HTA Person Designate and Tissue Bank Manager

Role Description

Department

The University of York holds a Human Tissue Authority (HTA) licence for the duteous management of human material used in experimental procedures and stored at the University. The licence holder, Professor Hitchcock devolves the day to day operations of the licence to a Person Designate (PD), who is expected to be an expert resource for all matters of working under the HTA licence. The Person Designate ensures researchers adhere to the regulatory requirements, work to standard operating procedures, advises on the limitations of the licence use, carries out audits, registers and trains staff, maintains up to date knowledge and completes the annual return to the authority.

Human material is stored within the York Tissue Bank (YTB) as part of the HTA licence requirements, the YTB manager coordinates and authorises requests to and from the YTB for University and external requests, and manages the security control of the YTB.

Role

To take charge of the day to day operations as the Person Designate (PD) for all activities associated with the HTA, with expert knowledge of the licence documentation, the PD will apply their knowledge to advise and guide research groups with their experimental work, GDPR, record keeping, storage and security requirements for samples. The role holder will proactively author, maintain and update documentation and databases, in readiness for impromptu internal and external audits, and complete an annual return to the HTA authority.

The role holder will manage the York Tissue Bank (YTB), a unique resource, holding valuable and irreplaceable samples, they will ensure storage and security standards are met, and manage the internal and external requests for samples.

The role holder will be a member of the Departmental Ethics Group, and be encouraged to join any other group or committee that will aid the promotion of good practice of the activities associated with the HTA and use of the YTB samples.

The post is part of the Biology Technical Operations Team who work across the sixteen Biology buildings providing a breadth of technical support to the Department of Biology, HYMS, YSBL and Natural Sciences. The role holder will be line managed by the Operations Manager, working closely with the HTA person designate and the Deputy Operations Manager.

The contract is the equivalent of two days per week, the role holder would be expected to be on campus for at least one of those days, in order to monitor the YTB facility, to attend meetings in person and build relationships with the licence holder, Professor Hitchcock, the Biology Operations Team, and research groups.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• You will have a Masters degree, or equivalent significant experience in a bioscience subject
• You will have the ability and confidence to act as the person designate for the Human Tissue Authority licence held by the University, liaising and advising academic and research staff
• You will be self motivated to continually learn, resource and implement changes in policy and recommendations issued by the HTA
• You will manage the York Tissue Bank, maintaining and monitoring the cryogenic store, database and related security systems
• You will design, and deliver training material associated with the HTA and YTB
• You will be self-motivated and a conscientious person who works well with others, and on their own initiative

Interview date: 12th April 2023

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be made to Lucy Hudson, tel: (+44) 01904 328745, lucy.hudson@york.ac.uk.

For an alternative contact, please email biol-dmthub@york.ac.uk

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork