Location: SAMS, Oban
Contract Type: Fixed Term : 24 months.
Working Pattern: Full Time - 37 hours per week – Monday to Friday
Salary : Grade 5 - £32,546.00 - £36,130.00 per annum
Closing date: 15 December 2026
The Role
The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting the deployment, operation, and ongoing development of oceanographic lander and mooring systems, primarily supporting the Dark Oxygen Research Initiative (DORI) and OceanSOS projects of the Seafloor Ecology and Biogeochemistry research group. They will join the Marine Robotics and Instrumentation team, assisting with vessel-based operations including the deployment and recovery of subsea assets, ensuring systems are operated safely and effectively.
The role will involve inspection, maintenance, repair, and troubleshooting of a wide range of subsea instrumentation and supporting hardware, such as housings, deep-sea cameras, cables, and buoyancy systems. The candidate will also support the calibration of scientific sensors in the field, with a particular focus on oxygen, pH, hydrogen, and conductivity measurements, helping to ensure high-quality data return from deployments.
A significant element of the role will involve the design, development, and construction of lander and mooring systems to meet specific project requirements. This includes leading on aspects of system design, procurement of components, and integration of instrumentation into robust field-ready platforms. The post-holder will also contribute to the wider operational activities of the team, including routine equipment maintenance, asset management, and logistics planning.
The role requires involvement in project logistics, including organising the shipment of equipment to and from vessel mobilisation ports around the world, and ensuring readiness for deployments. The successful candidate will be expected to proactively apply SAMS Health and Safety procedures at all times, contributing to safe working practices both onshore and offshore.
The post-holder will be expected to engage with internal project meetings relevant to fieldwork planning and delivery, as well as wider marine operations coordination meetings. These are typically held on a regular basis (e.g. weekly operational planning meetings and ad-hoc project-specific meetings as required).
Link to project: The Nippon Foundation: Dark Oxygen Research Initiative – Dark Oxygen production in the deep sea
The Ideal Candidate
SAMS are seeking a practical, proactive, and highly organised individual with experience in oceanographic fieldwork and subsea instrumentation. The ideal candidate will have recent sea going experience, along with a strong technical background and hands-on experience working with marine equipment, particularly in the deployment and recovery of lander or mooring systems.
They will have demonstrable experience in electronic fault finding, repair, and maintenance of subsea hardware, as well as familiarity with sensor calibration, ideally including oxygen and conductivity sensors. Experience in the design and integration of oceanographic systems, including component selection and procurement, would be highly advantageous.
The successful candidate will be comfortable working both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team in dynamic and sometimes challenging environments, including offshore deployments around the world. Strong organisational skills and forward planning are essential, particularly in relation to logistics coordination and equipment preparation for field campaigns.
A proactive approach to health and safety is essential, along with the ability to follow established procedures and contribute to a positive safety culture. Excellent communication skills and attention to detail are also key, ensuring effective collaboration across projects and with external partners where required.
Employee Benefits
The relatively small, caring community is an ideal environment for making friends, forming collaborations, and supporting each other to do the work that we really care about. Oban and surrounding areas provide a fantastic base to live and work, and we offer a wide range of employee benefits, support and inclusive culture, making SAMS a great place to work.
Their employees are the heart of their business. Recruiting and retaining the right people is the key to their success. Rewarding their employees is therefore an important component of their employment package and they have a wide range of benefits on offer to staff to support your work and lifestyle.
SAMS are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, offering options to best support our staff, such as: flexible & hybrid working options, purchase of additional annual leave, shopping discounts, Cycle 2 Work scheme, purchases of technology through salary sacrifice, Payroll Giving, Pensions Plus, access to portals to support health and wellbeing, a sabbatical scheme, free car parking with access to electronic charging points as well as access to a number of training & development courses.
Additionally, SAMS encourages and recognises excellence among staff through various recognition and reward arrangements. They are striving to constantly develop and expand the benefits and offers for their colleagues.
Interested?
SAMS would love to hear from you. If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to people@sams.ac.uk
Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to recruitment@sams.ac.uk quoting Job Ref. ‘D02.26.CA’ in the subject heading.
Closing date for application is 15 December 2026. Interviews will be held in January 2027.
Full details can be found here:
Landers & Moorings Technician - Job Description.pdf
Landers & Moorings Technician - JD Accessible Format.pdf
Please find further information below on how we can help you apply: