Research Animal Specialist - Cagewash

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The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.

Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.

A Research Animal Specialist 3 provides all the animal husbandry, facility maintenance, sanitization, health and welfare monitoring duties of a RAS 1 and 2. In addition to RAS1/2 technical duties the RAS 3 position serves as a group lead for the area of work assignment.

In this role, the RAS 3 should check‑in and reassign work for their area work group and serve as mentor for newly assigned technicians in the area. Additional technical responsibilities include providing research support services, performing complex or non‑standard husbandry requests, maintenance of facility and animal medical records, and ensuring compliance standards are followed within the CCM animal facilities.

All Research Animal Specialists are required to work in a team environment following Lean Management principles and participate in continuous improvement and problem‑solving projects. This position involves daily exposure to laboratory animals, their waste products, and possibly chemical agents, radioactive isotopes and ASBL2 hazards.

Rotating weekend and holiday work hours are required.

• Able to perform all duties and responsibilities of a Research Animal Specialist 1 and 2 (Please reference RAS 1 and 2 job description for detailed descriptions of each topic).
• Performs Facility Cage Wash Operations:
  Assures monthly autoclave validations are completed, supervise and schedule cagewash team tasks and reallocate task assignments as required, clean and sanitize animal caging and accessory equipment, troubleshoot and maintain equipment and perform routine repairs on caging and racks, and train cagewash staff on performing routine repairs and maintenance.
• Ensure the routine cleaning, descaling, and preventative maintenance on the cage washers and autoclaves. Schedule PMs with vendors.
• Provides Facility Maintenance and Sanitization.
• Performs Facility Support Functions: orders and receives facility supplies, monitors material replenishment systems, keeps cage slip supplies stocked, submits routine work requests/tickets through the appropriate BWH applications and/or vendors, coordinates daily with cage wash technicians ensuring all RAS staff have adequate supplies available, prepares, submits, and maintains required cage wash records, charts, logs, and inventories as requested.
• Authorized hands‑on trainer for CCM cagewash operations: works with the CCM Training Program Manager to provide training to new and transferred facility staff on facility procedures and SOPs; new hire training, SOP proficiency review, SOP training (new and/or revised), safety training, remedial/refresher training, hands‑on training, updates employee training files to document trainings and proficiency review; serves as subject matter expert for cagewash.
• Responsible for the creation, validation and maintenance of visual controls within the facility.
• Interact with all personnel and outside entities with excellent and professional oral and written communication.
• Help evaluate SOP drafts.
• Comply with CCM and BWH policies and standard operating procedures.
• Work holidays and weekends as assigned.
• All other duties as assigned.

• Performs Animal Husbandry Tasks: supervise animal care tasks within a portion of the facility and reassign task assignments as required; work with team to address non‑standard husbandry requests; assist in importation/quarantine, isolation, and housing of animals in the BWH facilities with any special health concerns to protect the health of other colony animals; perform containment and monitoring duties in the case of infection or disease health…