Part-time Technical Support Specialist

Brandeis University’s Light Microscopy Core Facility is seeking a part-time Technical Support Specialist onsite in Waltham, MA. This role supports assisted-use imaging and user training for external academic and industry users, while helping keep microscopy instruments performing reliably through routine maintenance, quality control, and day-to-day facility operations.

This is a 0.5 FTE, 17.5 hours/week position. The salary range is $32,000 to $40,000 per year (for half-time).

Responsibilities

• Provide assisted-use imaging for Brandeis researchers and outside academic and industry users, including sample handling, image acquisition on facility microscopes, first-pass image processing, and organized, documented data delivery under the facility manager’s direction.
• Maintain project documentation and keep records of work completed for each project (35%).
• Deliver consultation, training, and technical support to facility users across a range of light-microscopy techniques.
• Follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) in line with facility guidelines, supporting consistent data quality.
• Support users with image acquisition and introductory image processing and analysis workflows (for example, ImageJ/Fiji) (25%).
• Perform routine maintenance and quality-control checks on facility instruments, including systems such as widefield, confocal, spinning disk, 2-photon, STED super-resolution, and light-sheet microscopes.
• Troubleshoot equipment issues and coordinate with instrument manufacturers or service engineers for support and repairs, escalating to the facility manager as needed.
• Help maintain SOPs that support data quality, rigor, and reproducibility.
• May supervise student workers by assigning and reviewing routine maintenance and facility tasks, and training them on procedures (20%).
• Assist with day-to-day facility operations, including managing user booking accounts, processing training requests, maintaining usage and training records, and updating operational spreadsheets and periodic reports.
• Support compliance with laboratory health, safety, and risk-assessment protocols for both staff and users (15%).
• Participate in internal and external professional development, technical workshops, and imaging-network events.
• Contribute to outreach, facility tours and workshops for academic and industry users, and support cross-training with the facility manager (5%).

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM research field (required).
• Strong theoretical and practical knowledge of light microscopy, including widefield and confocal imaging (required).
• Experience with at least one advanced modality (super-resolution, light-sheet, or 2-photon) is preferred.
• Familiarity with biological sample preparation, image-acquisition strategies, and image analysis software such as ImageJ/Fiji.
• Strong communication, teaching, and interpersonal skills, with a service-oriented mindset.
• Strong problem-solving and organizational skills, with attention to research ethics and data integrity.
• Ability to support many concurrent projects for a diverse academic and industry user base.

Relevant Technologies

• widefield, confocal, spinning disk
• 2-photon, STED super-resolution, light-sheet microscopes
• ImageJ/Fiji