Veterinary Technician

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.

Job Overview

We are looking for a Veterinary Technician (Levels I, II) to join our Insourcing Solutions team located in Poolesville, MD. (See qualifications for each level)

In the Veterinary Technician (Levels I, II) role, you will assist with all activities required for supporting and maintaining the site animal colonies and Animal Study Protocols in support of the research program. Care for and maintain lab animals in accordance with all guidelines, policies, and regulations to ensure their health and welfare.


Additional responsibilities include:

• Reviews, comprehends, and participates in the development of all SOP's and quality assurance standards pertaining to specific area. Cares for and maintains laboratory animals in accordance with Animal Welfare Act and the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, as well as, NIH policies and Guidelines and other pertinent regulations and policies.
• Communicate with animal care staff, co-workers, veterinary staff, supervisors, PI, and collaborators.
• Provides veterinary technical and surgical support for NHPs (e.g. animal handling and restraint, collect blood and other tissues samples, perform injections, treatments, surgical preparation, pre-, peri-, and post-operative observations, anesthesia, intubations, placement of indwelling catheters, femoral, and necropsy).
• Provides research support to investigators via Technical Request forms.
• Operates and maintains a variety of medical equipment (e.g. blood gas analyzer, CBC machine, x-ray, anesthetic machines, EKG monitors, blood pressure recorders, IV pumps, surgical and dentistry instruments, irradiator and sterilizers).
• Arranges, cleans and maintains procedure, treatment, and necropsy/procedure rooms.
• Quality Control of treatment and procedure rooms including cleaning, supplies, and monitoring expirations dates.

Responsibilities continued

• Calculate drug dosages and administration frequencies.
• Provides research support to investigators via Technical Request forms.
• Accurately maintain electronic medical records and update treatment plans.
• Monitors the environment and provides animal health surveillance as directed by facility veterinarian.
• Assists in the maintenance and detailed documentation of accurate surgical, anesthetic and treatment procedures in the animal medical records and files. Assists in keeping medical records and files current through timely placement of information and supporting documents.
• Quality Control of treatment and procedure rooms including cleaning, supplies, and monitoring expirations dates.
• Provides limited support to the nonhuman primate environmental enrichment and psychological well-being plan, as needed in the absence of Behavioral staff.
• Maintains and operates equipment and uses supplies according to SOPs and safety guidelines; performs general housekeeping and adheres to safety procedures. Complies with safety policies and procedures and MSDS guidelines, including those related to biohazards and radioactive substances.
• Actively interacts with customers as required to solve customer requests, inquiries, and complaints and to provide technical assistance.
• Maintains required attendance levels and adherence to work schedule in accordance with required staffing levels in order to ensure that assigned duties are completed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications

Level I

• Education: All candidates must possess a high school diploma or GED.

In addition, to qualify you must meet at least ONE of the following requirements:

• AA in Veterinary Technology.
• 2-3 years' experience working with animals in biomedical research or companion veterinary medicine.
• AALAS certification at the Laboratory Animal Technician (LAT) level.

Level II

• Education: HS diploma or general education degree (GED) required. BS degree in Animal Science, Biology or similar, discipline or AA in Veterinary Technology preferred.
• Experience: 3-5 years' experience working with animals (in biomedical research preferred), of which 1 year must be with non-human primates
• Certification/Licensure: Eligible to take the AALAS Laboratory Animal Technician (LATG) certification.

The pay range for this position is $28.00 to $33.00 USD per hour . Please note the range covers levels I - II, salary will depend on level, in addition to factors such as experience, skills, and certification.


Physical Demands & Work Environment

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee frequently is required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is occasionally required to sit.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to laboratory animal caging (non-human primates) and is regularly exposed to warm and/or humid conditions and chemicals.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• The employee works in various weather conditions.

About Insourcing Solutions Charles River Insourcing Solutions℠ can streamline research by delivering operational and cost efficiencies through the strategic insourcing of GMP, GLP and non-GLP research services from discovery through safety assessment. Insourcing Solutions℠ provides you with the ability to maintain control of your facility and expertise while leveraging available space.

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 worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

We're committed to providing benefits that elevate your quality of life. Based on your position these may include: bonus/incentives based on performance, 401K, paid time off, stock purchase program, Health and wellness coverage, employee and family wellbeing support programs, and work life balance flexibility.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, family status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

It is unlawful in some states (including Massachusetts) to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

If you are interested in applying to Charles River Laboratories and need special assistance or an accommodation due to a disability to complete any forms or to otherwise participate in the resume submission process, please contact a member of our Human Resources team by sending an e-mail message to View email address on click.appcast.io. This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

For more information, please visit

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