This post is a 12 Month Fixed Term / Secondment position. As per the Fixed Term Contracts Policy - Where individuals with continuous service within the NHS apply for fixed-term contract roles, PSD Scotland reserves the right to refuse any such appointment.
On 1 April 2026, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) became one national organisation, focused on continuity today and a stronger, more connected service for tomorrow.
As part of this transformation, NSS and NES have joined to form a new organisation: Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland). This new organisation will play a pivotal role in supporting the renewal and ensuring the long-term sustainability of health and care services across Scotland.
About the Organisation:
PSD Scotland unites expertise from NES and NSS in a way that will allow us to accelerate national programmes to support the NHS to deliver better care, now and in the future.
We support staff with education and training, provide the tools and data that improve services, and run vital national functions such as procurement, logistics and blood, tissue and cell services.
The Post:
Applications are invited from suitably qualified individuals to join the Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics (H&I) team based in the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service department in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The H&I laboratory is a busy, well-equipped facility accredited by MHRA, UKAS, and EFI, supporting the East of Scotland’s solid organ transplantation programme, autologous HSC transplantation programme, and specialist transfusion testing. This role offers an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience in Healthcare Science.
The successful candidate will participate in routine laboratory operations, such as sample registration, DNA extraction, serum separation and reagent preparation. In addition to this, they will also work as part of a team engaged in the Quality of Organ Donation (QuOD) project, a national initiative designed to collect samples from deceased donors for future research. Both positions are funded for a duration of twelve months.
The Candidate:
Applicants must have a minimum of SVQ Level 4 in Laboratory Science or equivalent (e.g. HND in Applied Science), although an honours degree in a relevant Biological/Biomedical Science discipline is desirable. Experience of working in a NHS Clinical laboratory is also desirable but not essential, as training will be provided. Applicants must be reliable, enthusiastic, have good interpersonal skills and be able to work individually and as part of a team.
The successful candidate will be required to undergo a PVG Scheme/Disclosure Scotland check. Any candidate who have lived/worked overseas for more than 12 months in the preceding 5 years will also be required to provide a criminal record check from the appropriate overseas agency.
Location and Working Pattern:
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Monday to Friday, 36 hours per week.
It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK and have entitlement to work in the UK for the post in which you will be employed.
Benefits:
Our benefits package includes pension scheme, comprehensive range of work life balance policies, occupational health services, learning resource centres and discounted leisure, financial and shopping benefits. HR Benefits Brochure.
Inclusion:
Public Services Delivery Scotland is a national organisation and, as an anchor institution, it is our ambition to be a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone feels welcome. We recognise that flexible working creates an inclusive workplace where employees can thrive and feel confident about their ability to balance their personal and professional responsibilities. This is supported through Once for Scotland flexible working policies. PSD Scotland has made a long-term commitment to staff health and well-being and offers many learning and development opportunities to support and improve our approaches to diversity, inclusion and mental health in the workplace. There are a number of equality staff networks in place which all staff are welcome to join. We are also an equal opportunities employer and as such aim to guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies. As an accredited Disability Confident Leader, it is the aim of PSD Scotland to offer a fully accessible and inclusive recruitment service that supports applicants on their candidate journey. If you are interested in any reasonable adjustments, please contact the Recruitment Team on [email protected]
Further information:
For an informal discussion on the post, please contact Sylvia McConnell on 0131-242-1540 or email [email protected]
Closing date for completed applications is Wednesday 10th June
Please note that the majority of correspondence is sent by e-mail only, so please check your e-mail regularly (including junk folders).
We are an equal opportunities employer and as committed participant in the disability confident scheme, guarantees to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies however, where exceptionally high application volumes make this impracticable, a fair and proportionate shortlisting approach will be applied in line with Disability Confident guidance
