Operations Manager - Central Animal Facilities

Position Summary

The Operations Manager will report to ULAR Director and is responsible for a wide variety of senior level managerial/supervisory duties within the University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

Essential Functions

• Ensure all husbandry practices meet or exceed standards outlined in:The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory AnimalsAnimal Welfare Act and Regulations (USDA)PHS PolicyAAALAC expectationsInstitutional SOPs, policies and procedures
• Oversee daily husbandry care activities for all species, including USDA-covered species
• Ensure appropriate environmental enrichment, social housing, and species-specific care
• Identify, escalate, and resolve animal welfare concerns in collaboration with relevant parties.
• Maintain continuous readiness for USDA inspections and AAALAC site visits
• Support IACUC activities, including semiannual inspections, post-approval monitoring, and corrective action plans
• Ensure accurate documentation, records, and logs required for regulatory compliance
• Implement and monitor corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs) related to inspections or audits
• Manage daily husbandry operations, including feeding, watering, sanitation, cage washing, and room turnover
• Develop and manage staffing models based on census, species, and workload demands
• Ensure consistent implementation of ULAR SOPs across all animal areas
• Coordinate with veterinary and research staff to support study timelines
• Develop, review, and revise husbandry-related SOPs and work instructions
• Ensure staff compliance with approved SOPs
• Conduct routine internal audits and quality assurance checks
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency and quality
• Ensure proper operation and maintenance of animal rooms, equipment, and support spaces
• Oversee sanitation equipment (e.g., cage washers, autoclaves) in collaboration with facilities teams
• Enforce biosecurity, traffic flow, and infection control practices
• Participate in emergency preparedness and disaster response planning
• Manage husbandry-related inventory, including feed, bedding, enrichment, and PPE
• Forecast operational needs and control costs within budgetary guidelines
• Cook up vendor relationships and procurement processes
• Ensure compliance with institutional occupational health and safety programs
• Promote safe animal handling, ergonomics, and injury prevention
• Investigate incidents, near misses, and implement corrective actions
• Serve as a primary liaison between husbandry staff, veterinary staff, business office, investigators, and leadership
• Communicate operational updates, expectations, and changes effectively
• Participate in leadership meetings and institutional planning activities

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in an animal or related field of life sciences and at least six years of experience in an animal research facility within an academic/pharmaceutical/ contract research organization.
• AALAS/RLATG certification and/or ILAM certification and/or AALAS/CMAR certification.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Required Skills And Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to work with both large and small animal species.
• Knowledge of pertinent laws, regulations and policies concerning the care of laboratory animals.
• Demonstrated ability to create, maintain, revise and enforce departmental SOP's, policies, and guidelines.
• Demonstrated ability to manage mid-level supervisors.
• Demonstrated employee management skills with an emphasis on time management, problem solving, conflict resolution, cultural diversity, adaptability, and creativity.
• Demonstrated organizational skills.
• Strong communication (verbal/written), along with demonstrated presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills, along with the ability to interact with a diverse constituent population.
• Demonstrated ability to utilize and troubleshoot husbandry-related equipment.
• Demonstrated computer skills and proficiency with MS Office Suite, including MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Demonstrated ability to manage budgets and provide budgetary projections.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, as needed.

Preferred

• Master's Degree in related life sciences field.
• Experience with Sirius management system or similar.

Position Location

This position will be on-site.