Veterinary Technician

About The Role
Join our team at Altasciences Preclinical Columbia as a Veterinary Technician and play a crucial role in facilitating and supporting the work and research of our veterinarians, study directors and clients.  As a Veterinary Technician, you will be responsible for a wide range of animal health activities, including medicine, surgery, and drug therapy.  Working closely with our dedicated vet services staff, you will be instrumental in the treatment of all on-site ill and injured animals, as well as the implementation of our preventive medicine program under the guidance of our Attending Veterinarian. If you are passionate about providing high-quality care to animals and making a meaningful impact in the field of veterinary medicine, we invite you to join our dynamic team and contribute to the advancement of drug development and animal welfare.

What You'll Do Here

• Provides nursing care for all medical cases within the facility, under the guidance of the staff veterinarians and senior level technicians.
• Performs basic diagnostics and screening tests, to include but not be limited to: body weights, BCS, Tb testing, hemoccult testing, urine dipstick analysis, fecal floatation, swab sample collection, blood collection, and others at the request of the veterinarians and/or more senior level technicians.
• Performs routine and basic animal procedures, including animal handling and restraint of rodents, miniature swine, canines, rabbits, and handling of NHP within the home cage, sedation, delivery of medications via the IM, SQ, topical, and PO routes, assessment of vital signs (TPR) on animals, shaving of animals and preparation for surgical procedures, bandage application, basic wound care, and assessment of basic clinical signs of animals on treatment or under sedation.
• Performs basic cleaning and preparatory procedures within the animal procedure and technical staffing areas, including cleaning medical instruments, wrapping surgical packs for autoclaving, cleaning the surgical suite or procedure area after animal activity, and others at the request of the veterinarians and/or more senior level technicians.
• Performs dose calculations for medications to be given based on initial orders from a veterinarian or as per SOP or study protocol and may be responsible for working with controlled substances for planned procedures.
• Performs routine quality checks on all paperwork and performs computer entry and/or data retrieval as appropriate, to include scheduling of departmental tasks where appropriate.
• Shares inventory and ordering responsibilities for supplies used by the department.
• Shares responsibility for routine departmental cleaning and prep procedures, such as instrument care, pack wrapping, procedure room and procedure cart cleaning.
• May perform routine maintenance on equipment within the veterinary staff department, including but not limited to: x-ray processors, microscopes, eye wash stations, etc.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• BA/BS, Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), or completion of 2-year Veterinary Technician program preferred. Equivalent combination of experience may substitute for education requirements.
• 6-12 months basic animal handling and/or basic medical/veterinary experience is required.
  Basic to Advanced computer skills.
• Requires general reading, writing, and verbal communication skills.  
• The ability to quickly understand and act on complex instructions delivered either verbally or in writing, and the ability to communicate either verbally or in writing with a wide variety of individuals in a professional, respectful, and clear manner.
• Requires the ability to accurately calculate doses, using algebraic equations.
• Good Laboratory Practice experience preferred but not required. Training will be provided on-site.
• Basic animal handling and medication administration skills are required.

What We Offer

The pay range estimated for this position is $18.00 and up per hour . Please note that hourly rates/salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, prior relevant experience, skills, education, certification, location as well as internal equity and market data.

Altasciences offers a wide variety of benefits to help our employees live healthy and fulfilling lives both at and outside of work.

Altasciences’ Benefits Package Includes:

• Health/Dental/Vision Insurance Plans
• 401(k)/RRSP with Employer Match
• Paid Vacation and Holidays
• Paid Sick and Bereavement Leave
• Employee Assistance & Telehealth Programs
• Telework when applicable

Altasciences’ Incentive Programs Include:

• Training & Development Programs
• Employee Referral Bonus Program
• Annual Performance Reviews

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