Senior Technician

Department Research Resources

Category Research and Laboratory

Job Type Full-Time

The Laboratory Animal Resource (LAR) group at Princeton University is a centralized administrative department reporting to the Office of the Dean for Research and is responsible for animal and veterinary care of all research animals at Princeton University. The Animal Technician provides state‑of‑the‑art animal care for laboratory animals housed within all facilities. Animal Care Technicians are considered essential services staff.

The primary responsibility is to provide animal care to the various laboratory species (rodents, aquatics, and USDA‑covered species), the majority will be in the care of rodents. The Animal Technician ensures the cleanliness of the facility and the maintenance of adequate supplies of food and bedding materials, including PPE. The Animal Technician will work together with other technicians according to a schedule prepared by the LAR Manager and must be willing and able to rotate through all LAR facilities.

The Animal Technician ensures the highest quality of laboratory animal care and research support, and has good communication skills with co‑workers, the LAR management team, PIs, research staff, students, facility maintenance crews and other support services. This position reports directly to the Facility Manager.

Provides animal care for all species housed according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) including giving food and water to the animals, changing cages, sanitizing all supplies (cages, water bottles, food bins and other animal care related equipment), maintaining clean animal rooms, procedure rooms, hallways and other support areas, keeping records related to animal care. Completes work in a timely fashion and according to established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and follows other written and verbal instructions as needed.

Operates cage washing machinery, ventilated caging, water system, bedding dispensing units, full size to table top autoclaves and other equipment while following safety procedures.

Monitors, documents, and reports deviations from normal species specific environmental parameters such room temperature, humidity, lights, and air quality. Discovers and reports any facilities maintenance issues to the Facility Manager. Provides innovative and species specific environmental enrichment for laboratory animals including non‑human primates, under the direction of Veterinary Services and according to research needs. Monitors animal health and welfare daily and reports sick and dead animals to the responsible researcher and Veterinary Services.

Provides treatments to laboratory animals as prescribed by Vet Services.

Receives and maintains adequate inventory levels of cleaning materials, PPE supplies and bedding materials. Receives and maintains adequate levels of food, fruit, vegetables and other dietary supplements, and ensures adequate labeling of expiration dates consistent with the type and use of food. Prepares for the receiving of new animal shipments according to researcher's specifications. Receives new shipments of animals in LAR's electronic management software.

Collects facility‑wide animal census on a regular basis. Enters data accurately and timely into the electronic management systems, order and service request forms, husbandry logs, census sheets, vivarium calendar, and time reporting system. Provides receiving documents in a timely manner.

Essential services staff performs jobs that are necessary and required to maintain basic University operations. Work attendance during scheduled or unscheduled work closures due to emergencies, events or other situations. Must have the ability to work weekends and holidays when scheduled by the supervisor.

Assists with transgenic rodent breeding colony management. Demonstrates ability to perform tissue sample collection, set up mating pairs, wean animals, and track data in various software applications.

Cross trains and provides absentee support for other animal care technicians in other…