Ville : Vancouver

Catégorie : Full time

Industrie : Educational Services

Employeur : University of British Columbia

Staff - Union

Job Category

CUPE 116

Job Profile

CUPE 116 Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 4

Job Title

Research Assistant/Technician 4

Department

Research I Sun I Department of Microbiology I Faculty of Science

Compensation Range

$5,439.00 - $5,910.00 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date

February 27, 2026

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

Job End Date

March 30, 2027

 

 

 

 

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 Summary

This grant-funded position involves conducting research through multidisciplinary approaches to investigate host immunity to pathogens, bacterial physiology, structural biology, macrophage biology, host-directed therapies, antimicrobial drug development, and wastewater surveillance. Under the guidance of the Principal Investigator, the successful candidate will carry out research projects in accordance with established protocols and contribute to the design and optimization of new experimental protocols and workflows.

In addition, the candidate will be responsible for the maintenance and servicing of critical technical equipment, including confocal microscopes, data storage servers, computational workstations, and high-content imagers. They will also support the day-to-day operations of the laboratory, which includes technical training and supervision of students.

This role requires technical expertise in molecular microbiology, molecular cloning, bacterial genetics, cellular assays, qPCR, flow cytometry, and high-content imaging, as well as a strong foundation in microbiology, cellular signaling, and immunology. The technician will further contribute to inventory management, optimization of experimental procedures, and accurate record keeping.

Organizational Status
The individual will report directly to the Principal Investigators (Dr. Jim Sun and Dr. Elitza Tocheva) weekly. Will initially work under supervision but is expected to work with minimal supervision once proficiency in the duties assigned has been established.

Work Performed

Lab management duties:

• Ordering equipment, reagents and supplies. Price matching between suppliers, gathering quotes, placing orders, accepting product and distributing or installing in the lab.

• Supervises and trains new members of the lab on safety, laboratory, and equipment protocols.

• Oversees care and maintenance of lab equipment including arranging service contracts and communicating with in-house repair staff; ensuring the lab is kept organized and clean.

• Manage and maintain computer workstations, data storage servers, and networks in the lab, and perform routine data backup. Coordinate users and access to UBC Advanced Research Computing resources.

• Managing safe handling and proper disposal of chemicals and biohazardous waste in accordance with Health and Safety requirements.

Research duties:

Designs, optimizes, executes and troubleshoots experiments and analysis of research projects including:

• Molecular cloning and protein purification

• Structure determination

• Bacterial physiology

• Biochemical assays

• Receive and process clinical and wastewater samples for genomic extraction

• qPCR-based assays to detect various microbes in clinical and wastewater samples

• Microbiological and cellular immunology assays (e.g. using infection systems, high-content screening, drug screens) to develop existing or new projects in understanding host immunity to tuberculosis or other pathogens

• Bioinformatics and computational modeling

The technician will be responsible for maintaining detailed digital notebook, recording all experimental work, and maintain common database of all processed sample data. A bi-weekly report that underlines the experiments performed, the results obtained and their analysis will be provided to the Principal Investigator and as well as in occasional presentations to external collaborators and for lab meetings.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
A high degree of organization, good judgment, integrity and attention to detail is required in making appropriate decisions. Work will be checked by the Principal Investigator and discussed in weekly meetings, and as needed. Errors or inappropriate decisions will impact research progress, and measures such as frequent meetings with the faculty member to avoid such occurrences will be taken. If an error occurred, valuable reagents, research time, and money could be lost. BSL2 and chemical hazards requires proper adherence to safe practices or may risk infection or harm to self and/or other lab members.

Supervision Received
Minimal supervision on specific tasks and experiments. Overall direction provided by Principal Investigator.

Supervision Given
Introduction and training of research group members to lab operations, instrumentation, safety, and specific protocols. Ongoing supervision of research group members including undergraduate students, as well as assistance to graduate student and post-doctoral fellows.

Minimum Qualifications
Completion of a university degree in a relevant discipline or technical program and a minimum four years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Some positions may require a graduate degree.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

M. Sc. in microbiology or immunology, or a related field. Minimum 5 years of experience operating in a research laboratory. Should be comfortable with spreadsheets, word processing, grant and manuscript writing, and manifest a demonstrated ability to organize and complete independently. Expertise required in microbiology culture and handling practices, molecular microbiology, and genetics. Experience in large-data management, server maintenance, bioinformatic analysis, and computational modeling is highly desirable. Experience with human clinical sample (e.g. sputum, stool, urine) and wastewater handing and processing would be an asset.