Laboratory Technician, Entomology

Reporting to the Team Lead, Entomologist and supported by a small team of scientists and technicians, work on the development and operation of manual and automated insect rearing for BigSis.

Responsibilities

Manual rearing

· Perform rearing and laboratory processes consistently and according to SOP

· Coordinate with the Research Scientists to coordinate issues and find solutions

· Maintain fit, healthy insect colonies to support R&D projects, field trials and automation development

· Produce insects on time and to specification for internal field work and automation clients

Automated rearing

· Operate and maintain the (manual) entomology aspects of automated production (diet, cages, humidifiers, etc.)

Health and Safety

· Maintain high standards of hygiene and organisation to minimise risk

· Responsibility of either first aid or fire warden duties

· Previous experience of working in a lab setting, preferably rearing insects on artificial diet

· Good understanding of SOPs and experience following protocols

· Experience meeting tight production deadlines whilst maintaining high standards and quality

· Knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint

· Effective verbal and written communications

· Comfortable working in hot and humid environments

Personal attributes

The individual must be organised and diligent, with strong data recording, analysis and reporting abilities and strong attention to detail.

We look to attract candidates who can demonstrate behaviours in sync with our company values:

• Spirit - Having innovation, team and fighting spirit!


• Fluid - Working in a flexible way and being open to change


• Trustworthy - Includes honesty, integrity, respect and being approachable


• Growth mindset - Learn and grow & embrace challenges


• Succeeding together - Collaborate and celebrate success together
  
  BigSis (http://bigsis.tech), is a fast-growing UK start-up that provides chemical-free insect control to farmers. Central to the BigSis business model is its innovative approach of automated individualised insect rearing and processing, which ensures that it can scale output reliably by replication.


The company has two sites in Reading and employs over 30 staff. BigSis was named by Bloomberg UK as one of 25 'startups to watch' in October 2023 and has a Glassdoor rating of 5 out of 5.