City : Ottawa, ON, Canada

Category : Full time

Industry : Higher Education

Employer : University of Ottawa

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Position Purpose
Reporting to the Senior Director, Animal Care and Veterinary Services, the incumbent allocates and manages the human resource assignments for animal care and use activities in the D’Iorio Hall Aquatic Animal Facility. Contributes to (in-vivo) research viability and success by liaising with members of ACVS staff, researchers, students and members of other departments or institutes as required to assure training and skill sets of ACVS staff meet institutional needs. Assists the Manager, Animal Care Operations to ensure that animal facility equipment and overall facility operations are adequate to assure institutional compliance with the regulatory requirements and to promote excellence in the conduct of animal based academic and experimental research protocol execution.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Develop, implement and supervise equitable task assignments in all areas of the animal facility to ensure adequate staffing coverage and the smooth running of operations.  This includes but is not limited to coordination of work schedules for species specific husbandry care, veterinary technical nursing and/or experimental treatments to resident animals to ensure appropriate research protocol and housing requirements are achieved, documented and reported. This includes weekends, statutory holidays and other circumstances such as illness or accident.
• Communicate with research teams on various upcoming research projects to schedule support staff accordingly.  The incumbent must be able to appropriately and continuously assess human resource needs and equipment needs to ensure adequate staffing levels and required equipment at all times.  
• Coordinate the daily operations of the vivarium, ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements of the Canadian Council on Animal Care as stated in the Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, volume 2, 1993 (the Guide), the Animals for Research Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. A-27 (the Act) and the University of Ottawa Policy 31 (the Policy). Schedule, assign and implement the sanitation and biosecurity/quarantine protocols within the facilities to preserve and protect animal health and reduce research variables.
• Communicate, consult and liaise with the ACVS team, and the manager of operations daily to ensure excellent team communication and smooth running of operations.  Communication with the veterinarian, researcher and/or research personnel will also be required to ensure pertinent information is obtained and/or disseminated to appropriate parties in regards to animal health, research projects, equipment inventory and/or facility function.
• Monitor equipment function, maintenance schedules and report all equipment needs or facility maintenance requirements the Manager, Animal Care Operations to ensure material resources are available for use by research clients and staff members.
• Write weekly activity reports (such as facility occupancy densities, work assignments) and document staff performance and client service efficiencies/challenges to provide management with operations metrics and information regarding human resource or equipment requirements as necessary.  Provide performance feedback to assigned staff members and make recommendations for continuing educational opportunities.

What you will bring:

• Graduate of a recognized Aquaculture diploma/degree program or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Candidate must pursue or be in the process of pursuing RLAT and later RMLAT certification with the Canadian Association of Laboratory Animal Science once eligible.
• A minimum of five years of aquatics experience. Preference will be given to the candidate with supervisory experience and relevant experience in a research environment.
• Experience in human resource policy administration and team/ conflict management.
• Demonstrate an ability to gain consensus and achieve collaborations.
• Experienced with the development of complex work schedules.
• Ability to troubleshoot recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).
• Basic plumbing skills.
• Comprehensive knowledge and experience in the development and implementation of standard operational procedures for an animal research facility, including bio-exclusion, bio- containment methods.
• Commitment to client service through excellence in interpersonal and communication skills and service delivery.
• Commitment to ensuring a safe working environment through ongoing inspections, staff training and review of safety standards.
• Experience using computer systems and various software such as Windows, word processors, spreadsheets, e-calendars, databases, email and Internet.
• Excellent communications skills in both official languages.
• Ability and willingness to work after hours, weekends and statutory holidays as assigned.
• Ability and willingness to be on-call on a rotational basis as part of standard schedule.

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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 realize 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 give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.