Advanced Healthcare ScientistNHS

Job summary

University Hospital Southampton is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us. Job Title: Advanced Healthcare Scientist Department: Cellular Pathology / Histopathology Contract Type: Fixed Term Hours: 0.6 WTE (22.5 hours per week) Fixed Term Contract End Date: 19th September 2027 Purpose for Fixed Term: Covering Maternity Leave

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and motivated individual to join our Cellular Pathology service on a 12-month fixed-term maternity cover basis (0.6 WTE).

This is a key leadership role within the Histopathology department, providing operational, quality, and regulatory expertise to support the delivery of a safe, efficient, and patient-focused service. As part of our team, you will play a pivotal role in overseeing the highest standards of laboratory practice and ensuring continued compliance with Human Tissue Authority (HTA) legislation, standards, and codes of practice.

Job description

In this role, your key responsibilities will include:

• Lead and support the safe, efficient, and accurate processing of post-mortem specimens.
• Manage and oversee the safe and ethical use, storage, and disposal of human tissue in accordance with relevant legislation and HTA requirements.
• Act as the department's lead for HTA compliance, maintaining up-to-date knowledge of legislation, standards, codes of practice, and regulatory guidance.
• Lead and support regulatory assessments, inspections, site visits, and any associated investigations.
• Implement actions arising from HTA alerts, inspection findings, and regulatory requirements.
• Support and lead quality improvement initiatives, clinical audits, and service development projects.
• Investigate and report clinical incidents through the Trust Risk Management system, identifying and implementing corrective actions to improve patient safety and service effectiveness.
• Work closely with Laboratory Management, Clinical Leads, Quality Leads, Designated individual and multidisciplinary colleagues to ensure compliance
• Participate in the recruitment, appraisal, competency assessment, and development of laboratory staff.

About You:

You must be experienced with substantial knowledge of Histopathology and a strong understanding of Human Tissue Authority legislation and regulatory requirements. You will possess excellent organisational, communication, and leadership skills, with experience of managing quality systems, audits, inspections, and service improvement activities.

The successful candidate will have the ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams, prioritise workloads effectively, and contribute positively to delivering an outstanding pathology service.

Why Join Us?

This role offers an excellent opportunity to further develop your leadership, quality management, and regulatory expertise within a supportive and forward-thinking pathology team committed to providing high-quality patient care.

We welcome applications from enthusiastic individuals who are passionate about quality, compliance, and continuous improvement in pathology services.

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications.

About us

As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated 'Good' by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.

We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.

Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 30% lower than London and 17 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.