Animal Behavior Technician I

AbbVie Inc.; North Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Medical/dental/vision insurance

401(k) to eligible employees

Short-term incentive programs

Job summary

AbbVie is seeking a dedicated animal training support professional to assist in reinforcement training and enrichment for research animals. You will collaborate with Comparative Medicine staff and cross-functional partners to ensure high standards of care, training documentation, and program progression across multiple tasks.

The role requires strong communication, analytical thinking, and basic computer skills, with weekend/on-site responsibilities in a laboratory setting.

Qualifications

• Communication skills to clearly convey key issues to stakeholders.
• Analytical skills to assess issues, gather information, and identify key concerns.
• Computer literacy including spreadsheets, word processing, email, and basic CMMS/purchasing systems.

Responsibilities

• Assist with positive reinforcement training of animals and communicate program requirements across research groups.
• Provide training to staff on standardization and productivity for enrichment and operant conditioning tasks.
• Build and maintain strong cross-functional relationships to enable higher performance and innovation.
• Identify potential improvements to enrichment and conditioning programs and support implementation.
• Handle daily tasks related to animal enrichment, including scheduling, prep, distribution, evaluation, and maintenance of enrichment areas.
• Maintain documentation of all animal trainings and related records.

Job description

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram , X and YouTube.

Responsibilities

• Assist with performing positive reinforcement training of animals. Communicates skills and enrichment program requirements amongst research groups and Comparative Medicine staff. These include but are not limited to those for behavior related tasks, enrichment, socialization, operant conditioning, chair training, pole and collar training, target training.
• Assist with training of staff on standardization and continued productivity as related to operant conditioning and enrichment related strategies.
• Enables higher performance by building and maintaining strong relationships with peers and cross functionally with partners outside of team.
• Identifies potential improvements to the program; remains flexible, open to suggestions and experimentation for improvement on enrichment and operant conditioning related strategies. Embraces the ideas of others, nurtures innovation and assists with the progression of innovation to reality.
• Assists with daily tasks associated with animal enrichment animal enrichment, such as scheduling, prep, distribution to animals, evaluation of effectiveness, and enrichment area/supply maintenance.
• Assists with entry and upkeep of behavioral, training and enrichment forms/database(s); Maintains documentation of all animal trainings (timelines, progress, comments, concerns, etc.)
• Works with moderate work direction, remains flexible, performs multiple projects simultaneously, meets deadlines, and maintains sanitation standards.
• Assists with incorporating the 3R’s into the Behavioral Management program.
• Attends applicable training and workshops pertaining to lab animal enrichment/behavior; participates in on-site enrichment trainings and committees where required.
• Provides animal husbandry duties as required; Required weekend husbandry (or animal enrichment/ operant conditioning) rotation commitment.

Requirements

• High School/GED is required AND at least 3 years prior technical experience in laboratory animal science setting OR relevant degree in related discipline (biology, animal behavior, animal science, veterinary technology) with at least two years laboratory animal science experience.
• At least two years of animal husbandry/enrichment/ behavior/ training experience.
• Certification by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) at the Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician (ALAT) level; eligibility for LAT certification.
• Knowledge of basic regulatory requirements.
• Communication Skills – Ability to concisely communicate key issues to stakeholders.
• Analytical Skills – Ability to assess issues that arise, seek multiple perspectives, gather more information as needed, and identify key issues that need to be addressed.
• Computer Literacy – Basic competence of spreadsheets, word processing and email, and knowledge of computerized maintenance management systems and purchasing systems.

Compensation

The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.

Benefits

• paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick)
• medical/dental/vision insurance
• 401(k) to eligible employees
• short-term incentive programs participation

Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more: https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html