Vivarium Support Technician (Cage Wash)

Charles River; Kansas; On-site; USD 22,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

Charles River Laboratories is seeking a Vivarium Support Technician (cage wash) to join the ITox team at the Kansas City site. The role involves maintaining clean housing for laboratory animals, supporting cage wash operations, and assisting with sample preparation to enable study activity completion.

No prior experience is required, but candidates should be able to communicate effectively and work extended hours, including evenings and weekends.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or GED preferred.
• No prior experience required.
• Ability to communicate clearly in writing and speaking.

Responsibilities

• Clean and sanitize animal cages and related items.
• Operate and monitor automated cage wash machines.
• Prepare housing for new animals and assist with receiving animals.
• Report equipment repair needs to appropriate personnel.
• Maintain a clean and organized cage wash area and storage space.
• Perform basic animal care duties as assigned.
• Handle and distribute husbandry supplies as needed.

Skills

Problem solving

Communication

Flexible hours

Teamwork

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 Overview

Charles River Laboratories (CRL) is seeking a Vivarium Support Technician (cage wash) to join our Integrated Toxicology (ITox) team at the Kansas City (CR-KAN) Site. This site is the first of its kind, bridging CRL’s Discovery and Safety Assessment business units, while bringing automation to standard lead optimization toxicology study models to deliver rapid study results to our clients. When you join, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe.

The pay range for this position is $19 USD/hour.

Job Description

A Vivarium Support Technician is responsible for assisting in vivarium operations activities which facilitate clean housing and care for laboratoryanimals. Also responsible for helping assist in the preparation of materials which enable study activity completion.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Clean and sanitize animal cages and related environmental items.
• Perform daily routine maintenance checks on the automated cage wash machines.
• Prepares appropriate housing for receipt of new animals; may assist with receivinganimals.
• Report the need for equipment repair (cages, racks, cagewash machines, etc.) to theappropriate personnel.
• Sanitize floors, walls and other surfaces in the automatic cage wash area and in otherareas of the lab.
• Maintain a clean cage wash area.
• Maintain storage area in an organized fashion.
• Complete animal care technical duties such as changing liners and sanitizing animalroom walls and floors.
• Receive, store, and distribute animal husbandry supplies.
• Perform limited troubleshooting and calibration of instruments as appropriate forassigned area.
• Prepare environmental enrichment items (edible and durable).
• Operate basic lab equipment and perform routine maintenance as needed.
• Prepare study and colony supplies as needed.

Qualifications:

• Education: High School diploma or General Education Degree (G.E.D) preferred.
• Experience: No experience necessary
• Demonstrated ability to problem solve, make quick decisions, communicate decisionseffectively.
• Ability to communicate verbally and in writing at all levels inside and outside theorganization.
• Ability to work extended hours beyond normal work schedule to include, but not limitedto evenings, weekends, extended shifts, and/or extra shifts; sometimes on short notice
• Ability to work under specific time constraints.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS :

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear,and lift.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job regularly requires close vision and the abilityto adjust focus.
• Must be able to regularly lift and manipulate up to 50 pounds on a repetitive basis eachday.
• Must be able to regularly manipulate objects on shelves from one and one-half to sixand one-half feet above the floor on a repetitive basis each day.
• Must be able to use a broom and mop to sanitize floors on a repetitive basis each day.
• Must be able to regularly push wheeled carts weighing up to 800 pounds on acontinuous basis each day.
• Duties require regular standing for an average of eight hours a day.
• Must be able to regularly read, understand, and follow written procedures.
• Must be able to occasionally work in spaces as narrow as 2 feet in width.

WORK ENVIRONMENT :

• The noise level in the work environment is moderate to high. Noise protection devicesare provided for use in the cage wash area.
• Must be able to regularly endure wet, humid, and hot conditions.
• Must be able to wear a respirator where required by OSHA regulations.
• Works near or with caustic chemicals.
• Regularly exposed to rodent dander.
• The employee is occasionally exposed to live animals with risk of exposure to allergens,zoonotic disease, and biohazards.

About Safety Assessment
Charles River is committed to helping our partners expedite their preclinical drug development with exceptional safety assessment services, state-of-the-art facilities and expert regulatory guidance. From individual specialty toxicology and IND enabling studies to tailored packages and total laboratory support, our deeply experienced team can design and execute programs that anticipate challenges and avoid roadblocks for a smooth, efficient journey to market. Each year approximately 300 investigational new drug (IND) programs are conducted in our Safety Assessment facilities.

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.

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.

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