School of Medicine:

Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation’s top medical schools. Ranked tenth among its peers, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where traditional barriers are low, interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced, and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve humanhealth locally and around the globe.

Comprised of 2,400 faculty physicians and researchers, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing and Duke University Health System create Duke Health. Duke Health is a world-class health care network. Founded in 1998 to provide efficient, responsive care, the health system offers a full network of health services and encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Primary Care, Private Diagnostic Clinic, Duke Home and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

Provide husbandry to laboratory animals, maintain animal inventory records and Animal Husbandry and Room Maintenance Records, and perform facility sanitation in animal facilities. Work schedules are assigned by the Facility Manager or his/her designee for that specific animal facility. This position requires weekend and holiday work hours, and involves daily exposure to laboratory animals and their waste products.

The following duties are performed daily under management supervision:

1. Perform daily work involving the handling of conventional and genetically engineered animal models with immunocompromised health status, animals recovering from surgery or other invasive procedures, neonates etc.
2. Perform duties within various animal biosafety levels.
3. Change cages or pens following aseptic and conventional technique and assures animals are not contaminated when outside of their primary enclosure. Maintain animal rooms (secondary enclosures) and facility hallways in a clean state so that secondary infections or other contamination do not occur. Animal room and hallway maintenance should include sanitation monitoring performed by taking bacterial cultures or RODAC plating.
4. Sanitize animal facility equipment including the use of tunnel washers, rack washers, automatic watering systems and autoclaves for sterilization. Operate cage washer, autoclave and other animal facility equipment. Assemble caging supplies with properly sterilized feed (previously irradiated or autoclaved) and water (acid ified, autoclaved, or reverse osmosis) in a manner that assures that they remain sterile through the handling process.
5. Evaluate animal's health each day and report abnormal clinical signs to the veterinary staff. Perform treatments as prescribed by the veterinary staff and report progress of therapies. Provide specialized technical assistance (dosing,tissue procurement, necropsies, and treatments) to veterinarians and investigators.
6. Perform weanings when requested by researcher or staff assuring that each animal's sex is accurately determined and that females and males are properly separated. Palpate breeding animals to determine if females are pregnant and separates them prior to parturition.
7. Record critical facility data/documentation on a daily basis as required by local, state, and federal regulatory agencies overseeing how animals are cared for and used in research, teaching, and education.
8. Track progress of neonates and determine when animals should be weaned; report to the PI and the facility manager and check in animals when weanings are scheduled to occur; monitor and document cages that are overcrowded due to multiple litters in one cage, too many adults in a single cage or animals that are beyond nursing age.
9. Receive and process incoming animals and supplies in the absence of the Facility Manager or designee.
10. Participate in animal quarantine and health surveillance programs for the facility. Adhere to containment practices in the event of an infectious pathogen outbreak or when working in biocontainment facilities.
11. Use current technology including PDAs and bar code scanning applications to record daily cage census, animal health observations, weaned cages, and other important management practices.
12. Report facility and environmental issues that fall outside animal welfare regulatory requirements (as defined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals) to Facility Manager or designee. Assist the Facility Manager or designee with in coming animals and supplies.
13. Implement environmental enrichment program intended to minimize animal stress in the research setting.
14. Perform routine euthanasia on laboratory animals according to the American Veterinary Medical Associations (AVMA ) Panel on Euthanasia.
15. Provide guidance and training to new animal technicians.
16. Attend technician meetings and training sessions on all aspects of laboratory animal care and uses of animals in biomedical research as scheduled by the supervisory staff.
17. Work weekends and holidays as assigned.
18. Comply with Duke Policies and standard operating procedures.

Work requires a high school diploma or equivalent. ALAT certification must be obtainedwithin 18 months of employment. Must have a valid driver license

Some experience in the care and handling of animals preferred.

ALAT certification must be obtained within 18 months of employment.

Duke University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.