Veterinary Technician II

Agency

Department

Glimpse of the Job

Veterinary Technician II

From monitoring animal health and supporting research procedures to maintaining a safe and enriching vivarium environment, you'll play an important role in the care and well-being of rodents while contributing to research that advances scientific discovery.

Join us and help support the research that drives tomorrow's discoveries. Apply today!

What you need to know

Salary: $20.04-25.00 Commensurate based on education and experience

Location: Kingsville, Texas

Schedule: Requires working different shifts and participating in on-call coverage. May be required to work alternate shifts, overtime, holidays, weekends, and/or on-call duty.

Responsibilities:

Vivarium Duties

• Assist faculty by doing daily rounds, sending out emails to investigators about the health of their animals, and treating animals.
• Perform basic care and husbandry procedures.
• Observe and report changes in temperature, air exchange rate, light/dark cycles, and humidity in the animal room environment.
• Maintain animal inventory and recordkeeping
• Manual cage cleaning, providing food/water/enrichment
• Change cages, feeds, and water animals according to established schedules.
• Ability to recognize abnormal health conditions, and overcrowding issues.
• Observation and recognition of subtle differences in animal behavior and appearance.
• Receives and implements special care and special diet for certain animals.
• Maintain the rodent health surveillance programs at Vivarium; including scheduling sentinel shipments, replacing sentinels, collecting and submitting diagnostic samples.           
• Performing sanitation assessments as part of the quality assurance program
• Oversee surgical room protocols requiring anesthesia, surgical assistance, and principals of asepsi
• Operates large cage washing machines, autoclaves, and participates with preventive maintenance; recognizes and reports malfunctioning or unsafe equipment and conditions.
• Use high level disinfectants and detergents to accomplish cleaning.
• Maintain sanitation and disease prevention conditions. This includes sterile techniques when handling animals, cleaning and sterilizing floors, and walls.
• Cleaning, decontamination, and sterilization of lab equipment.
• Knowledgeable on the types of equipment, animals, and supplies coming into facility.

Administrative Duties

• Arranging and preparing all necessary forms for animal transfers and housing animals for shipment.
• Consults with veterinarian regarding animal health issues   
• Occasional assistance in ordering is needed to help Vivarium manager.
• Assists in storing all incoming supplies.

Qualifications:

Required Education and Experience

•  Associate degree in veterinary technology, biomedical science, animal science or a related area, or any equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Two years of technical experience in veterinary medicine. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to understand and practice all applicable Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), training manuals, and Biosafety and Operation Manuals.
• Ability to communicate effectively with fellow technicians, the Veterinarian, Study Director, and/or PI.
• Basic computer skills in word processing, spreadsheets, and billing entry.
• Working knowledge of veterinary equipment used within a veterinary teaching hospital.
• Strong animal handling skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively and positively at all levels within the anesthesia service and the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
• Ability to multitask and cooperate with others.
• Knowledge of high flow/low flow anesthesia.
• Familiar with injectable and inhalant anesthesia
• Experience working with various individuals and communities.

Why Texas A&M University?  

We are a prestigious university with strong traditions, Core Values, and a community of caring and collaboration. 

• Medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life and AD&D, flexible spending accounts, and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M contributing to employee health and basic life premiums 
• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays  
• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month 
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Health and Wellness: Free exercise programs and release time 
• Professional Development: All employees have access to free LinkedIn Learning training, webinars, and limited financial support to attend conferences, workshops, and more  
• Educational release time and tuition assistance for completing a degree while a Texas A&M employee 
• Living Well, a program at Texas A&M that has been built by employees, for employees

Instructions to Applicants: Applications received by Texas A&M University must either have all job application data entered, or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to pre-populate the online application. 

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.