Animal Technician III

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.

Charles River Laboratories (CRL) is seeking an animal technician 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.

The technician has mastery of basic skills required to conduct a study, which include animal husbandry needs, animal handling / restraint, housing maintenance, feeding procedures;

collecting data, observing the animals for health status, body weight measurements; administering doses by various methods, conducting euthanasia, and / or biological specimen collections for analysis.

The technician is trained to perform above-named skills for multi-species and can support the training of basic technical skills to entry level staff.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Ensure good welfare and humane care for all animals, using gentle and positive human-animal interactions.
• Perform skills of the department including animal handling / restraint, housing maintenance, and feeding procedures; collecting data, observing the animals for health status, and body weight measurements;

administering doses by various methods, conducting euthanasia, and / or biological specimen collections for analysis. Specific skills will be based on each area’s training plan and business needs.

• Collect, document, review, and verify data on forms, or in electronic data capture systems.
• Consistently performs work on internal client studies and begins demonstrating independent work on external client studies.
• Performs training on basic non-invasive technical skills (e.g., husbandry, handling, etc.)
• Review documentation of functions performed as part of quality control requirements.
• Use and maintain instrumentation and equipment.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS :

• Education : High school diploma, General Education Degree (G.E.D.), preferred.
• Experience : At least 1 year of small and / or large animal in-vivo experience required. Experience with basic adult learning / training technique preferred.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the specific education and experience listed above.
• Certification / Licensure : ALAT required, LAT preferred. Must maintain continuing education that ensures AALAS certification registry is upheld.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities to achieve goals.
• Computer skills (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite), commensurate with essential functions, use of Microsoft Suite Office products.
• Ability to ensure that a safe working environment is maintained by observing all safety procedures and working methods by making proper use of protective clothing and equipment, and by reading, understanding, and following all safety documents issued or notified of.
• Ability to ensure the integrity of the studies and fulfill the regulatory agencies requirements by performing the activities according to the Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Business Operating Procedures (BOP) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) rules.
• Ability to work extended hours beyond normal work schedule to include, but not limited to evenings, weekends, extended shifts, and / or extra shifts, sometimes on short notice.
• Ability to work under specific time constraints.

The pay range for this position is $23 / hour. Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, certifications, and location.

Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, certifications, and location.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS :

Employees must be able to lift, move, manipulate, and / or hold heavy objects up to and including 50 pounds; this includes work materials, equipment, and / or animals.

Must be able to perform laboratory procedures, which require, talking, hearing, standing, or sitting for long periods of time, entering data into a computer, using appropriate instruments, reaching with hands and arms, working in narrow spaces, and wearing safety equipment (PPE) according to OSHA regulations and company standards.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT :

Work in a research environment, which requires use of sharp objects, working around mechanical parts, working with or near known or unknown toxic or caustic chemicals and / or biological hazards, exposure to fumes and airborne particles, working at noise levels ranging from moderate to loud.

The employee regularly works with live animals with risk of exposure to allergens, zoonotic disease, and biohazards.

The noise level in the work environment ranges from low to high depending upon the species housed.

COMMENTS :

This position requires overtime, weekend, holiday, and / or after hours shift coverage, as needed.

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 supported the development of 86% of the drugs approved by the FDA in 2021.