Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron and a leading scientific facility of its type in the world. Located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in South Oxfordshire, we host research facilities supporting cutting edge research in all fields of science. Structural biology is a key research area and is supported by other world leading facilities on the campus. These include the Membrane Protein Laboratory at Diamond, ISIS, as well as the Central Laser Facility and the UK national protein production and crystallisation facility (OPPF-UK). The latter two facilities are located in the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH) which hosts a broad range of interdisciplinary research groups.

Beamline I03 provides a facility unique in Europe for the determination of biological macromolecules using X-ray Diffraction. The beamline is equipped with a state of the art experimental end-station which can be operated to work with containment level 3 pathogens. I03 forms part of the suite of beamlines within the macromolecular crystallography (MX) village at Diamond which will present 7 operational endstations to the Diamond MX user community.

The Beamline Scientist will work closely with the Principal Beamline Scientist in the operation, maintenance and development of the beamline and assist in supporting academic and industrial users. The successful candidate will be expected to develop an internationally competitive research programme in structural biology that complements the research and development activities within the MX village.

To support the Principal Beamline Scientist for I03 in the following areas:

• Optimisation and maintenance of beamline equipment and operations;
• Provide operational support and analysis of operational systems, including fault diagnosis and resolution;
• Assist in the commissioning and operation of the containment level 3 (CL3) facility at the beamline;
• Contribute to risk assessment and hazard analysis exercises;
• Perform local contact and out of hours support across the MX beamlines by providing users with advice and guidance on the best approach to experiments, data analysis and research techniques.

Additional duties for appointment at Senior level:

• Contribute to the development of new systems and approaches through identification of possible improvements;
• Lead in the delivery of significant packages of project work, co-ordinating internal and external resource to deliver the project on time and to budget.

• Appropriate PhD degree or equivalent qualification or experience;
• Experience of macromolecular crystallography data collection at a synchrotron;
• Experience with Windows/Linux/Unix;
• Good interpersonal, communication and presentational skills;
• Ability to design, plan, organise, and implement projects and tasks within an allotted timeframe;
• Ability and initiative to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion;
• Ability to work on the beamline during CL3 experiments and to perform assigned duties;
• Good interpersonal, communication and presentation skills;
• Ability to work flexibly with occasional weekend and out-of-hours working.

• 5 years postdoctoral or equivalent experience (essential for appointment at the higher level);
• Demonstrated track record in structural biology (essential for appointment at the higher level);
• Commissioning and operation of macromolecular crystallography x-ray equipment (“home source” or synchrotron beamline);
• Beamline instrumentation and optics;
• Project management;
• Knowledge of biological safety and containment;
• Python and/or Java programming.

• Must be available to travel occasionally within the UK and abroad, including overnight absences. 
• For an informal discussion about this vacancy, please email [email protected] and your enquiry will be directed accordingly.