Assistant Manager, Animal Care Operations

University of Ottawa; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 85,000 - 107,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

Defined benefit pension plan

Group insurance coverage

Employee and family assistance program

Job summary

The University of Ottawa is seeking an experienced supervisor to allocate and manage human resources for animal care and use activities across ACVS facilities. You will liaise with ACVS staff, researchers, and students to ensure training and skill sets meet institutional needs and promote excellence in animal-based research protocols.

Reporting to the Manager, Animal Care Operations, you will coordinate staffing, ensure facility compliance with regulatory requirements, and oversee operational

Qualifications

• Formal post-secondary training in veterinary technical field or related discipline with relevant supervision experience.
• Five years of experience managing or supervising activities in an animal research environment.
• CALAS certification or willingness to obtain.
• Experience with human resource policy administration and team/conflict management.
• Ability to develop complex work schedules and SOPs for animal facilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement and supervise equitable daily task assignments across all animal facilities to ensure staffing coverage and smooth operations.
• Coordinate cage wash activities and housing, veterinary nursing, and experimental support to meet research protocols.
• Communicate with research teams to schedule support staff for upcoming projects.
• Assess HR and equipment needs to maintain adequate staffing and resources at all times.
• Oversee daily vivarium operations in compliance with regulatory standards and institutional policies.
• Maintain safe working environment through training, inspections, and adherence to safety standards.

Skills

People management

HR policy administration

Team coordination

Communication skills

Staff scheduling

Education

CVMA Veterinary Tech diploma

BSc in relevant discipline

RLAT certification

Tools

Windows

Word processors

Spreadsheets

E-calendars

Databases

Email

Internet

Job description

Posting Reason: Replacement of a regular position Job Type: Employee Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments): N/A Job Family: Laboratory Support # of Open Positions: 1 Faculty/Service - Department: Animal Care and Veterinary Service Campus: Main Campus Union Affiliation: SSUO Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/10/22 Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/11/02 Hours per week: 35 Salary Grade: SSUO Grade 10 Salary Range: $85,040.00 - $107,421.00

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Manager, Animal Care Operations, the incumbent allocates and manages the human resource assignments for animal care and use activities at the uOttawa animal facilities. Contributes to (in-vivo) research viability and success by liaising with members of ACVS staff, researchers, students and members of other departments or institutes as required to assure training and skill sets of ACVS staff meet institutional needs. Assists the Manager, Animal Care Operations to ensure that animal facility equipment and overall facility operations are adequate to assure institutional compliance with the regulatory requirements and to promote excellence in the conduct of animal based academic and experimental research protocol execution.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement and supervise equitable daily tasks assignments in all areas of the Roger Guindon Hall and Vanier Hall animal facilities to ensure adequate staffing coverage and the smooth running of operations.
• This includes but is not limited to coordination of cage wash activities, work schedules for species specific husbandry care, veterinary technical nursing and/or experimental treatments to resident animals to ensure appropriate research protocol and housing requirements are achieved, documented and reported.
• This includes weekends, statutory holidays and other circumstances such as illness or accident.
• Communicate with research teams on various upcoming research projects to schedule support staff accordingly.
• The incumbent must be able to appropriately and continuously assess human resource needs and equipment needs to ensure adequate staffing levels and required equipment at all times.
• Coordinate the daily operations of the RGN and VNR vivaria, ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements of the Canadian Council on Animal Care as stated in the Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, volume 2, 1993 (the Guide), the Animals for Research Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. A-27 (the Act) and the University of Ottawa Policy 31 (the Policy).
• Schedule, assign and implement the sanitation and biosecurity/quarantine protocols within the facilities to preserve and protect animal health and reduce research variables.
• Communicate, consult and liaise with team leaders, and the manager of operations daily to ensure excellent team communication and smooth running of operations.
• Communication with the veterinarian, researcher and/or research personnel will also be required to ensure pertinent information is obtained and/or disseminated to appropriate parties in regards to animal health, research projects, equipment inventory and/or facility function.
• Assists the Manager, Animal Care Operations in the continuing assessment of operational efficiency, development, implementation and review of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to ensure the highest standards in animal care, optimal operational efficiency and compliance with all regulatory bodies.
• Identify and communicate directly and promptly to the Manager, Animal Care Operations any issues that may negatively impact animal care and welfare or result in non-compliance with accepted guidelines and standards.

Qualifications

• Sound theoretical and practical knowledge of applied veterinary technical and surgical nursing normally acquired through a formal post-secondary technical training program and 5 years’ experience managing or supervising activities in an animal research environment.
• Training can be acquired through a diploma from a CVMA recognized Veterinary Technical program or a Bachelor of Science degree from a relevant discipline and ideally the incumbent will hold an RLAT.
• certification with the Canadian Association of Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS).
• Five (5) years of experience managing or supervising activities in an animal research environment.
• Experience in human resource policy administration and team/ conflict management.
• Demonstrate an ability to gain consensus and achieve collaborations.
• Experienced with the development of complex work schedules.
• Comprehensive knowledge and experience in the development and implementation of standard operational procedures for an animal research facility, including bio-exclusion, bio- containment methods.
• Commitment to client service through excellence in interpersonal and communication skills and service delivery.
• Commitment to ensuring a safe working environment through ongoing inspections, staff training and review of safety standards.
• Experience using computer systems and various software such as Windows, word processors, spreadsheets, e-calendars, databases, email and Internet.
• Ability and willingness to work after hours, weekends and statutory holidays as assigned.
• Ability and willingness to be on-call on a rotational basis as part of standard schedule.
• Excellent communications skills in both official languages.

Key Competencies

• Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project.
• Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
• Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results.
• Is proactive and self-starting.
• Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
• Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs.
• This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
• Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s).
• Accept and give constructive feedback.
• Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

Diversity & Inclusion

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence.

Referral and Accessibility

While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons.

Accessibility & Accommodation

The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes.

Applicant Contact

Applicants with disabilities may contact [e-mail] to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Union Information

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above.

Benefits Package

• The University of Ottawa offers a generous pay and benefits package that includes a competitive salary, a defined benefit pension plan, group insurance coverage and an employee and family assistance program.