Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. Located on the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire a 20 minute drive south of Oxford in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Diamond Light Source conducts world-class research in virtually all fields of science and offers rewarding career opportunities covering both technical and scientific disciplines.

We are seeking an expert macromolecular crystallographer, methods and software developer for a 3 month short term position to work on the identification of diffraction image background pathologies and provide consultancy on the implementation of automated phasing pipelines. The position will involve spending time at both Diamond Light Source and Oxford University (STRUBI) and will include the opportunity to conduct independent research.

Duties:

• Develop methods and software for identifying image background pathologies
• Managing delegated research area or research support activity
• Develop and maintain expertise in a scientific field
• Applying specialist knowledge to research new scientific areas in order to generate new understanding
• Work closely with other scientific and technical staff to produce designs for new systems, equipment or processes
• Collaborate with users and in house staff research within area of expertise
• Contribute to scientific papers from external or in-house research
• Providing advice and guidance on the best approach to experiments, data analysis and research techniques.

• PhD in structural biology or related disciplines;
• Good interpersonal, communication, organizational and presentational skills;
• Ability to interact with staff and facility users at all levels;
• Ability and initiative to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion;
• Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team;
• Ability to work flexibly with occasional weekend and out-of hours;
• Self motivation;
• Experience in macromolecular crystallography data collection and analysis;
• Extensive experience in MX methods and software development;
• Experience in structural biology;
• Basic knowledge of using Windows/Linux/Unix;
• Experience in providing expert support to end-users;
• Programming experience.