Senior Animal Technician

About the department
Our US Research & Development (R&D) hub, located in the Greater Boston area, brings together the best talent to drive life science innovation, from early research through late-stage clinical development. By combining the speed and agility of biotech with the quality, resources, and stability of a large pharmaceutical company, our US R&D hub will benefit from the best of both worlds to develop new medicines that meet the needs of patients.
Global Discovery and Development Sciences (GDDS) Boston, part of the US R&D hub, is building a new state-of-the art animal care facility in Lexington to support our growing in vivo pharmacology activities.
The Position
Responsible for providing a high level of animal care and husbandry, coordinating and performing regularly scheduled facility maintenance tasks, and contributing technical assistance to research projects in the NNRC rodent facility. Serves as leader among Animal Technicians and provides some supervision, guidance, and training of junior staff.
Relationships
Reports to Manager, Animal Research. Internal relationships include working with Animal Technicians, Attending Veterinarian, Lab Operations Specialist, Research Technicians, Research Associates and Research Scientists locally and globally.
Essential Functions

• Animal Husbandry:
  • Coordinates with investigators and performs colony management
  • Coordinates with investigators on ordering, receiving, and housing of incoming animals
  • Maintains and updates animal colony database
  • Performs and records daily animal health and welfare observations
  • Performs and records daily food and water checks
  • Performs and troubleshoots breeding, weaning and genotyping
  • Performs clinical treatments with guidance from Veterinarian
  • Prepares clean cages and changes soiled cages as scheduled
  • Washes and sanitizes caging and accessories as needed
  • Assists in development and refinement of SOPs
  • Supports compliance in relation to IACUC approved protocols, established industry guidelines and standards and facility related SOPs and policies.
• Facility Support:
  • Supports vivarium programs, including microbiological and environmental monitoring, sentinel, clinical care, pest control, etc.
• Facility Maintenance:
  • Cleans, sanitizes and sterilizes laboratory surfaces, equipment and supplies as scheduled
  • Coordinates with Research Operations group and building engineers for facility related issues
  • Interacts with vendors for troubleshooting, repairs, and scheduled preventative maintenance
  • Observes and records facility environmental conditions
  • Orders, receives, and maintains adequate stock of animal care and research supplies
  • Performs preventative maintenance on laboratory equipment
  • Provides some supervision and training of junior staff

• Technical Assistance:
  • Administers basic injections
  • Performs animal identification
  • Performs basic tissue/organ harvests
  • Performs post-procedural monitoring
  • Performs sample and data collection
  • Performs animal weights

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years ' working with rodents in a laboratory animal facility required (SPF-barrier is preferred).
• High School Diploma or equivalent
• AALAS certified as LAT or ability to obtain within first year preferred
• Ability to review comprehend and comply with all standard operation procedures (SOPs) and quality assurance standards pertaining to laboratory animals
• An attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and genuine care for animals
• Familiarity with AAALAC accreditation standards is preferred
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite
• Must be able to work weekends and occasional holidays
• Proficiency in rodent husbandry, genetics, anatomy, and technical procedures/techniques
• Some experience in supervising others

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.
At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we're life changing.
Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.
If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.