Details

Reference number

398564

Salary

£29,001

Starting salary £29001 with uplifts to £33658 dependent on performance in the role

GBP

Job grade

Higher Executive Officer

Dstl Level 4

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

DSTL - Chemical, Biological & Radiological Division - CBR Graduate Programme

Type of role

Analytical
Operational Research
Science

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time, Compressed hours

Number of jobs available

Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information

Location

Dstl Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ

At Dstl, our vision is to have a modern way of working efficiently, accommodating and enabling our people to create, collaborate and deliver. To do this successfully in this job will require 60% attendance, this role will be office based at our Porton Down site.
Your role is primarily based in the offices and laboratories at Dstl Porton Down. There will be the need to work on other Dstl sites, MoD locations and with external partners, for example when attending meetings or conferences. .
Where business needs allow, and with the agreement of your line manager, there may be the option for a combination of workplace and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement.

About the job

Job summary

Are you a graduate biologist looking to hone your skills in the workplace?

If so, Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is recruiting.

Your new role will see you join scientists within our Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) teams where you will experience development as you rotate on a two-year scheme. You will benefit from learning how different areas in Dstl operate and will work both in the lab and in the working office.

You will be supported by peers on the scheme and our knowledgeable, yet friendly experts.

You will have:

Have a degree in biology (or closely related discipline) you can be due to complete your degree in 2025 or hold one already
Have experience through university, placement or working environments of biological techniques e.g. molecular biology,
Laboratory experience and understanding of safe working practices in ACDP/ACGM Containment Level 2

This opportunity is for you if you:

Have a genuine interest in making a difference in the defence industry,
Want to work on projects at the cutting-edge,
Are willing to learn, enjoy working independently and within a team alongside a positive can-do attitude within the workplace.

Find out more through the candidate information pack on CS Jobs.

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.

Job description

In this role you will:

Work on a variety of interesting and challenging problems that owing to their sensitivity cannot be done elsewhere
Make a difference and have pride in what you do; our work improves the front-line capability of the UK Armed Forces, keeps British citizens safe and support national prosperity. We are proud of our impartial status, doing things for the right reasons
Form links across Government, Industry and Academia. Work with an array of partners both at home and abroad including the Armed Forces, other Government departments and Industry
Develop your career in exciting new areas that are growing to meet cutting-edge challenges
Enhance your current knowledge, learning many new skills through the exciting work on offer and through learning and development opportunities

Person specification

Technical Skills

A Biological scientist at this level will be expected to possess an understanding or developing understanding of:

Essential

Experimental Design
Data Analysis, Statistics and Reporting
Collaboration & Team Working
Report writing
Presentation Skills
Data visualisation

Desirable

Working in hazardous or non-routine environments or working with hazardous materials.
Experience of programming for automation and control or data processing (e.g. Matlab, Python, C++, SCADA, R, LabVIEW)

Experience
Essential

Evidence of hands on experience in biological science based laboratory
Laboratory experience and understanding of safe working practices in ACDP/ACGM Containment Level 2
Experience in biological techniques e.g Molecular Biology (PCR, sequencing etc), cell culture (mammalian and bacterial) and immunoassay
Working to deadline
Experience in reaching evidence-based conclusions, supported by analysis
Communicating technical content to diverse audiences.
Experience of working as part of a team and independently, as you will be required to undertake analysis independently and still work effectively in a scientific team.
Experience in using Microsoft Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook) for data analysis, technical reports and presentations.

Desirable

Networking successfully with customers and colleagues including external partners in government, academia and industry
Integrated industry placement during degree course
Experience as a Home Office Personal Licensee working under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986) or a willingness and ability to undertake modular training in multiple species in order to become a Personal Licensee

Behaviours

Changing and improving
Examples of changing and improving are when you:

work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources
use technology where possible to increase efficiency
encourage ideas for change from a wide range of sources
clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change
encourage an environment where colleagues know that they can challenge decisions and issues safely
take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users

Working together
Examples of working together are when you:

encourage joined up team work within your own team and across other groups
establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders
collaborate with these to share information, resources and support
invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another
put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs
make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable
actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives

Developing self and others
Examples of developing yourself and others are when you:

identify capability gaps for yourself and your team
ensure development objectives are set and achieved to address any gaps and enable delivery of current and future work
take time to coach, mentor and develop other colleagues to support succession planning
promote inclusiveness by respecting different personal needs in the team and use these to develop others
reflect on your own work, continuously seek and act on feedback to improve own and teams performance

Delivering at pace
Examples of delivering at pace are when you:

show a positive approach to keeping the whole teams efforts focused on the top priorities
promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation
ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively
regularly monitor your own and teams work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks
act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance
allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility

Safety

Must appreciate and be responsible for the health and safety of self and others; both understand and meet defined accountabilities as written in Dstl policy,
Must demonstrate the expected HS (& EP) behaviours as defined by the Civil Service and Dstl and lead by example,
Must ensure understanding and maintenance of appropriate training, experience and knowledge (i.e.: competent / SQEP) for self and direct reports,
Develop a working environment that is supportive of and champions the Dstl approach to health, wellbeing, safety and environmental (HSEP) management,
Be aware of the downstream impact of their actions and the actions of their direct reports on those outside of their immediate control.

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Qualifications

A degree or higher degree level qualification in a relevant field (Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacology, Physiology, Neuroscience, Biotechnology)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Changing and Improving
Working Together
Developing Self and Others
Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Benefits

Dstls full range of great benefits can be found in the information pack which includes:

Financial: An excellent pension scheme starting from 26% employer contribution (find out more here). In Year Rewarding Achievement bonuses and thank you vouchers. Rental deposit scheme and cycle to work scheme.
Flexible working: Options include alternative working patterns such as; compressed hours (e.g. working a 4 day week/ 9 day fortnight), job shares and annualised hours (agreed number of hours per annum paid monthly i.e. working term-time only).
Working hours: Flexibility around your working day (e.g. start time, finish time). Ability to bank hours in a 12 month reference period including the ability to accrue and use 3 days per calendar month.
Where you work: Depending on your role, blended working may be available including remote working to suit you and your team. This can be discussed at interview.
Annual leave: 25 days pro rata (rising to 30 after 5 years) plus 8 public holidays with the ability to buy/sell 5 additional days per annum.
Family: Maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks with full pay, an additional 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid
Learning and Development: Dstl encourages and supports charterships, accreditations and provides employees access to fully funded apprenticeships up to level 7 (Masters Degree). Dstl will pay for 2 memberships with relevant bodies/institutions. Employees also have access to Civil Service Learning.
Facilities: Onsite parking, EV Charging points, restaurants, cafés and gyms.
Pension: Alongside your salary Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes a minimum of £8,381 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Sifting will take place week commencing the 22nd April 2025 with interviews to be arranged from the 12th May 2025

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : Dstl Recruitment Team
Email : dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk

Further information

Should you wish to raise a formal complaint about the Dstl recruitment process you should email dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk stating the nature of the issue. We will respond within 5 working days.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

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