Technical specialist in Engineered Silk Manufacturing and Optical Fibre Technologies

About the role

Join the HOLLOW SILK project, an ambitious research project funded by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) through its Universal Fabricators programme. HOLLOW SILK aims to develop a novel manufacturing platform based on engineered silk, for the production of microstructured optical fibres. By combining expertise in biomaterials, fibre manufacturing, chemistry, photonics and engineering, the project will establish innovative routes to advanced materials and structures that are difficult, or even impossible, to achieve using conventional manufacturing technologies.

The successful candidate will play a central role in establishing, operating and maintaining the project's experimental manufacturing capabilities. Working alongside a team comprising two postdoctoral researchers at the University of Bath and three further postdoctoral researchers based at Tufts University (Silklab), you will help develop, build and operate experimental fibre manufacturing and materials-processing systems.

The team and environment

Based within the Centre for Photonics at the University of Bath, you will work alongside Professor William Wadsworth, Dr Rox Middleton and Dr Soraya Caixeiro, and collaborate with leading international partners including Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto and Dr Giulia Guidetti (Silklab, Tufts University) and Dr David Breslauer (USA).

The successful candidate will join a highly interdisciplinary and international team. Alongside two University of Bath postdoctoral researchers, the project includes two further postdoctoral researchers based at Tufts University, a research technician at the University of Bath, and administration person providing significant opportunities for collaboration, exchange of expertise and international engagement.

In this role you will

• Support the development, assembly and operation of experimental manufacturing systems and laboratory facilities.
• Design, build and modify bespoke research equipment, instrumentation and prototype manufacturing platforms.
• Assist with experimental research activities, including materials preparation, equipment operation, data collection and analysis.
• Maintain laboratory equipment, inventories, technical documentation and safe working practices.
• Provide technical support and training to researchers and students.
• Work closely with project partners to help deliver research objectives and programme milestones.

The role will also provide opportunities to contribute to process development, technology scale-up activities and the implementation of automation, monitoring and control systems where appropriate.

About you

We are looking for an enthusiastic and practical individual with strong technical skills and a passion for hands-on problem solving. Experience in laboratory, manufacturing, engineering or technical development environments will be highly valued, particularly in areas such as materials processing, instrumentation, automation, prototyping or process development. Candidates may come from a range of backgrounds, including industry, research organisations, apprenticeships or higher education. Familiarity with programming or scripting for automation, equipment control or data acquisition would be advantageous but is not essential. Above all, we are looking for someone who enjoys hands-on problem solving and is excited by the challenge of helping translate cutting-edge research into scalable manufacturing technologies.

Please refer to the job description and person specification below for full details of the role and candidate requirements.

Further information

This position is available for up to 36 months. We welcome applications from candidates wishing to work either full-time or part-time.

For an informal discussion regarding the role please contact Soraya Caixeiro at scc201@bath.ac.uk.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equity and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students and encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our Safer Recruitment commitment.

We're very proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant. an accredited Disability Confident Leader; autism friendly university, committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

What we can offer you

We're continually expanding our benefits package to better support you and enhance your experience with us and the below is just an example of some of the many great benefits we offer:

• Generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance
• Generous employer contributory pension schemes
• Cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
• Staff discount at Team Bath gym
• Staff benefits include discounted postgraduate tuition and language courses, alongside a wide range of personal and professional development opportunities such as apprenticeships, LinkedIn Learning, and more
• Local discounts, including free entry to the Holburne Museum in Bath
• A family-friendly workplace
• An excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
• Relocation allowance
• Visa reimbursement and Interest-Free Loan to help with the cost of some immigration expenses
• Employee assistance services through Health Assured, including access to the Wisdom app

Find out more about our benefits hear from our staff about what makes the University of Bath a great place to work as well as following us X and LinkedIn.

Be Well at Bath

We’re committed to creating a health-supporting working environment where everyone can thrive and be at their best. We offer a range of resources to enable you to do that from your first day here, including:

• Staff support groups and networks
• A network of Staff Wellbeing Champions
• A suite of tools, resources and frameworks that enable you to be at your best and thrive

Find out more about being at your best at Bath.

• Job Description & Person Specification