Senior Animal Care Technician

The Senior Animal Care Technician is a key member of the vivarium operations team. This position will perform advanced husbandry and technical tasks and serve as a lead resource for the vivarium team. In addition to mastering all duties associated with ACT I and II, this role combines hands-on daily animal care with specialized expertise in room-level colony management, complex health monitoring, and the intake of new animal arrivals.

Responsibilities

Perform and oversee daily husbandry for research animals (rodents), including cage changing, bedding and enrichment, feed and water provision; Room cleaning and rack/equipment sanitation according to SOPs; Perform routine animal observations and basic measurements, including weighing animals; Changing or providing special/experimental diets, medicated feed, and water treatments as directed; Conduct and review daily health and welfare checks and escalate concerns to veterinary and supervisory staff; Maintain species-appropriate environmental conditions; Assist with and coordinate animal receipt, identification, housing assignments, and transfers; Operate and perform routine care on cage-wash machines, autoclaves, and related equipment; Adhere to biosafety and biosecurity procedures; Plan, set up, and monitor rodent breeding schemes; Perform timely weaning, sexing, and identification of pups; Collect tissue samples for genotyping; Coordinate submission of genotyping samples to external vendors; Record breeding events, litters, weaning, animal assignments, and genotyping results in colony management software; Maintain accurate genotype and lineage records; Support investigators in ensuring timely availability of correctly genotyped animals; Accurately document all relevant activities; Support institutional health surveillance programs; Follow IACUC-approved protocols, SOPs, and institutional guidelines; Communicate clearly and promptly with veterinary staff, Vivarium manager, and research personnel; Collaborate with colleagues to coordinate daily and weekly work assignments

Requirements

Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, Biology, Laboratory Animal Science, or a related field (or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience); Minimum 6+ years of hands-on rodent vivarium experience in an industry setting (biotech, pharma, CRO, or other fast-paced, highly regulated research environment); Demonstrated proficiency with daily husbandry, health monitoring, environmental checks, and weighing of animals; Rodent breeding, weaning, and sexing; Collection of samples for genotyping and management of resulting data; Implementing and documenting special diets or medicated feed/water as directed; Strong attention to detail, organization, and documentation skills, including electronic recordkeeping; Ability to work collaboratively in a team-based, SOP-driven environment, including participation in weekend/holiday rotations as required.

Nice to have

AALAS certification (ALAT, LAT, or higher) or equivalent; Experience using colony management software such as SoftMouse, Mosaic, or similar tools for tracking breeding, genotyping, and animal use; Familiarity with AAALAC accreditation standards and IACUC processes