Animal Resources Supervisor

Animal Care Supervisor

The Research Support Animal Center is hiring an Animal Care Supervisor to lead daily operations within designated units of CLAMC. In this role, you will oversee husbandry and cage-wash activities, supervise and train animal care staff, and ensure the highest standards of animal welfare, facility operations, and regulatory compliance. You'll work closely with research and veterinary teams to support ongoing studies and maintain a safe, compliant environment for all species in our care. This position offers a MondayFriday schedule with rotational weekend coverage.

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas' resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That's where you come in.

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It's because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you'd expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you'll accrue!
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service)
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees' wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as...

• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!

Position Summary:

Supervises and coordinates husbandry personnel and operations within a unit(s) of the Center for Laboratory Animal Medicine and Care to ensure exemplary care for laboratory research animals by adhering to animal welfare guidelines and standards.

Position Key Accountabilities:

1. Coordinates and assigns work schedules for husbandry and/or cage wash staff to ensure balanced workloads and efficient work flow. Performs and assigns tasks to others in the routine husbandry and care of research and teaching animal colonies including identification, feeding, handling, cage sanitation, facility maintenance, housekeeping, animal conditioning and quarantine, and the containment of infectious colonies.

2. Interacts and coordinates with veterinary staff to ensure animal health and welfare; ensures adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

3. In cooperation with the CLAMC Training Coordinator schedules and oversees the training of new and existing employees in the husbandry and/or cage wash areas. May assist in training research scientists and research staff in animal research methodology and provides technical assistance and guidance.

4. Monitors and reports all variations of species standard temperature, ventilation and lighting in animal rooms and related areas, notifies appropriate people of problems with related equipment (water, heating/air conditioning systems), reports problems and implements changes to correct environmental deficiencies; interprets and ensures compliance with regulations of all laboratory species environmental guidelines as defined by Animal Welfare Act and the Guide.

5. Plans and coordinates housing needs and requirements with veterinarians, research scientists and staff. Consults with veterinarians, researchers and research staff about experiments involving animal use. Becomes familiar with animal use protocols within the area of responsibility.

6. Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations, and with institutional and department guidelines, policies, and procedures. Participates in IACUC inspections, AAALAC site visits, and other compliance visits.

7. Maintains and reviews a variety of records such as room logs, husbandry activities, census sheets, and time and attendance reports. Ensures that documentation completed by direct reports is accurate and complete. May review, develop or modify SOPs.

8. Responsible for direct reports in regards to training, professional development, mentoring, counseling and performance evaluations. Initiates disciplinary actions. Makes recommendations for recruiting and selection, hiring and termination.

9. Performs job duties of all subordinates when there is a lack of available personnel. May be required to drive CLAMC support vehicles.

10. This job classification is designated as "essential" at the UT Health Science Center at Houston. In case of an emergency, "essential" positions are those required to sustain clinical services and/or are responsible for the protection of university assets. Personnel in designated "essential" positions are expected to report to their designated work site during their appointed work schedules, even when the institution has been officially declared to be on "restricted access" or "closed" due to adverse conditions.

11. Performs other duties as assigned.

Certification/Skills:

Laboratory Animal Technologist (LATG) Certification from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) is required.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Minimum Experience:

Five (5) years of experience working in a research animal care facility or equivalent.

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 100 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 50 pounds frequently and/or up to 20 pounds constantly to move objects. This position may include work involving potentially hazardous chemical, biological or radioactive agents.

Security Sensitive:

This position is a security-sensitive position pursuant to Texas Education Code 51.215 and Texas Government Code 411.094. To the extent that a position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Texas Business and Commerce Code 117.001(2), the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired for and to continue to be employed in that position. Personnel in such positions, and similarly situated state contractors, will be routinely reviewed to determine whether things such as criminal history or continuous connections to the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary might prevent the applicant, employee, or contractor from being able to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure. A foreign adversary is a nation listed in 15 C.F.R. 791.4.

Residency Requirement:

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.