Animal Care Technician I

Job Title: Animal Care Technician I

Company: Charles River Laboratories

Location: South San Francisco, CA

About the Role

We are seeking an Animal Care Technician I to join our Insourcing Solutions team. As the Animal Care Technician I, you will observe, monitor, and document the health and physical environment within the Charles River Accelerator & Development Labs (CRADL) animal facility. Perform routine husbandry tasks such as feeding, watering, cage changing, and cleaning of equipment and rooms to maintain a safe and compliant environment. Support animal health and welfare by accurately reporting concerns and collaborating with veterinary staff, ensuring all work aligns with institutional, state and federal guidelines.

Key Responsibilities

• Review and comprehend relevant SOPs, BOPs, and quality standards at the entry level, applying them to routine animal care and facility tasks under supervision.
• Demonstrate basic understanding and consistency in following written procedures.
• Monitor daily animal health and welfare while performing daily animal health observations.
• Perform animal husbandry duties to maintain quality and health of research animals, including performing daily water bottle and cage checks; provide appropriate food and water; perform cage changing and/or cage cleaning as required; record animal health concerns per SOP and/or specified protocols.
• Dispose of biological, hazardous, and animal facility waste following established procedures.
• Operate equipment and use supplies according to safety guidelines; perform general housekeeping (i.e. check pest traps, common area cleaning, testing eye wash stations and emergency showers) and adhere to safety procedures.
• Assist with receiving and housing incoming animals under supervision based on site needs.
• Cage card distribution, including printing cage cards for incoming shipments and requests from clients.
• Collect census data from animal cages and assist with uploading manual or handheld scanner data into approved software.
• Assist with monitoring client row assignments in shared animal holding rooms to ensure racks/rows are labeled and assigned correctly per facility needs.
• Report non-compliance or animal welfare concerns to the appropriate Animal Welfare Team member or IACUC office.
• Maintain an organized and clean work environment including but not limited to animal rooms, common areas such as corridors, cage washrooms, procedure rooms, anterooms, storage areas and grounds by cleaning at prescribed intervals following established procedures.

Cage Wash

• Operate a washer for cleaning and sanitizing animal cage supplies through automatic processes.
• Operate autoclave machine to sterilize caging equipment and instruments for the animals.
• Maintain documentation for QA, including but not limited to temperature strips, room environmental reports and logs, dish washer and/or autoclaving logs.
• Handle, transfer, and deliver animals, supplies (caging, gases, dry ice, liquid nitrogen), and waste as needed to and from work area(s).
• Perform daily cage duties including recycling and scheduled sanitation procedures.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Basic working knowledge and skills with relevant business software systems, i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Schedule is 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Tuesday - Saturday.
• Will be required to work independently and regularly on weekends, later than core hours, during inclement weather events and/or holidays to complete duties.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED is required.
• BS in either animal science or life sciences preferred.
• Minimum of 0-6 months directly related laboratory animal experience in a laboratory animal facility required.
• AALAS Certification at the ALAT level preferred.
• Must have strong written and verbal English communication skills and numbers to be able to follow instructions, maintain records and identify specific animals.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without a sponsor visa, now or in the future.

Compensation

• The pay range for this position is $23-25 USD per hour.
• Salaries vary within the range based on factors including skills, certifications, and location.