Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA)

Job details

• Job reference: 251602
• Salary: Band 3 (£29,103 - £31,409)
• Job closing date: 20/08/2026
• Job Type: Healthcare Sciences
• Location: SNBTS National Centre
• Employment type: Permanent
• Hours Per Week: 36
• Job posted date: 13/08/2026
• Employer (NHS Board): Public Services Delivery Scotland
• Department: Manufacturing- Processing

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:

As a major Strategic Business Unit (SBU) within PSD Scotland, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) plays a vital role not only in the health of the people of Scotland but also on an international scale – through our leading position in manufacturing, product development, biomedical research and donor services. Our goal is to maintain the highest standards to patient care whilst remaining internationally competitive.

The Candidate:

A vacancy has arisen for a Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) position within the Blood Processing and Distribution Department. Applications are invited from individuals, who are organised and enthusiastic with excellent interpersonal skills, scrupulous attention to detail and excellent written and verbal communication skills.

The successful candidate will be working with biohazard material (e.g. untested blood) within a Processing environment whilst adhering to the principles of Good Manufacturing Practice

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a 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:

Location – The Jack Copland Centre, 52 Research Avenue North,

Heriot-Watt Research Park, Edinburgh. EH14 4BE

The successful candidate must be willing to undertake shift working which will include weekends as well as night working and will include shift payments.

Further information is available on request.

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 NSS.wfrs@nhs.scot

Further information:

For an informal discussion on the post, please contact Stuart Taylor, Biomedical Scientist 2, at Stuart.Taylor3@nhs.scot

Closing date for completed applications is Thursday 20th August 2026.

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