Job Description
Grade: UE05 - £29,179.00 to £33,482.00 per annum
College of Science & Engineering, School of Engineering
Contract type: Open ended (permanent)
Full time: 35 hours per week
The Opportunity
The School of Engineering is seeking to appoint a Technician to join its skilled Technical Services team of ca.35 technical staff supporting a diverse and expanding range of research and teaching activities. The appointee will be primarily responsible for assisting with the safe, sustainable and efficient running of the School’s suite of mechanical engineering teaching laboratories. This will include the provision of technical support to a broad variety of student projects and research projects within the School. The post-holder will be involved in assisting in the delivery of teaching and demonstrating in the laboratories, the manufacture of components and apparatus, repair and maintenance of equipment within the labs and stock control.
The School’s mechanical engineering teaching suite consists of two main teaching laboratories, a welding bay and a flexible teaching space. The facilities include various manufacturing and fabricating equipment including pillar drills, 3D printers, guillotine, computer numerical control (CNC) router, laser cutters, and MIG and TIG welding plants. The lab maintains a good range of hand tools and a stock of a variety of components and materials to support project builds and equipment repair.
The successful candidate should demonstrate an enthusiasm for engineering and personal development, with a commitment to keep pace with emerging technologies. They will have relevant demonstrated and recent experience working in a mechanical workshop environment (or similar) and be educated to N/SVQ Level 3 (which may have been acquired as part of a recognised apprenticeship programme) or equivalent in relevant subjects (e.g., mechanical engineering). Alternatively, the candidate will have additional demonstrable technical experience in progressively more demanding work. The role is customer-facing and the School is a diverse and international community of staff and students. The post holder will therefore have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, an understanding of health & safety and a strong commitment to service delivery.
Your Skills And Attributes For Success
- Passion for mechanical engineering
- Proven technical fault-finding and problem-solving skills
- Hands on experience with a range of workshop machinery and hand tools
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Commitment to Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
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Application Information
Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:
As a valued member of our team you can expect:
- A competitive salary
- An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
- To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
- Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits
The University’s commitment to technicians
In September 2017 the University of Edinburgh signed the Technician Commitment , recognising the important role technicians play in research, teaching and student support. The University’s current Action Plan commits to supporting technicians across the University in four areas: visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability.
Championing Equality, Diversity And Inclusion
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our
right to work webpages (opens new browser tab).
On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.
Key Dates To Note
The closing date for applications is
21 May 2025.
Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.
About Us
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
About The Team
Engineering has been taught at Edinburgh in one form or another since 1673. In 2002, the present School of Engineering was formed from the previously existing departments of Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Since then, the School has grown from strength to strength, growing rapidly in the last 5 years, now having the largest number of students among the seven Schools in the College of Science and Engineering, offering undergraduate degree programmes across all disciplines and taught Masters courses in niche areas. All of the undergraduate degree programmes are accredited by the relevant professional institutions.
The School of Engineering addresses diverse complex challenges across the entire field of engineering, at the micro- and macro/global scales. At the microscopic scale, its research supports the design and deployment of novel nanotechnology and devices for biological monitoring and medical diagnosis; at the macro/global scale, it optimises the security and sustainability of the built environment and develops engineering solutions to climate change issues. In REF 2021 the joint submission from the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University to General Engineering was ranked 1st in Scotland and 3rd in the UK for quality and breadth of research. The ranking cited is based upon the breadth and quality of research which apply standard formula (as used by the Times Higher Education) to the REF 2021 results.
The School has a strong track record in producing more than 50 technology spin-outs and developing industry links that enable our graduates to build career-long relationships. Current research income in the School was c.£22.0M in 2020/21.
We aim to ensure that our culture and systems support flexible and family-friendly working and recognise and value diversity across all our staff and students. The School has an active programme offering support and professional development for all staff; providing mentoring, training, and networking opportunities.
The School of Engineering holds a bronze Athena SWAN award, in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education & research.
Further information, including details of undergraduate & postgraduate taught programmes: www.eng.ed.ac.uk