Microbiology Technician

• Work with highly hazardous biological/toxic materials in Biological Safety Level 2 (BSL-2) and Biological Safety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories.
• Conducting assays on samples collected from in vivo pathogenicity/efficacy/toxicity studies as well as human clinical samples.
• Some assays include: bacterial enumeration, viral assays, ELISA, PCR, nucleic acid isolation, and flow cytometry.
• Perform routine blood and tissue processing.
• Prepare reagents.
• Contributing the development and validation of equipment and biological assays.
• Understanding and performing dilutions including mathematical calculations involved.
• Decontaminating equipment and materials.
• Maintaining mammalian, viral, and bacterial cell cultures.
• Equipment/lab:
• Act as lab technical point of contact.
• Laboratory cleaning and upkeep.
• Supply inventory, ordering and receipt.
• Waste management, operation of autoclaves, preparation of bleach and other decontamination solutions.
• Use proper technique tolerate necessary equipment produced high quality data.
• Perform routine maintenance and/or calibration of equipment as necessary.
• Prepare, maintain, and archive equipment logbooks.
• Use electronic databases for sample tracking.
• Operate routine computer programs and perform basic data manipulation in a spreadsheet environment.
• Set up, validate, and operate laboratory equipment and software.

• Read SOPs, methods, facility guidelines, etc. used in workplace in a timely manner and adhere these procedures.
• Perform timely quality control and/or technical review of electronic and/or paper data.
• Create and maintain study files in accordance with standard operating procedures, protocol, quality requirements and client specifications.
• Prepare and submit study files and forms tQuality Control or Quality Assurance.
• Recognize when technical operations deviate from accepted practices and prepare deviation reports as needed.
• Report observations/problems clearly and concisely, recognizing and highlighting specific deviations.
• Adhere tall laboratory safety requirements.

• Train and guide less experienced staff on specific tasks.
• Serve as technical co-lead on portions of studies.
• Work independently and efficiently in a team environment.

• Works on assignments that are semi-routine in nature where ability recognize deviation from accepted practice is required.
• Exhibits sufficient technical knowledge perform routine assignments.
• Demonstrated ability tolerate basic equipment and follow standard procedures.
• Performs routine specified analysis of data.
• Verifies the accuracy, applicability, and reasonableness of project work.
• Is encouraged make recommendations but has limited discretion when making judgments and completing tasks.
• Conducts standard as well as non-standard tasks under close supervision and guidance of more experienced staff.
• Keeps supervisor informed regularly on status of work.

• Associate degree in microbiology/molecular biology plus 1 years experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience in a related field.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to obtain/maintain certification in the Biological Suitability Assessment Program (BSAP).
• Ability to obtain/maintain DOJ Security Risk Assessment (SRA) approval.
• Ability to obtain/maintain CDC approval work with BSAT material.
• Must be willing to work in a biosafety level 2 (BSL2) and 3 (BSL3) (biocontainment) environment and able to wear appropriate respiratory protection.
• Respond appropriately various alarms and potential emergency situations.
• Sufficiently medically fit to work in a lab wearing appropriate respiratory equipment and perform all assigned duties.

Last updated on Nov 17, 2023