Animal Care Technician II (CONTRACT)

Cytokinetics is a late-stage, specialty cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class muscle activators and next-in-class muscle inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases in which cardiac muscle performance is compromised. As a leader in muscle biology and the mechanics of muscle performance, the company is developing small molecule drug candidates specifically engineered to impact myocardial muscle function and contractility.

Cytokinetics was founded by four pioneers in cell biology whose academic research and discoveries contributed to the scientific platform for our company. For more than 25 years, our scientists have built on their seminal work to pioneer potential medicines targeting muscle function. Today, we continue to look for tenacious scientists who are driven to push the boundaries of innovation for the benefit of patients.

Job purpose

To provide daily environmental and health assessments to care for laboratory rodents, conduct husbandry and sanitation procedures, maintain the vivarium and associated support areas to meet or exceed industry standards, IACUC and regulatory requirements.   Provide team support in the execution of scientific studies, IACUC and health and safety inspections.

Responsibilities

• Perform and document routine husbandry care
• Daily health and environmental checks – report any health or environmental problems to Vivarium manager and Principal Investigators
• Rodent cage change/sanitation
• Organize and maintain cage staging areas for optimal efficiency
• Perform daily and routine maintenance, restocking of and sanitation of vivarium areas
• Receive animal shipments, assess animal health, and house animals appropriately.
• Manage stocks of and coordinate purchase and receipt of animal food/bedding/consumables/caging materials as needed
• Maintain compliance with IACUC guidelines and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and other relevant regulatory requirements as appropriate.
• Interact with Facilities, vendors and service/repair contractors to address any mechanical or facility issues

Qualifications

• 2+ years of related experience.
• An A.S. degree, AALAS certification, or equivalent qualification is highly preferred. Must have experience handling and routine health evaluation of rodents
• Must be familiar with and able to apply industry standards, animal welfare regulations including the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
• Experience with operation of industrial cage wash equipment and autoclave.
• Experience with Hydropac water pouch system a plus
• Candidates must be able to work independently, and in a team, and maintain a high level of attention to detail
• Candidate must have good spoken and written communication skills
• Ability to manage time and resources effectively
• Must have basic computer skills (Word, Excel)
• Ability and willingness to work weekends and/or holidays
• Experience in basic in vivo techniques a strong plus (body weights/condition scoring, post-surgical evaluations, animal restraint and or dosing techniques)

Our employees come from different backgrounds, and we celebrate those differences. We are looking for the best candidates for our open roles, but do not expect applicants to meet every qualification in order to be considered. If you are excited about what you could accomplish at Cytokinetics and believe you can add value to our team, we would love to hear from you.

Please review our General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy PRIOR to applying.  

Our passion is anchored in robust scientific thinking, grounded in integrity and critical thinking. We keep the patient front and center in all we do – all actions and decisions are in service of the patient and their caregivers. We champion integrity, ethics, doing the right thing, and being our best selves.

Fraud Warning: How to Identify Impersonated Cytokinetics Job Postings and Offers

Recently, there have been fraudulent employment offers being sent to candidates on behalf of Cytokinetics. Please be advised that all legitimate offers from Cytokinetics will come directly from our official email domain (Cytokinetics.com) and will only be made after completing a formal interview process.

Here are some ways to check for authenticity:

• We do not conduct job interviews through non-standard text messaging applications
• We will never request personal information such as banking details until after an official offer has been accepted and verified
• We will never request that you purchase equipment or other items when interviewing or hiring
• If you are unsure about the authenticity of an offer, or if you receive any suspicious communication, please contact us directly at talentacquisition@cytokinetics.com

Please visit our website at: www.cytokinetics.com

Cytokinetics is an Equal Opportunity Employer