Animal Support Technician I

Charles River Laboratories; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus incentives

401K

Paid time off

Stock purchase program

Health and wellness coverage

Wellbeing support programs

Work life balance flexibility

Job summary

Charles River Insourcing Solutions seeks an Animal Support Technician I to join the Bethesda-based team on the NIH campus. You will maintain the health, production and environment of client lab animal facilities and perform daily animal care and husbandry, including cage changes and sanitation.

Responsibilities include record-keeping of breeding, health and housing data, assisting with restraint and handling of animal species, and following safety procedures for housing areas.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree (A.A/A.S) in biology, animal science or related with a minimum of 6 months' animal handling experience required.
• Bachelor's degree (B.A./B.S.) in biology, animal science or related field no experience required.
• AALAS certification at the ALAT level preferred.
• Must have valid driver's license and reliable transportation.

Responsibilities

• Maintain health, production and environment within client lab animal facilities.
• Perform animal care and husbandry, cage changes and sanitation.
• Record animal breeding, health and housing data.
• Assist with restraint, handling and manipulation of various animal species.
• Follow procedures to maintain housing areas and sanitation; access control and PPE use.
• Listener for incoming animals, cage wash duties, and general housekeeping.
• Floater role supporting NIH Bethesda site with potential work at Poolesville, Gaithersburg, Baltimore or DC.

Skills

Animal care experience

Record-keeping

Observation skills

Driver's license

Education

Associate's degree in biology/animal science

Bachelor's degree in biology/animal science

AALAS ALAT certification (preferred)

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 an Animal Support Technician to join our Insourcing Solutions team.

The Animal Support Technician I will maintain and monitor the health, production and physical environment within multiple client's lab animal facilities. Perform animal care and husbandry, to include daily equipment checks; providing appropriate food and water; performing cage changing and/or cage cleaning; cage wash duties and sanitation. Provide environmental enrichment appropriate to species.

Additional responsibilities include:

• Maintain accurate records of animal breeding, health, and housing/isolator or support areas.
• Record animal health concerns and administer treatment as prescribed.
• Animal care may include a variety of species.
• Assist with restraint, handling and manipulation of various animal species as assigned by the on-site supervisor or facility/attending veterinarian.
• Follow all procedures necessary to properly maintain animal housing areas, including room or facility personnel entry; personnel protective equipment use, and sanitation/decontamination of equipment and materials.
• Receive, inspect and house incoming animals.
• Operate equipment and use supplies according to safety guidelines; perform general housekeeping and adhere to safety procedures.
• Sanitize, maintain, and repair caging materials as directed. Maintain cage wash facilities in a clean and organized manner.
• This is a floater role that provides support to IS clients in Bethesda on the NIH campus. It may also be tasked with supporting sites in Poolesville, Gaithersburg, Baltimore, or DC. Most of the support will be in Bethesda.

Job Qualifications

To qualify for this role candidates must have one of the following combinations of education/experience:

• Associate's degree (A.A/A.S) in biology, animal science or related with a minimum of 6 months' animal handling experience required.
• Bachelor's degree (B.A./B.S.) in biology, animal science or related field no experience required.
• AALAS certification at the Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician level (ALAT) preferred.
• Must have valid driver's license and reliable transportation.

The pay for this position is $20.32 USD 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 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.