Job Description

Position Details

School of Metallurgy and Materials

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,062 to £31,900, with potential progression once in post to £35,883

Grade: 5

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to October 2028

Closing date: 8th November 2026

Background

The University of Birmingham is a partner in HERMES (Hazardous Energy Recycling: Methods for Emerging Specialist Chemistries), a project funded by Innovate UK and led by Recyclus Group Ltd, developing a safe shredding and materials-recovery process for lithium-metal batteries (LMBs).

Lithium-metal batteries are used widely across offshore energy, defence, healthcare and Internet-of-Things applications, but have no viable commercial recycling route in the UK. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, LMBs remain chemically reactive at end-of-life and present fire, explosion and emission risks under conventional processing, resulting in large unprocessed UK stockpiles. HERMES will establish optimum passivation, discharge, shredding and materials-separation methods for reactive LMB chemistries, including lithium-sulphur, lithium-thionyl chloride and manganese-oxide systems.

The post holder will support day-to-day operations of the HERMES project within the Energy Materials Group in the School of Metallurgy and Materials. The role will involve carrying out technical laboratory work in the safe handling and recycling of reactive battery chemistries, including battery discharge, disassembly and passivation, mechanical processing, materials separation and purification, characterisation of shredded output streams, and data collection and entry. The post requires knowledge and skills in the field of materials, materials handling, and battery safety.

The post holder will perform technical duties in laboratories and workshops, providing technical support to the battery recycling and energy materials laboratories. They will be expected to keep up to date with developments in the research areas covered and how these may impact recycling activities. The duties require collaborative working and close liaison with academics, technical staff, students, external companies and contractors, including the project's industrial partner.

Role Summary

You will provide technical expertise, support and guidance in research support. You may supervise a number of technical staff but even where you do not directly supervise staff you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach others as appropriate.

You will need an in-depth understanding of the research questions, techniques and experimental protocols. You will be able to use your in-depth knowledge to advise on procedures, diagnose and resolve problems, and proactively suggest solutions to issues which arise. You may need to operate out of normal working hours to accommodate experimental procedures.

In order to flexibly use resource you may be offered the opportunity to work in different areas of the department or wider university.

Main Duties

1. Safe handling, discharge, disassembly and passivation of reactive lithium-metal and li-ion cells and batteries prior to mechanical processing.
2. Supporting the operation of laboratory-scale shredding and sorting equipment, including work under controlled and inert atmospheres and within the UoB battery safety chamber.
3. Mechanical separation and sorting of shredded battery output streams, including sieving, density, and magnetic separation techniques.
4. Preparation and characterisation of recovered materials, using techniques such as SEM, XRD, XRF and ICP-OES.
5. Collection, entry and management of experimental data, and maintenance of associated laboratory records and databases.
6. Support for gas and emissions sampling and monitoring during processing trials.
7. You will be responsible for assisting in managing experiments and laboratories used by multiple projects.
8. You will use your in-depth knowledge of methods and procedures to advise on techniques and experimental procedures being used by researchers and/or students. This will involve communicating with colleagues at a range of levels and inexperienced students.
9. You will need to be able to diagnose and resolve problems and suggest solutions in regard to techniques and experiments.
10. Carry out specialist technical and experimental procedures which will need you to use your judgment to assess the correct technique to use, and to consider how these may be improved, referring to your manager for approval on any proposed changes.
11. You will need to maintain accurate records of all techniques and experimental procedures you carry out, and for any other research activities you may be involved in including results.
12. Ensure compliance with legislation relevant to the area of research/activity.
13. Comply with and promote the operating procedures for the area, including the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures regulation.
14. You may contribute to internal and external audit procedures and to regulatory inspections.

Health and Safety duties

1. Proactive support for health and safety within the laboratory. This may include being required to look after a communal area as part of your duties. Comply with all current rules and ensure all required assessments are in place, approved and up to date.
2. Promote and influence Health and Safety compliance and act as a role model for students and colleagues at all levels of seniority.
3. Fully understand the safety aspects of equipment operation and be able to demonstrate/train staff (at all levels) on the correct usage of the equipment.
4. Ensuring that regular maintenance processes are carried out and that appropriate records are maintained.
5. Reporting any breaches or non-compliance with H&S procedures to the relevant manager(s).
6. Upholding the correct waste disposal stream as governed by College and local policy for the laboratory.
7. Postholders may be asked to undergo training as a First Aider and a Fire Warden.

General Administration and Organisation

1. Ensuring all records are accurate and kept up to date and maintain relevant research lab databases/records.
2. Proactively maintain stocks of consumables, and when required generate purchase order requisitions using University systems.
3. Receipt and correct storage of consumables/equipment and chemical reagents.
4. Ensuring that the facilities are maintained in a clean, functional and safe condition, reporting any problems through the appropriate channels.
5. Ensuring that PAT, calibration of equipment and locally and centrally held equipment inventories are up to date and maintained.
6. Adopt a proactive attitude to assisting with and implementing carbon reduction and energy saving measures.

Other Duties

1. In collaboration with the relevant manager, the post holder will take an active role in the training and mentoring process for junior or newly appointed staff.
2. Treats everyone with dignity and respect in line with current equality legislation.
3. Any other duties as may reasonably be required.
4. Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity duties document.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Working knowledge of batteries and battery safety is desirable, though relevant training will be given to the successful candidate.
• Practical experience of mechanical materials processing (e.g. shredding, milling, comminution) or materials separation techniques is desirable.
• Experience of analytical characterisation techniques (e.g. SEM, XRD, XRF, ICP-OES) is desirable.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to promote health and safety compliance in a laboratory environment.
• Demonstrable knowledge, experience, and understanding of laboratory health and safety is essential, including working with fume cupboards, inert gas supplies, and pressurised gas bottles and regulators.
• Demonstrable experience of safe chemical handling and storage.
• Extensive relevant workplace experience, equivalent professional qualification or degree in an appropriate subject.
• GCSE level 2 (A*- C/4-9) or equivalent level 2 qualification in mathematics and English.
• In-depth practical knowledge of relevant technical and scientific methods.
• Extensive experience of similar laboratory based work, together with familiarity with a wide range of laboratory equipment.
• Positive service attitude and shows courtesy in dealing with others.
• Ability to organise and manage own work load and demonstrate flexibility in terms of work practices/requirements.
• Ability to work under minimal supervision but function as part of a team.
• Knowledge of current legislation relevant to the role.
• Knowledge of current H&S policies and ability to uphold same.
• Proficiency in commonly used software packages.
• Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures relating to equality and diversity.
• A full UK driving licence and a licence to operate forklifts on site would be beneficial, but is not essential.
• Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity knowledge, skills and experience document.

Informal enquiries to Rob Sommerville, email: R.Sommerville@bham.ac.uk

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.