Biocore Research Scientist

**Classification & Regular Hours**: Hours per Week: 40 Salary Grade: R3 **About Western**: Since 1878, Western University has been committed to serving our communities through the pursuit of academic excellence and by providing students, faculty, and community members with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social, and cultural growth. We seek excellent students, faculty, and staff to join us in what has become known as the "Western Experience" - an opportunity to contribute to a better world through the development of new knowledge, new abilities, new connections, and new ways to make a difference. **About Us**: The Department of Biochemistry is a vibrant community of faculty, research personnel, students and administrative staff dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in research and teaching. The Department houses an exceptionally broad range of instrumentation and expertise for three-dimensional structure determination, biological molecule interaction analysis and other physical analyses that are housed in the BioCore facility. The BIOCORE is an open-access facility that offers access via fee-for-service, via on-site training and via collaborative modes. This facility is used by hundreds of researchers at Western and externally. **Responsibilities**: The Research Scientist will provide guidance, consultation and oversight related to the operation of multiple highly sophisticated mass spectrometric (MS) instruments in the BIOCORE. The role will facilitate research by providing training and guidance on research and experimental design and the related equipment, as well as best practices for project development, implementation, and evaluation. The Research Scientist will also oversee research operations within the facility, foster research collaborations, train new users (local and regional), oversee existing users and solve research problems or issues that arise. The role will complete instrument troubleshooting and conduct routine maintenance and servicing, will liaise with manufacturers to coordinate major repairs/parts replacements, and will develop and implement new technologies for mass spectrometer maintenance and operation (calibration, optimization of MS experiments, new methodologies, etc.). **Qualifications**: - Education: - Completion of, or working towards, PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related discipline; or MSc degree and 5 years of substantially equivalent working experience, training and expertise **Experience**: - 5 years of working experience, post graduate degree, in a related academic research environment - Experience in biology mass spectrometry (MS), such as MALDI and/or ESI MS - Experience in operating MS instrumentation, omics analysis, and biological sample preparation (such as chemical derivatization, fractionation, HPLC, robotics, liquid handling, microscopy) - Knowledge, Skills & Abilities: - Demonstrated expertise of scientific/research principles in their area of specialty including strong chemistry background to be able to understand and provide service for projects of different nature (medical, chemical, biological, physical) as per users’ expertise and requests - Knowledge of computer networking and proficiency in complex statistical analysis of large data sets is required - Familiarity with project management methodologies - In-depth knowledge of the regulations and guidelines governing research in an academic environment - In-depth knowledge of best practices for reviewing and writing grant proposals - In-depth knowledge of techniques for updating, managing and extracting data from a research database - In-depth knowledge of methods for research design, implementation, and analysis - Excellent communication skills to effectively interact with technical and non - technical users- Ability to provide solutions and ideas for improvement by using imaginative approaches where constructive thinking and innovation are required - Ability and willingness to stay abreast of technological developments - Advanced skills in software used to produce and analyze research outcomes including experience with document preparation, website and wiki maintenance, and specialized programs for data analysis - Excellent computational skills with the ability to use complex statistical analysis strategies, interpret and identify key results or patterns in complex research data, and succinctly summarize findings while ensuring that information is accurate and comprehensive - Excellent writing and communication skills to document experiments, write and prepare research grants and present data to clients - Ability to meet tight deadlines and adapt to growth and change - A strong record of teamwork with the motivation and ability to work independently with little supervision - Able to build and maintain lasting relationships with other labs, key business partners and external agencies - Ability to coach employees and support them to be self-directed and responsible for their own dev