Animal Care - Cagewash Floater

Charles River Laboratories; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 26,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Charles River Laboratories in Bethesda, MD is seeking an entry-level Animal Caretaker / Cagewash Floater to join the Insourcing Solutions team. This role supports multiple functional areas, performing cage washing, sanitation, and animal housing maintenance.

You will learn SOPs, assist with inventory, and help monitor animal health and welfare while supporting breeding and care tasks as needed. The position offers a pathway to ALAT certification within 1–2 years.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED preferred.
• Basic knowledge of cleaning agents, disinfectants and sterilization is a plus.
• Experience with cagewash operations is preferred but not required.
• Animal husbandry experience is a plus; willingness to learn is essential.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without a sponsor visa, now or in the future.
• Must be successful in obtaining the ALAT certification within 1–2 years of eligibility.

Responsibilities

• Follow SOPs and quality assurance standards.
• Perform routine cleaning, sanitization, and maintenance of cages, equipment, and animal housing areas.
• Operate and perform basic preventative maintenance on cagewash and autoclave equipment.
• Maintain organized, clean cagewash and animal holding facilities.
• Assist with inventory tasks, including receiving, stocking, and maintaining supplies.
• Crosstrain in Animal Care responsibilities and health checks.
• Provide food and water and monitor consumption.
• Document daily observations and report health concerns.
• Assist with safe handling and restraint of animals for routine procedures.
• Receive, inspect, and properly house incoming animals.
• Support breeding and weaning activities, as needed.

Skills

Cagewash operations

Health & welfare checks

Quality standards

Inventory assistance

Willingness to learn

ALAT certification readiness

Work authorization in US

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we'll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

Job Summary

We are seeking a motivated and dependable Animal Caretaker / Cagewash Floater to join our Insourcing Solutions team. This entry-level role supports multiple functional areas, helping ensure the health and well-being of research animals while maintaining clean and compliant facilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) and quality assurance standards.

• Perform routine cleaning, sanitization, and maintenance of cages, equipment, and animal housing areas.

• Operate and perform basic preventative maintenance on cagewash and autoclave equipment.

• Maintain organized, clean cagewash and animal holding facilities.

• Assist with inventory tasks, including receiving, stocking, and maintaining supplies.

• Crosstrain in Animal Care responsibilities, including:

• Conducting daily health and welfare checks.

• Providing food and water and monitoring consumption.

• Performing cage cleaning and cage changes.

• Documenting daily observations and reporting health concerns.

• Assist with safe handling and restraint of animals for routine procedures (e.g., injections).

• Receive, inspect, and properly house incoming animals.

• Support breeding and weaning activities, as needed.

Job Qualifications

To qualify for this role you must have the following:

• High school diploma or GED preferred.

• Basic knowledge of cleaning agents, disinfectants, and sterilization/sanitization techniques is a plus.

• Experience with cagewash operations is preferred but not required.

• Animal husbandry experience is a plus; willingness to learn is essential.

• Must be authorized to work in the United States without a sponsor visa, now or in the future.

• Must be successful in obtaining the ALAT (Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician) certification within 1-2 years of eligibility.

The pay range for this position is $22.50 per hour.

About Insourcing Solutions

Charles River Insourcing Solutions can streamline research by delivering operational and cost efficiencies through the strategic insourcing of GMP, GLP and non-GLP research services from discovery through safety assessment. Insourcing Solutions provides you with the ability to maintain control of your facility and expertise while leveraging available space.

About Charles River

Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients' clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client's unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people's lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

We're committed to providing benefits that elevate your quality of life. Based on your position these may include: bonus/incentives based on performance, 401K, paid time off, stock purchase program, Health and wellness coverage, employee and family wellbeing support programs, and work life balance flexibility.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, family status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

It is unlawful in some states (including Massachusetts) to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

If you are interested in applying to Charles River Laboratories and need special assistance or an accommodation due to a disability to complete any forms or to otherwise participate in the resume submission process, please contact a member of our Human Resources team by sending an e-mail message to [e-mail]. This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

For more information, please visit www.criver.com.