Forensic scientist : Employers and vacancy sources

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Case studies

• Forensic scientist: Moina Macaskill

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Principal employers of forensic scientists are:

• the Forensic Science Service (FSS)  with laboratories in Birmingham, London, Chepstow, Huntingdon, Chorley and Wetherby - provides forensic services to the police, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
• forensic science units within local police forces, such as the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Directorate
• the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB)  
• the Defence Explosives Laboratory, part of the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl) , which specialises in all forensic work around explosives;
• Forensic Science Northern Ireland (FSNI) , an executive agency of the Northern Ireland Office
• private forensic laboratories, such as LGC Forensics , which has services based in Teddington, Culham, Tamworth, Bromsgrove, Leeds, St. Neots, Risley and Runcorn; Orchid Cellmark based in Abingdon; and Scientifics  based in Derby.

In Scotland, most forensic scientists are civilians employed by the police. There are four laboratories, in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, each serving different regional police forces.

Some forensic scientists are employed by agencies and subcontracted to forensic laboratories.

Occasional vacancies arise in medical schools.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Forensic Science Service (FSS)
• LGC Forensics
• Orchid Cellmark
• New Scientist Jobs  
• SRG Labstaff
• Local police force websites.
• Jobs and Courses
• Reed
• Local and national press.
• In Northern Ireland, vacancies are advertised in the local press.

Assistant forensic scientists are recruited at a regional level by individual laboratories. These vacancies are usually advertised in the local or national press. Recruitment agencies rarely handle vacancies, apart from those listed above, which employ forensic scientists for contract work.

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