Onsite Public Health Microbiologist – Emergency Response

State of Washington; Shoreline (WA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Washington State Department of Health Public Health Laboratories in Shoreline, WA, seeks Microbiologist 1/2 for full-time onsite work in an Emergency Response Laboratory. One 7-month temporary and one permanent position are available, with the team supporting high-consequence pathogen surveillance and rapid outbreak response.

You will perform culture-based and molecular detection, participate in QA/QC, data entry, and cross-training to address evolving health threats.

Qualifications

• Two (2) or more years of microbiology/molecular lab experience for Microbiologist 1.
• Bachelor degree in a relevant science with microbiology coursework for Microbiologist 1.
• Four (4) or more years for Microbiologist 2, with related lab experience.
• Background checks and immunization considerations as part of job requirements.

Responsibilities

• Prepare environmental and clinical specimens for analysis.
• Perform DNA/RNA extraction, qPCR, and related methods.
• Support emergency response testing and pathogen/toxin detection.
• Maintain QA/QC activities and equipment calibration.
• Train other microbiologists and assist with data management.

Skills

Microbiology

Molecular biology

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

qPCR

MALDI-TOF

Time Resolved Fluorescence

Next Generation Sequencing

Job description

Washington State Department of Health Public Health Laboratories in Shoreline, WA, seeks Microbiologist 1/2 for full-time onsite work in an Emergency Response Laboratory. One 7-month temporary and one permanent position are available, with the team supporting high-consequence pathogen surveillance and rapid outbreak response.

You will perform culture-based and molecular detection, participate in QA/QC, data entry, and cross-training to address evolving health threats.