The Center for Comparative Medicine (CCM) ensures the health and well-being of research animals at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). CCM provides the highest quality animal care and acts as a resource for the faculty on veterinary and scientific issues relating to the use of laboratory animals. CCM is seeking a competent and reliable Manager of Animal Care to oversee daily husbandry activities in the ABBR animal facility in the Texas Medical Center. This position is responsible for managing husbandry staff and vivarium operations for a rodent only facility. Standard CCM hours are Monday – Friday, 7am to 4pm. Managers are on call for weekends and holidays on a rotational basis. After hours, weekend, or holiday work may be required in emergency situations. Coverage during weather related storms may be required as well.
Job Duties
- Manage husbandry staff and vivarium operations for a rodent only facility with 3,000 + cages and 8 full-time staff members.
- Maintain and update work schedules – update and maintain weekly work schedules and extra side duties for care staff and cage wash staff, including weekend schedules.
- Responsible for supervision and performance management of direct reports.
- Hold team meetings, organize team building activities, and conduct refresher trainings on a regular basis.
- Maintain safety and ensure that the facility remains in compliance with all local, state, and federal regulations.
- Perform a weekly walk through with supervisor and lead to ensure work schedules and policies and procedures are being followed.
- Perform a weekly walk through to ensure the facility is in a clean, organized, and professional appearance. Areas include bio-hazard, rodent immunocompetent ,and immunodeficient areas.
- Train new hires on CCM policies and procedures and ensure continued training of staff.
- Formulate short and long-term goals for the operation of the vivarium, including setting priorities, assigning responsibilities, and establishing timetables.
- Maintain constant and reliable communication with staff, researchers, and CCM leadership.
- Hold weekly staff meetings and other meetings as needed to review trainings and policies.
- Address any animal, staff/vet staff, and research personnel concerns in a confident and professional manner.
- Maintain a positive and cooperative relationship with all employees.
- Responsible for accurate and timely creation of documents regarding training, environmental parameters, and animal health monitoring.
- Oversee, maintain inventory, and manage procurement and proper storage of husbandry supplies/consumables.
- Schedule and perform facility tours with new research personnel.
- Manage and oversee daily operations of cage wash facilities.
- Ensure SOP compliance by all CCM employees and researcher staff and immediately report deviations to management.
- Ensure that all equipment is operational and schedule on-going preventative maintenance and repairs.
- Responsible for maintaining documentation pertaining to IACUC, OLAW, and AAALAC. Provide mentorship and leadership to all team members.
- CCM staff are responsible for attending monthly all staff meetings, safety trainings, facility staff meetings, TAR trainings, and reviewing CCM SOPs as required. Ensures adherence to standard operating procedures and industry standards. Ensures compliance with all applicable regulations. Interacts and coordinates with veterinary staff to assure health and welfare of animals. Maintain and provide reports on facility function, personal issues, inventory, data collection, and room/animal logs and record.
- Perform other job-related duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree. Four years of relevant experience may substitute for degree requirement.
- Four years of relevant experience.
- Laboratory Animal Technologist (LATG) by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS).
Preferred Qualifications
- Able to build a logical approach to address problems or be willing to call on other resources as necessary.
- Able to work cooperatively with others to accomplish mission objectives.
- Able to promote collaboration and partnerships with research staff and CCM staff.
- Able to maintain good channels of communication; effectively provides verbal communication and exhibits good listening skills; provides concise, complete, and professional information to others.
- Must have a solid understanding of laboratory animal laws, regulations, and IACUC policies.
- Proficient rodent handling skills.
- Strong understanding of automated cage wash equipment.
