Assistant Biological Technician

At Bristol Myers Squibb, our employees often ask, “Who are you working for?”—a question that fuels collaboration, accountability, and urgency in our work. Our purpose-driven culture inspires us to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines to prevail over serious diseases. We offer uniquely interesting and meaningful work, opportunities for growth, and a supportive environment that values inclusion, wellbeing, flexibility, and comprehensive benefits. This is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it.

JOB SUMMARY
The (Assistant/Associate) Biological Technician performs semi-routine or diversified work that requires the ability to differentiate established principles and practices from unique occurrences, which may necessitate adapting or modifying methods.

JOB FUNCTION

The employee will minimize losses by reporting all errors promptly to their supervisor. The employee will have direct contact mostly with his or her immediate supervisor, with other departmental employees and will have direct contact with research personnel. The employee must be able to exert moderate physical effort in moving and lifting equipment and animals. Must be willing to work weekends & holidays. Shift: 7a-3:30p, Monday-Friday.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITES

Specific responsibilities as they pertain to their area of assignment may include, but are not limited to carrying out critical phases of various procedures such as the following:

• May be required to breed and develop animal colonies, collect tissue samples, and collect data for routine operations.
• Work with others in scheduling and carrying out established standard biological assays and present the results as written notes or verbal reports.
• Perform such tests and assays using appropriate equipment and techniques in areas of biology, pharmacokinetics, simple chemistry, microbiology, and immunology.
• Prepare animals and samples for testing, observe tests, and detect and report responses.
• Perform support duties that involve animal health maintenance, i.e., sentinel program, water and feed evaluation, sanitation sampling and testing, and other related tests, as required.
• May be required to correlate and calculate related data, summarize, and record test results and assays.
• Dissection and removal of internal organs and/or tissues, limited necropsies under managerial direction/supervision, preparation of specimens for archiving, and quality control checks.
• Processing tissue and excreta samples from laboratory animals.
• Handling of radio-labeled test materials.
• Under supervision, may assist with the writing of new or revised procedures.
• Participate in employee training and ongoing training and education programs as required.
• The (Assistant/Associate) Biological Technician assigned to Veterinary Sciences will be required to perform animal husbandry and care below their level.
• In addition, the (Assistant/Associate) Biological Technician will work under guidance and direction but demonstrate conceptual understanding and ability to initiate tasks. They must follow operational procedures in the performance of daily tasks and work cooperatively with other employees in efforts to achieve departmental goals. The employee will minimize losses by reporting all errors promptly to their supervisor. The employee will have direct contact mostly with his or her immediate supervisor, with other departmental employees and will have direct contact with research personnel. The employee must be able to exert moderate physical effort in moving and lifting equipment and animals.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIRMENTS

This role will be filled at the following level based on the selected candidate’s qualifications: 

• H14 - The Assistant Biological Technician with an Associate Degree in the field of laboratory Animal Science (e.g., Veterinary Technician) will be required to achieve their ALAT certification within 12 months, become certified at the LAT level within 18 months of completing their ALAT, and encouraged to complete certification at the LATG.
• H24 - The Associate Biological Technician with a Bachelor’s Degree will be required to achieve their ALAT certification within 12 months, become certified at the LAT level within 18 months of completing their ALAT, and encouraged to complete certification at the LATG.
• H29 - Biological Technician - The Biological Technician requires a Bachelor’s Degree and LATG certification

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Moderate physical effort required. May involve intermittent heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling.
• Be able to lift objects of 50 pounds and push/pull large objects with a force of 50 pounds.
• Medical screening prior to initial placement in Veterinary Sciences is required to evaluate for history of allergy, asthma or physical problems which could endanger an employee in this work environment and to evaluate for the presence of zoonotic diseases e.g., Tuberculosis, MMR vaccine.
• The employee will have frequent exposure to biohazards and disagreeable conditions, including odors, heat, noise, animal excrement, and dander and will have potential exposure to toxic test compounds or radio-labeled test materials.
• Be able to wear appropriate PPE including fit tested respirators, safety shoes and lab apparel.
• For the development process to be successful, there must be excellent collaboration, during the course of an experiment as necessary based on sound scientific judgment.
• Involvement of the union staff in the various experimental studies and other processes is determined by management based on the dynamic nature of the research process.

We hire for skills and capabilities, not just credentials – if this role excites you, but doesn’t perfectly match your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway.

Compensation Overview:

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be $38.14 per hour. The Assistant Biological Technician position will be covered by the collective bargaining agreement between Bristol Myers Squibb and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW) and its Local 4-438.

For more on benefits, please visit https://careers.bms.com/life-at-bms/.

Benefit offerings are subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans then in effect and may include the following: Medical, pharmacy, dental and vision care. Wellbeing support such as the BMS Living Life Better program and employee assistance programs (EAP). Financial well-being resources and a 401(K). Financial protection benefits such as short- and long-term disability, life insurance, supplemental health insurance, business travel protection and survivor support.  

How We Work

Where you work matters – because collaboration, innovation and patient impact happen in many settings. Our roles are structured across four work models: site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design. The model assigned to this role is based on its core responsibilities. Learn more at https://careers.bms.com/ways-of-working.

Supporting People with Disabilities

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to [email protected]. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

Candidate Rights

BMS will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

For roles based in Los Angeles County only:  If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

Data Protection

We will never request payments, financial information, or social security numbers during our application or recruitment process. Learn more about protecting yourself at https://careers.bms.com/fraud-protection.

Any data processed in connection with role applications will be treated in accordance with applicable data privacy policies and regulations.

If this posting is missing required information required by local law or incorrect, contact BMS at [email protected] with the Job Title and Requisition number. Do not send application-related inquiries to this email. To check your application status, please login to your Candidate Home Account.

R1605477 : Assistant Biological Technician