Animal Caretaker (Beginner)

This position primarily consists of performing animal husbandry duties, including but not limited to, cleaning lab animal caging, providing food and water, perform cage change-outs and maintaining a clean and organized environment. The technician will be expected to maintain daily room records and report any issues concerning lab animal welfare or the room environment to the Supervisor.

1. Perform Cage Wash duties – including cleaning caging and equipment and daily maintenance of cage wash areas and equipment (washers and sterilizers)
2. Decontamination and sanitation of support areas and hallways.
3. Ensure all caging and equipment is set up and ready for use for the following day’s cage change‐outs.
4. Record keeping – Maintain daily rooms records for cage wash areas, also including Quality Control records for cage wash equipment (washers and sterilizers).
5. Perform Husbandry duties – Performing health checks on lab animals in the facility (including biohazard, quarantine, specialized housing: hypoxia, telemetry, etc.) changing lab animal caging and equipment and maintaining lab animal room sanitation.
6. Reporting lab animal welfare issues including identifying and documenting sick and dead lab animals, overcrowded cages, and new litters; and limited assistance in treatments including giving pills in with food, administering ointments, and observing/recording activity.
7. Decontamination and Sanitation of lab animal and procedure rooms and support areas.
8. Record keeping – Maintain daily lab animal and room records, lab animal census, lab animal cage cards and protocol door sheets.
9. Perform other husbandry tasks as needed, such as distribution of dietary,hydration, hay and/or toy supplementation, change out gas cylinders, preparing regulated medical waste for pick‐up, etc.
10. Miscellaneous other job‐related tasks and duties assigned as may be necessary in support of general husbandry functions.

• High School diploma or equivalent
• AALAS certification at the ALAT level or comparable experience, preferred.
• 6 months experience in lab animal or a related field, preferred.

Physical & Environmental Demands:

• Ability to lift a minimum of 50 lbs., ability to stand on your feet for at least 90‐minute intervals, ability to use step ladder, and the ability to follow all required safety procedures, including wearing all required Personal
  Protection Equipment (PPE).
• Will be required to work holidays, Holy days, and weekends on a rotation basis.