Technical Support

Research Assistant in Genomics

MSc degree

1) experience of laboratory work: nucleic acid extraction, PCR, making sequencing libraries etc.

2) experience of working with MS office including Excel and powerpoint

3) experience of working in Unix environment and with R, with NGS data

4) experience/ knowledge of genomics including mutations and variant calling.

5) have excellent communication and team working skills

The Money Mentors are current and recently graduated students at King's College London who have a passion for helping their peers by ensuring they are as money-savvy as possible.

Money Mentors engage with current and prospective students throughout the year by supporting Open Days, Welcome Events and leading on their own money-themed campaigns to ensure that students are informed, empowered and aware of key student issues that may impact their financial position.

The Student Money Mentors project is student led, with guidance from the Money & Housing Advisors. The campaigns, self-help articles, blogs and Instagram content is all created by students, for students.

The job role is as follows:

• To work as a student-staff member of the Money & Housing Advice Service, and work with specialist advisors of the service at both on and off campus activities.
• To acknowledge the importance of empowering students, to understand their options and act with respect to money.
• To signpost students to information and resources relating to student money and funding, and the broader activities of the Money & Housing Advice Service at events, via student comms and on social media.
• To support and facilitate other events across the campus where Money Mentors will be involved.
• To work at least one shift (3 hours minimum) during each of our annual week-long campaigns.
• To work at least one shift (3 hours minimum) during each week of Welcome to King's.
• To attend all monthly team meetings (usually last Wednesday of every month via Microsoft Teams), Money Mentor related training, Planning Days, briefings, preparatory meetings.
   

Additional Information:

• All Money Mentors are expected to adhere to King's policies and procedures.
• Money Mentors will adhere to a 3-Strike System. Failure to respond to any correspondence, failure to attend shifts/ 121s/ debriefs (without prior acknowledgement and valid reasons) and failure to adhere to King's policies and procedures may result in a Strike and subsequent termination from employment on the programme.
• It is expected that Money Mentors will have to dedicate approximately 1-2 hours a week of work during the lead up to our annual week-long campaigns.
• Please note: demand for Student Money Mentors can vary during the academic year and therefore hours of work will vary accordingly. If you are offered the position, you will be required to sign our confidentiality agreement and terms and conditions form for this role.
• Please note: this job description reflects the core activities of the role, however, as the College and the post-holder develop there will inevitably be changes in the emphasis of duties. It is expected that the post-holder recognises this and will adopt a flexible approach to work and be willing to participate in training. If changes to the job become significant, the job description should be reviewed formally by the post-holder and line manager.

If you are offered this position, you MUST BE AVAILABLE to attend the in-person Money Mentor training. Training days for this role will take place on the following days:

• Training Day 1 - Saturday 18th January 2025 
• Training Day 2 - Saturday 25th January 2025
• Training Day 3 - Saturday 1st February 2025 (TBC)

Please apply here: https://forms.office.com/e/HVTxdb3F0X. If you have any queries, please email money@kcl.ac.uk with the subject line 'King's Student Money Mentor - KTB Job Ad'.

Essential: 

• Studying an Undergraduate degree or Postgraduate study at King's College London

KNOWLEDGE

Essential: 

• An understanding of student money (e.g., student debt, budgeting, money management and saving) with interest to expand this knowledge. 
• Interest in money management and helping students become money-savvy. 

Desirable: 

• An understanding of where to find information on methods of budgeting and concepts such as ISAs, interest, credit and debt, student discounts, housing in London, familiarisation with King?s Student Services Online, online financial safety (e.g., scams), student funding (e.g., SFE, NHS, etc).

SKILLS

Essential: 

• Good verbal and written communication skills to deliver clear and relevant content to different audiences.
• Ability to communicate effectively with peers and staff.
• Ability to demonstrate an empathetic and non-judgemental nature when dealing with staff and peers. 
• Ability to work within a team and independently.
• Good organisational skills which ensure that assigned tasks are completed within the deadline.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook).
• Ability to write blogs and articles aimed at students.
• Ability to create videos aimed at students.
• Ability to create promotional social media content, blogs, or videos for upcoming campaigns.
• Ability to create and deliver presentations online and in-person.
• Comfortable with public speaking and taking a lead on creating and managing activities aimed at students. 

 Desirable:

• Ability to write blogs and articles aimed at students.
• Ability to create videos aimed at students.
• Ability to create promotional social media content, blogs, or videos for upcoming campaigns.
• Ability to create and deliver presentations online and in-person.
• Comfortable with public speaking and taking a lead on creating and managing activities aimed at students.
   

EXPERIENCE

Desirable:

• Experience working with peers and/or peer support initiatives either externally or within King's College London.
• Personal experience involving money and/or housing.

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated individual who is interested in working in an NHS or university environment supporting UK health research.   

The post-holder will have a key role in facilitating research management and governance processes required under the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and relevant legislation. They will be the first point of contact for R&D enquiries and work within the R&D team to deliver a first-class advisory and support service to researchers.

Experience in working in NHS R&D or a university research support role is desirable but not essential as support and training will be provided to the post-holder to develop their role. The successful candidate will have outstanding organisational and communication skills, with excellent computer literacy (Excel, Access) and the ability to process complex information. Ability to work effectively as part of a team is essential. This is an opportunity to work in an R&D Office with experienced staff, providing an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in R&D in both an NHS and university context. 

Key responsibilities

• To develop and maintain an up-to-date understanding of the requirements of the Health Research Authority, UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research, and legislation pertaining to health research in order to enable the post-holder to support the R&D team in providing reliable, detailed and relevant support and advice for researchers.
• Act as a first point of contact for R&D enquiries to provide guidance and support to investigators at the first level.  Field enquiries, issue R&D guidance documents, advise on routine questions and route higher level enquires to the R&D Team.
• To manage the day to day administration of the R&D data management systems (Access, Excel). To accurately record key research information and interrogate the systems to produce reports.   To contribute toward making the necessary adaptations to keep systems in line with evolving requirements of research governance and reporting returns.
• To provide support to researchers and the R&D team in the processing of research studies through national approvals systems including Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). 
• To be responsible for the administration of the national Research Passport scheme within the R&D office, advising researchers on the scheme and preparing research passports for sign off by the R&D team.  Maintain records of Research Passports on the R&D Research Passport database.
• To support the R&D team in the management and oversight of ongoing research studies, including study amendments.
• To manage the receipt and recording of individual study progress and end of study reports on the R&D database.
• To support the R&D team in the provision of reports on research activity within the Trust.
• To take responsibility for developing the R&D web pages and to co-ordinate content.
• To maintain efficient electronic data filing and paper systems
• Service the Trust R&D Committee? prepare agenda and papers, take minutes, organise room bookings and catering arrangements.
• To attend relevant research training and continuing professional development activities to ensure that work delivered remains effective, relevant and up to date.
• To provide personal assistant support to the R&D Director including diary management
• To provide general administrative support - preparation of correspondence, support for meetings, mail outs, filing, maintaining contact details, room bookings, catering arrangements, processing invoices and purchase orders, general office duties.
• Any other duties appropriate to the grade as directed.

None

Essential criteria

1. Excellent organisational skills
2. To be proficient in the use of MS-Excel, MS-Access and MS-Powerpoint and online databases.
3. Excellent oral and written communication skills
4. Strong problem-solving approach
5. Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
6. Ability to communicate effectively with individuals at all levels and to develop good working relationships
7. Professional and enthusiastic 
8. Ability to work as part of a team and operate in a multidisciplinary environment

Desirable criteria

1. Degree or equivalent
2. Experience of administration in university or NHS context
3. Experience of working with research governance