Laboratory Scientist Degree Apprenticeship - R&D Oncology

ASTRAZENECA UK LIMITED

Cambridge, CB2 0AA

Closes in 31 days (Sunday 16 February)

Posted on 14 January 2025

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Summary

You’ll be involved in projects and learning opportunities that have real impact from day one. Being part of our journey and helping us to provide life changing medicine to patients all over the world and transform lives for the better. Making important contributions and embracing our values to deliver on our purpose.

Annual wage
£21,500 a year

Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

£21,500 starting base salary + 11% benefits fund + bonus.

Training course
Laboratory scientist (degree) (level 6)
Hours
Monday - Friday, shifts to be confirmed.

36 hours 30 minutes a week

Possible start date

Monday 1 September

Duration

4 years

Positions available

3

Work

As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.

What you’ll do at work

  • At AstraZeneca, we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. We’re deeply committed to our strategy of being a great place to work. For us, that includes fostering an environment where everyone can be among inclusive, supportive individuals with curious minds.
  • Our OTD SM Bioscience team generates preclinical data to support delivery of the next generation of small molecule cancer medicines targeting tumour drivers, the DNA damage response and epigenetics.
  • Working within a multidiscipline team you will play a pivotal role in supporting the progression of oncology drug discovery projects through delivering robust and high-quality data using in vivo preclinical models.
  • We’ll encourage you to develop novel therapeutics and biomarkers, identify new targets and publish your work.
  • This role is fundamental in all stages of the drug discovery and development process – and as your experience grows, so will your role and career prospects.
  • You should have a keen interest in discovering more about the cellular drivers of cancer and be enthusiastic to learn how to deliver experimental in vivo laboratory work.
  • This is your opportunity to learn from a team of expert scientists in state-of-the-art laboratories and contribute to the development of cutting-edge anti-cancer therapies.
  • Using the latest technologies, you will gain invaluable experience in how to design, conduct and analyse in vivo experiments to assess the function of our candidate drugs and help to dissect the mechanism of action of our novel therapeutics that target the immune system to treat cancer.
  • You should have a keen interest in discovering more about how to modulate the immune system to treat cancer.
  • You should be enthusiastic to learn how to deliver experimental in vivo laboratory work.  
  • A high regard for animal welfare, rigorous record-keeping and attention to fine detail are critical to the role.

You will be trained to:

  • Work with laboratory mouse models of cancer following UK Home Office (HO) regulations. This will include:
  • Obtaining a HO Personal License (PIL).
  • Care for laboratory rodents following high ethical standards and closely evaluating animal welfare.
  • Preparation of drugs and their administration to laboratory rodents through different routes.
  • Culturing and implantation of cancer cells.
  • Measuring of tumour volumes and analysis/reporting of their growth and responses to treatments.
  • Analysis of biomarkers of samples ex-vivo (protein and gene expression changes).
  • Analyse, interpret, and report data results to project teams, while learning about cancer drug discovery.
  • Conduct literature reviews to gain greater understanding of the science behind the drugs.
  • Work flexibly and collaboratively with in vivo scientists across the oncology portfolio, and apply your technical expertise to a number of projects delivering efficacy, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies to aid drug discovery and development.
  • To be responsible for planning and executing complex scientific in vivo studies while maintaining open communication with multiple stakeholders.
  • To prioritise your own workload whilst demonstrating excellent team-working skills. This will be key to this role.
  • You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively within cross-functional, multidisciplinary project teams.
  • This position will require some out of hours work, including weekend work on a shift pattern, which will be compensated.
  • AstraZeneca will sponsor you through your Lab Scientist Degree with our university provider Manchester Metropolitan University.
  • The apprenticeship combines working, earning a full-time salary, with fully funded part-time learning (on average 1 day/week).

Where you’ll work

1 Francis Crick Avenue

Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Cambridge

CB2 0AA

Training

An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

College or training organisation

MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

Your training course

Laboratory scientist (degree) (level 6)

Equal to degree

Course contents
  • Identify and use the scientific approaches appropriate to one specialist discipline required to solve problems, support new investigations and follow-up experiments in the laboratory.
  • Appraise scientific experimentation, independently design and implement new processes according to relevant literature and other data sources interrogated using data mining techniques and input from colleagues.
  • Support appraisal of scientific experimentation with numerical and statistical analysis.
  • Work autonomously to analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific data and present the results of laboratory work and problem solving clearly and concisely in written and oral form.
  • Comply with regulations including compliance with business rules pertaining to record keeping, data integrity, traceability & confidentiality.
  • Promote and ensure the application of quality standards, safe working practices and compliance with risk management systems relevant to the workplace in own work and the work of others.
  • Use creative thinking and problem solving techniques such as root cause analysis, to challenge assumptions, innovate, make new proposals and build on existing ideas.
  • Autonomously plan and prioritise tasks, review and evaluate progress against objectives and investigate alternative scenarios.
  • Contribute to the development of specific technical projects across multi-disciplinary teams.
  • Ensure that targets are met and maintained, within own area of responsibility, whilst complying with defined company procedures and legislative requirements.
  • Lead continuous performance improvement within the scientific and technical environment using process mapping & analysis and root cause analysis that is informed by other appropriate principles, such as lean, six sigma, project and change management.

Your training plan

  • Apprentices work full-time whilst studying towards a BSc (Hons) Laboratory scientist (Bioscience) degree from Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as a Level 6 degree apprenticeship
  • Students study a tutor-supported e-distance learning curriculum and attend residential schools. The work-based projects, negotiated with employers, offer students the opportunityto apply their learning directly to their organisation
  • The programme is primarily taught through tutor-supported online study, part-time over four years
  • Apprentices will attend a two-day induction at the University to help them get to know each other and balance undergraduate study with working full-time. They will also attend a week-long residential at our campus in central Manchester once a year, in addition to a two day mini-residential in the first year

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

  • 5 GCSEs (including Maths, English & Science) (grade A*-C/9-4)

A Level in:

  • Various (with one being Biology) (grade BCC (104 UCAS Points))

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

  • Communication skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Organisation skills
  • Problem solving skills
  • Analytical skills
  • Team working
  • Work independently
  • Manage multiple tasks

Other requirements

The apprentice must be able to demonstrate the required attitudes, behaviours and interpersonal skills associated with the professional workplace. The apprentice must be willing to commit an amount of personal time to study. This is a 4year Fixed Term Contract opportunity based at Macclesfield offering £21,500 starting base salary + 11% benefits fund + bonus. Successful candidates will be asked to attend a virtual Assessment Day w/c 24th March 2025. These positions are not open to those already educated to Bachelors degree level or above.

About this company

At AstraZeneca we believe in the potential of our people and as an apprentice you will be given the opportunity to develop beyond your wildest dreams. We are looking for people who can share our passion for science & technology so if you feel you have the drive and determination to help us to deliver first class medicines to meet the needs of patients around the world, then we invite you to apply. Our scientific research, development and technological innovation is well respected in the industry and we support our people, helping them to go above and beyond their expectations. As a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business, our focus is on creating and developing new medicines that make a meaningful difference to patients’ lives and the UK is at the heart of our efforts to do that.

https://careers.astrazeneca.com/early-talent (opens in new tab)

After this apprenticeship

  • On successful completion of the apprenticeship, candidates will be able to apply for further positions

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000296135.

Apply now

Closes in 31 days (Sunday 16 February)

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Company’s application instructions

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