Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

Do you care about the quality of Scotland’s water? Would you like to join Scotland’s premier water laboratory service?

At Scottish Water, we do a huge amount of work behind the scenes to ensure that Scotland has a constant and fresh supply of safe, high-quality water. Laboratory sampling and analysis is one of the unseen activities our customers see, yet this service plays a critical role in the public health of Scotland.

A team of about 320 samplers, scientists and support staff provide an extensive analytical testing service. Over the course of a year, the labs carry out tests at a rate of one per minute – both for Scottish Water and for other customers.

We’re looking for a conscientious Laboratory Assistant who loves hands-on lab work to join our Organics section in Edinburgh.

This is a part time position for 22.2 hours per week. The contracted hours can be worked flexibly, with a start time between 7.00 am to 10.00 am, Monday to Friday.

What you’ll be doing:

As the Laboratory Assistant, you’ll be responsible for carrying out daily checks on laboratory equipment to ensure compliance within the required specifications. In order to keep a high volume of work flowing, you’ll help schedule and prioritise work within your team environment and carry out routine calibration and maintenance of specialist instrumentation to ensure the team isn’t impacted by unplanned downtime.

You’ll make sure that your work meets the requirements of the Scientific Services management system, ISO17025 and Drinking Water Testing Specification (DWTS) standards.

You’ll also be responsible for maintaining appropriate stock levels, ordering lab consumables where required, archiving of analytical data and laboratory records and the receipt/disposal of samples, waste chemicals and sample extracts as required.

For your own safety, and the safety of your colleagues and our customers, you will follow Scottish Water’s Health and Safety policies consistently and ensure 100% compliance with all relevant legislative, regulatory and SW policy requirements.

And like all our employees, you’ll pride yourself on being able to provide excellent levels of customer service and advice to internal and external customers.

What you’ll need:

You’ll need an interest in working within Scientific Services,. You’ll need to be computer literate with experience of using Microsoft Office packages. You’ll also need a commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace for you and your colleagues

We’re looking for a very organised, self-motivated and efficient worker who can take the initiative and work independently but also support team members.

What you’ll get:

The salary band for this role is £21,053.00 – £28,425.00 per annum (part time pro rata).

You can also expect:

The closing date for applications is Sunday 11 December 2022.

Do you have any support needs?

Please let us know if there are any changes we can make to our application and selection process to make it easier and more comfortable for you. Email us

with the vacancy reference number in the subject line so we can work with you to support you throughout your application.

Working at Scottish Water

Scottish Water is one of the UK’s leading water companies, the quality of drinking water and satisfaction with the service we provide our customers has never been higher – but we want to be even better – and you could help play an important part!

We take employee engagement very seriously and have an inclusive and collaborative work environment where we respect people’s differences. We are committed to creating an engaging environment and a positive experience for our employees.

We were recently recognised as a Top 10 Flexible Employer in Scotland at the Flexibility Works Awards 2021 and by The Times as a Top 50 Employer for Women in 2019.

In 2019 we also won the Age Inclusive Award at The Herald and GenAnalytics Diversity Awards and were winners of the Best Public Sector Employer at the Family Friendly Working Scotland Awards 2020.
We have Carers Positive Exemplary Status and were Silver Award 2019 & Gold Award winners 2020 of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS).

We aim for work to be an energising and fulfilling experience and everyone plays their part to ensure that Scottish Water is trusted to serve our customers and communities.

We are passionate about creating opportunities for young people and are proud to have achieved the Gold standard in the Investors in Young People accreditation, demonstrating our commitment to creating rewarding opportunities for young people.

You will have access to a host of benefits which include 38 days holiday a year, a defined benefit pension scheme, a discounted medical cash plan and cycle to work, plus a variety of agile working arrangements and family-friendly policies designed to support your wellbeing.

Next Steps

Any offer of employment with Scottish Water will be subject to the successful completion of a mandatory pre-employment screening process, including Disclosure Scotland and eligibility to work in the UK. Details can be found on our website.

For more information about this role or if you require any additional support throughout the application process please contact the recruitment team:

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it is important that Scottish Water employees are resident in Scotland and contribute to the Scottish economy by paying Scottish income tax on their earnings. As a result we ask all potential employees to confirm that they are resident in Scotland, or to confirm their intentions to move to Scotland within 6 months of their start date

Location :Edinburgh

Closing Date :11 December 2022

HOW TO APPLY

Click Here to Submit your CV and Application on Company Website