of an experiment or project or if there is an outbreak of brucellosis.
- Production of internal reports for line manager, DC/WGL and academic & commercial partners. Orally present work at internal and external meetings, including overseas, and publish work in peer reviewed scientific journals.
- Collaborate with national and international partners to progress on-going research projects and support international projects by assisting in training of visitors to APHA and potentially overseas.
- Contribute ideas for new research projects and assist in the production of funding proposals.
- Work safely in compliance with APHA Safety Policies, and contribute to safety related documentation (e.g. risk assessments or standard operating procedures).
- Work in compliance with APHA Quality Policies keeping an accurate and complete log of their work.
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