Auxiliary Cage Processing Technician

Staff - Union

Job Category

CUPE 116

Job Profile

CUPE 116 Hourly - Research Assistant /Technician 1

Job Title

Auxiliary Cage Processing Technician

Department

Operations | Centre for Disease Modelling | Animal Care Services

Compensation Range

$25.52 - $26.77 CAD Hourly

Posting End Date

October 17, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

Ongoing

Full-time during training (6-8 weeks). Casual, on-call ongoing based on seniority, operational needs and availability of employee. Employee must provide a minimum of 1 shift per week availability. Shifts are not guaranteed.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Description Summary

This position will be responsible for providing daily cleaning and maintenance tasks required for the health and cleanliness of research animals and their housing facilities within any one of the Animal Care Services research facilities. The work includes an assortment of cleaning tasks, inspection, and repair of equipment and some routine laboratory work. The incumbent is expected to have a general familiarity with day-to-day activities and processes in multiple facilities working with multiple species.

Work may involve the use of potentially hazardous material or may be located in areas where such materials are used. Work will require the use of personal protective equipment.

Organizational Status

The Operations Managers within Animal Care Services are ultimately responsible for this position, however day to day direction will be determined by the current organizational chart and operational need.

The Centre for Disease Modeling (CDM) is a 90,000 sq. ft. animal facility capable of holding 27,000 rodent cages. CDM is a barrier facility and operations include Breeding, Research Containment Level 1 & 2, procedural and surgical space, and material management.

The Modified Barrier Facility (MBF) is a 22,000 sq. ft. animal facility capable of holding 7,000 rodent cages. MBF is a multi-barrier facility, equipped with conventional and barrier zones and ample procedural space, which includes Containment Level 1 & 2, as well as information technology, material management, and training.

The Centre for Comparative Medicine (CCM) is a rapidly growing and dynamic environment in which staff partner with researchers from both academia and industry. The research encompasses a broad range of topics from furthering our understanding of basic medical sciences, to improving our abilities to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease in human and non-human animals.

Animal Care Services (ACS), the largest animal care program in Western Canada and the second largest in Canada, is responsible for providing research support to the animal-based research community, associated with the University of British Columbia and its affiliates through its veterinary services team, the compliance team, the procurement team and its facilities. ACS is committed to providing excellence in research support to all UBC researchers with accountability, communication, cooperation, customer service and integrity. ACS reports to the Associate Vice President Research & Innovation.

Work Performed

Operations, maintenance, quality assurance and troubleshooting of equipment including but not limited to:
Rack and tunnel washers, bedding vacuum system, bottle filling system, high pressure spray units, autoclaves/bulk sterilizers, sonicators, water bag compactors, vertical form-fill-seal machines, dry heat ovens, barrel mover, floor scrubbers, washer, dryers, chemical dispensing stations, emergency eye wash stations and showers.

Performs and reports periodic minor maintenance, adjustment, repair, and setup tasks of facility related equipment to support facility activities.

Evaluate facility equipment, trends, and workflow patterns to make recommendations.

Assure remedial action is taken and documented whenever equipment or workflow deviates from established specifications to ensure work is completed.

General cleaning duties including but not limited to:

- Cleaning and preparation of cages, accessories, bottles, carts, and racks.
- Preparation and use of disinfectants and detergents.
- Preparation and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
- Monitor chlorine levels to ensure accurate treatment within facility.
- Prioritize laundry tasks, collect and treat soiled laundry to produce clean linen, when required.
- Inventory consumable supplies and reorder as required or report to the CP Coordinator/Supervisor(s).
- Cleaning, stocking and maintenance of lunchrooms, washrooms, showers, locker rooms, offices, instrument wash, procedur