Job Description

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 Summary

As an Animal Care Associate for our GEMS Breed Group in Wilmington, MA. The GEMS Animal Care Associate will learn how and continue to maintain and monitor the health, production, and physical environment of client or Charles River Laboratories (CRL) animals housed at CRL facilities. These environments may include isolators or individual ventilated cages (IVC).

* This is a temporary opportunity with the potential to be hired as a full-time, employee*

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Perform entry-level husbandry tasks, including supplying food, bedding, water and environmental enrichment.
• Maintain rat and mouse colonies, including setting up matings, weaning and sexing of offspring, genetic sampling of animals.
• Handle rodents (mice and rats), including restraining of animals for collection of fecal pellets, ear/tail sampling as well as tagging animals for identification.
• Observe animals for any abnormalities or common health issues.
• Identify and select specific animals for customer shipments, genotyping, health monitoring, matings, transfers or other various tasks as needed.
• Learn, understand, and comply with all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with direct supervision and instruction for most processes/tasks.
• Learn and strictly follow all animal welfare standards and biosecurity procedures necessary to maintain isolator integrity and animal health status, including the proper sterilization and entry of supplies/animals into isolators.
• Be detailed-oriented and enter accurate data entry into Internet Colony Management (ICM).
• Ensure compliance with all local, state and federal laws governing the use of research animals.
• Ability to prioritize and execute daily tasks with guidance from supervisor(s).
• Perform general housekeeping and adhere to EHS, safety, and ergonomic procedures.
• General computer skills and ability to quickly learn required computer programs, databases and other applications (i.e. ICM and Microsoft Office)
• Be able to learn to identify issues and communicate to management and learn the importance of our CRL DNA and core values.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

Role Specific Information: 

• Location:  Wilmington, MA 
• Schedule: Monday - Friday - 1st shift, no weekends required
• Benefits:  Paid Sick Time/Volunteer Time Off and use of our gym onsite

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience: Entry-level, no previous experience required.
• Sufficient computer knowledge to use a tablet computer and communicate using Microsoft Applications.
• The ability to develop knowledge of, respect for, and skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds.
• The ability to communicate clearly and effectively.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Certification/Licensure: AALAS certification at the ALAT or above.

About Research Models & Services
Fundamental to basic research and discovery is the use of in vivo models to help identify disease targets and determine potential biological pathways that regulate the condition. As the world’s leader in the production and distribution of the highest quality research animal, with 1 out of 2 animal models produced for preclinical research globally, we understand the importance of this step. With seven decades of experience, our expertise is unmatched, allowing us to provide you with the perfect model, including disease-specific and preconditioned options, for basic research and beyond.

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 Laboratories is an Equal Opportunity Employer - all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

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 [email protected]. This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

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