Biobank Technician

Position Title

Biobank Technician I

IGHER - Biobank Program

Biobank Head

Kigali with possible travel to research sites and sample collection locations

Two-year contract with possible extension

The Biobank Technician I – Sample Processing is responsible for supporting the collection, receipt, processing, aliquoting, labeling, storage preparation, and quality control of biological specimens collected from clinical trials, population-based research studies, and other biomedical research projects.

The position ensures that all biological samples are handled, processed, and stored according to approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP), Good Clinical Practice (GCP), biosafety requirements, and biobank quality standards.

The Biobank Technician I works closely with Clinical Research Coordinators, Principal Investigators, laboratory personnel, data management teams, and research partners to ensure specimen integrity, traceability, and compliance throughout the research lifecycle.

• Receive, process, label, aliquot, store, retrieve, and prepare biological specimens for shipment according to approved SOPs.
• Maintain accurate sample identification, tracking, chain-of-custody, and inventory records.
• Conduct routine quality checks, document deviations, and support CAPA, audits, and continuous quality improvement.
• Operate and maintain laboratory equipment, including centrifuges, biosafety cabinets, refrigerators, freezers, and pipettes.
• Maintain biosafety, GCLP/GCP, confidentiality, and laboratory safety standards.
• Monitor laboratory supplies and report equipment or operational issues.
• Collaborate with clinical, laboratory, data management, and research teams to support clinical trials and research projects.

• Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical/Medical Laboratory Sciences, Biotechnology, Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, or a related field.

• Minimum 2 years of laboratory experience, preferably involving human biological specimens in research, clinical trials, hospitals, or diagnostic laboratories.
• Skills:
  
  Knowledge of sample processing, biosafety, laboratory quality standards, documentation, and basic laboratory information systems; good computer skills.
• Preferred Training: GCLP, GCP, biosafety, and research ethics certification/training.

UGHE is a new kind of university focused on training the next generation of global leaders in health care delivery. The university launched in Rwanda in September 2015. Through an academic experience uniquely rooted in the values of equity, students are empowered to both ease suffering at the bedside and drive transformational, systemic changes to the health system.

UGHE is an initiative of Partners In Health (PIH), an internationally recognized non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. In over nearly three decades of operating alongside public sectors in countries around the world, PIH has developed a model to deliver high quality healthcare to some of the world’s most marginalized communities.

Nowhere has this impact been more profound than in Rwanda, where Inshuti Mu Buzima-PIH’s sister organization and our government partners have driven innovation for a decade.

Members of the UGHE community are tenacious and resolute in our drive to attain social justice, make common cause with those in need, listen to and learn from others, and operate with honesty and humility as we uphold academic integrity and intellectual curiosity. The University of Global Health Equity seeks individuals committed to these values to join the team.