Regional Technical Advisor – Laboratory Strengthening
| Posting date: | 16 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £44,464 to £52,311 per year |
| Additional salary information: | Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts. If you choose to work in or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London. |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 25 January 2026 |
| Location: | Haywards Heath, West Sussex |
| Remote working: | Fully remote |
| Company: | Sightsavers |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 1591 |
Summary
Sightsavers is looking for an experienced Laboratory Technical Advisor with experience of quality control and capacity building, to support the provide technical support to laboratories as part of the Reaching the Last Mile (RLM) programme.
Location: UK remote and/or Haywards Heath office based with travel to Africa
Contract: 12 month fixed term contract
Hours: Full-time with some flexibility around hours worked
Responsibilities
About the role
The Reaching the Last Mile Fund (RLMF) expansion project is a six-year, $500m programme that will progress the elimination of onchocerciasis (OV) and lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Africa. Sightsavers is looking for an experienced laboratory professional with direct experience of technical operations and sample analysis, to support the establishment and expansion of a small external quality assurance network, and ensure compliance with the relevant accreditation standards.
This is an exciting opportunity to be directly responsible for the standardisation and accreditation of RLMF funded laboratories, implementation of external quality assurance and strengthen logistics and supply chain, in order to support and advance the elimination of OV in Africa. You will be confident managing the collaboration of other laboratories, external communications including to donors and stakeholders, and disseminating information and learnings.
As Laboratory Technical Advisor for RLMF, you will have extensive experience in laboratory systems, quality control and capacity building with the ability to advise, support and provide training. Relevant experience in onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, or other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) would be beneficial.
This is a large work plan with extensive deliverables and as Regional Laboratory Technical Advisor for RLMF you must be able to confidently work independently. You will undertake significant travel (30-40% of role) in Africa and occasionally visit the Head Office on Haywards Heath UK.
Skills and Experience
Essential
•Proven working experience and/or qualifications in laboratory management, quality assurance, laboratory capacity building or similar;
•Experience conducting and quality assuring Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbance Assays (ELISA)
•Experience conducting and quality assuring Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR assays
•Experience conducting the above ELISA and PCR/qPCR assays in African laboratories
•Working knowledge of GLP, SLIMTA, SLIPTA or ISO 15189 accreditation frameworks
•Previous experience managing EQA and quality control in resource constrained environments
•Strong design and delivery of training to laboratory personnel
•First class time management to meet donor driven deadlines
•Strong or fluent English both written and spoken
•Able to work largely without supervision (and within a team)
•Willingness and availability to travel for training, attending meetings, workshops and conferences, subject to an appropriate risk assessment being in place
•Current and ongoing right to work in the UK
Desirable
•Experience with onchocerciasis diagnostics
•Experience working as part of a multi-organizational team
•French as a second language. Candidates with French and English fluency will have preferential weighting during the assessment process.
•Understanding of research governance and ethical principles particularly in relation to research with vulnerable people
•Knowledge of NTDs and health systems
This is a varied role, please read the full job description for further details.
The deadline to complete your application will be Sunday 25 January 2026 by 23.30pm GMT.
We intend to conduct a two stage recruitment process. The first stage will be a virtual interview lasting up to 45 minutes. If successful at this stage candidates will then be invited to a final virtual interview lasting up to one hour. We may ask you also complete an online task. Interviews are intended from 2 February 2026 onwards.
Benefits
Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts. If you choose to work in or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London.
Next steps
To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying.
As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.
Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.
Location: UK remote and/or Haywards Heath office based with travel to Africa
Contract: 12 month fixed term contract
Hours: Full-time with some flexibility around hours worked
Responsibilities
About the role
The Reaching the Last Mile Fund (RLMF) expansion project is a six-year, $500m programme that will progress the elimination of onchocerciasis (OV) and lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Africa. Sightsavers is looking for an experienced laboratory professional with direct experience of technical operations and sample analysis, to support the establishment and expansion of a small external quality assurance network, and ensure compliance with the relevant accreditation standards.
This is an exciting opportunity to be directly responsible for the standardisation and accreditation of RLMF funded laboratories, implementation of external quality assurance and strengthen logistics and supply chain, in order to support and advance the elimination of OV in Africa. You will be confident managing the collaboration of other laboratories, external communications including to donors and stakeholders, and disseminating information and learnings.
As Laboratory Technical Advisor for RLMF, you will have extensive experience in laboratory systems, quality control and capacity building with the ability to advise, support and provide training. Relevant experience in onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, or other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) would be beneficial.
This is a large work plan with extensive deliverables and as Regional Laboratory Technical Advisor for RLMF you must be able to confidently work independently. You will undertake significant travel (30-40% of role) in Africa and occasionally visit the Head Office on Haywards Heath UK.
Skills and Experience
Essential
•Proven working experience and/or qualifications in laboratory management, quality assurance, laboratory capacity building or similar;
•Experience conducting and quality assuring Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbance Assays (ELISA)
•Experience conducting and quality assuring Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR assays
•Experience conducting the above ELISA and PCR/qPCR assays in African laboratories
•Working knowledge of GLP, SLIMTA, SLIPTA or ISO 15189 accreditation frameworks
•Previous experience managing EQA and quality control in resource constrained environments
•Strong design and delivery of training to laboratory personnel
•First class time management to meet donor driven deadlines
•Strong or fluent English both written and spoken
•Able to work largely without supervision (and within a team)
•Willingness and availability to travel for training, attending meetings, workshops and conferences, subject to an appropriate risk assessment being in place
•Current and ongoing right to work in the UK
Desirable
•Experience with onchocerciasis diagnostics
•Experience working as part of a multi-organizational team
•French as a second language. Candidates with French and English fluency will have preferential weighting during the assessment process.
•Understanding of research governance and ethical principles particularly in relation to research with vulnerable people
•Knowledge of NTDs and health systems
This is a varied role, please read the full job description for further details.
The deadline to complete your application will be Sunday 25 January 2026 by 23.30pm GMT.
We intend to conduct a two stage recruitment process. The first stage will be a virtual interview lasting up to 45 minutes. If successful at this stage candidates will then be invited to a final virtual interview lasting up to one hour. We may ask you also complete an online task. Interviews are intended from 2 February 2026 onwards.
Benefits
Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts. If you choose to work in or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London.
Next steps
To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying.
As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.
Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.