Animal Care Technician

Job title under review

The University of Ottawa—A crossroads of cultures and ideas

The University of Ottawa is home to a dynamic community of over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroad of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We believe in the power of representation, and that increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff supports this objective. Our goal is to provide students with the best possible learning experience, in an environment that reflects the diversity of its people, their ideas, and their identities.

We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. Our employees come together around the shared purpose of constant improvement, personal development, service excellence, teamwork and a passion for learning with a desire to make uOttawa and the world a better place. Everyone's contributions are valued, we all play a part in making uOttawa a world-class institution. Most importantly, we make it possible for you to achieve your full potential. Because at uOttawa, you belong

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Assistant Manager, Animal Care Operations, the incumbent participates in the delivery of the program of animal care under the supervision of a team leader in order to maintain Animal Care and Veterinary Service’s (ACVS) high standards of animal care and welfare and regulatory compliance. Responsibilities will include daily observation of animals, provision of clean feed and bedding, and routine facility sanitation procedures of all work areas within the vivarium.

**In this role, your responsibilities will include**:
Perform daily health observation of animals and monitor and record environmental parameters of the animal housing room. The incumbent is responsible for notifying a veterinary technician, veterinarian or his/her supervisor in the event that an animal does not seem to be in good health or if environmental parameters are outside of normal limits.

Provide clean feed and bedding for animals, perform routine animal cage change procedures, reporting any problems to the veterinarian, veterinary technician or supervisory staff as applicable.

Provide husbandry care and enrichment to resident animals appropriate to the specific protocol and housing requirements. Observe and perform quarantine protocols and isolation procedures as scheduled or required.

Provide the restraint of animals for treatment or diagnostic sample collection as required.

Perform and document minor veterinary technical procedures as prescribed by the ACVS veterinarian and/or delegated by a veterinary technician. Examples of such treatments include, but are not limited to nail trimming, oral, topical and parenteral (subcutaneous injections) administration of fluids and medications, and euthanasia.

**What you will bring**:
A secondary school diploma along with additional training in animal health related fields. Continuing education in the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS) Associate Registered Laboratory Animal Technician (ARLAT3) certification program is encouraged.

Knowledge of the basic principles of laboratory animal husbandry is an asset.

Ability to follow detailed instructions.

Ability to function well in a team environment and be able to adhere to written Standard Operating Procedures and follow verbal instructions.

Ability to identify problems such as animal health problems, daily task conflict or equipment failure and communicate problems and observations to supervisor.

Willingness and ability to work after hours, evenings, weekends and statutory holidays as assigned.

Willingness to provide proof of vaccination history as per standard provincial protocols.

Willingness and ability to work with a respirator (e.g. PAPR).

Bilingualism - French and English (spoken and written).

**Key Competencies at uOttawa**:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:
**Planning**: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realise an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.

**Initiative**: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.

**Client Service Orientation**: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.

**Teamwork and Cooperation**: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and giv