Expert Scientist Dissector – Histology: Sponsorship Available

Northampton General Hospital

Job summary

The Cellular Pathology department receives, examines and reports upon a wide range of diagnostic tissue samples, these vary widely in terms of size and complexity. The appropriate examination, sampling and analysis is essential to accurate and timely diagnosis, particularly as many of these will be cancer cases. Due to the complex nature of this task an advanced understanding of anatomy, physiology pathology and specialised histology techniques is necessary

The post holder will understand the distinction between normal variation in tissue and pathological disease which is essential so that incidental or unexpected findings of disease can be correctly identified and sampled.

The post holder will hold and maintain professional registration with the Health Professions Council (HCPC) as a Biomedical Scientist (BMS).

The post holder will exercise autonomy within professional and managerial boundaries and will be required to verify and validate completed work in their assigned subsection.

It is essential the post holder demonstrates and maintains continuing competence which will be overseen by the Operational Manager and Consultant Histopathologists.

The post holder will also be expected maintain an efficient workflow through effective prioritisation and use of organisation skills and problem solving.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have a pivotal role within dissection at a large Cellular Pathology department and will assist in the delivery of a quality driven, patient focused, staff supported service consistent with pathology’s aims and objectives in a manner commensurate with the profession.

The post holder will be expected to work closely with the senior leadership and clinical teams, providing expert professional skills and advanced knowledge in the macroscopic description, dissection, and block sampling of tissue specimens to support accurate histological reporting and high-quality patient care.

The post holder will support the Advanced Scientist Dissector to provide resilience in dissection and cover RCPath category C specimens as well as GI Category D & E specimens upon training.

The post holder will provide support and training in category A – B specimens

The post holder must be registered with the HCPC as a Biomedical Scientist or Clinical Scientist and will undertake Continuing Professional Development and clinical audit.

The post holder must hold Membership (MIBMS) or Fellowship (FIBMS) of the Institute of Biomedical Science.

The post holder must possess the IBMS Diploma of Expert Practice including the GI module.

Person Specification

Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

  • Team worker.

Desirable

  • Years experience in dissection and what categories

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Minimum of 5 years working experience in a hospital laboratory to include operation and maintenance of analytical equipment and quality indices. Experience of co-ordinating day to day laboratory activities.
  • Experience of current platforms in use. Technical understanding of analytical platforms for routine patient sample testing and clinical understanding of data produced by such testing.
  • Experience of IQC/EQA and its use.
  • Experience of other quality activities such as auditing and change control.
  • Experience in expert dissection to include GI

Desirable

  • Experience of working in a UKAS 15189 accredited laboratory.
  • Experience of portfolio supervision.
  • Experience of resource management – staff, reagents, and consumables.

Educations, Training and Qualifications

Essential

  • MSc or working towards an MSc qualification or experience of working in a Band 7 capacity.
  • HCPC registration.
  • IBMS Specialist Portfolio.
  • Active CPD portfolio and plan.
  • IBMS Diploma of Expert Practice (DEP) in Histological Dissection

Skills

Essential

  • Oral and written communication skills.
  • Ability to transmit information to other healthcare professionals.
  • Effective interpersonal skills.
  • Analytical skills.
  • Able to perform a wide range of complex analytical techniques.
  • Maintenance and troubleshooting on analytical equipment and assay issues.
  • Perform and review QA, including reports and interpret within scope of practice.
  • Planning and organisational skills.
  • Prioritise own workload that will include several ongoing tasks.
  • Supervise and organise a team of Biomedical Scientists and Biomedical support workers.

Desirable

  • Basic IT skills to include use of Microsoft Office package.
  • Experience of current Laboratory IT system.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Closing Date: 18 October 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.