We are looking for a highly motivated experienced lab manager to join our team at the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research, specifically, we aim to recruit someone to fill two roles (i) lab manager and (ii) mouse colony manager. This position is shared across two labs (50:50), the lab of Prof. Charlotte Scott and Prof. Martin Guilliams, who work closely together to understand the cellular biology in the liver in the context of health and disease. The selected candidate will join the young and motivated international team of ˜30 scientists and will work alongside ˜10 PhD students and ˜10 postdocs, 4 wet-lab technicians and 2 computational experts.

This role involves working closely with the other technicians, the PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to ensure the smooth running of the lab. Therefore, being a team player and having excellent management and organizational skills is essential. Moreover, the role will involve coordination of the stock management system, onboarding and training of new lab members, ensuring compliance of the whole team with various regulations including safety and reporting on and enforcing numbers of cages of lab mice. As such we are looking for someone with fantastic organization skills, who is not afraid to take a leadership role. The ideal candidate will have previous experience in a lab manager role.

Job description

Lab Manager Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance of the team with lab safety regulations and improve the safety of experimental procedures where required.
• Manage current stock systems, freezer inventories and coordinate the transfer and implementation of the new lab database, including a new stock system and freezer inventory.
• Onboarding of new team members to the lab, explaining rules and routines.
• Train new members of the team with regards to specific procedures & protocols.
• Maintain and calibrate lab equipment including pipettes on a routine basis.
• Go to monthly lab manager meetings of the institute and report back to the team.
• Manage weekly schedules for lab cleaning, waste collection and organise annual lab cleaning.

Mouse Colony Manager Responsibilities

• Manage mouse colony to ensure adequate numbers of breeding/stock cages.
• Report on status of mouse colonies to whole team at weekly meetings and ensure compliance of whole team with allocated numbers of cages.
• Ensure compliance with all institutional and federal guidelines for animal care and use.
• Attend monthly animal house meetings and report back to team.
• Manage mouse colony database (Mausoleum).

Additional Responsibilities

• Coordinate activities with other wet lab technicians to ensure duties are distributed evenly.
• Perform in vitro and in vivo experiments with PhDs and postdocs in the team.
• Maintain detailed and accurate records.
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues that arise during experiments.
• Contribute to a fun, collaborative and productive team environment, participating in regular team meetings and discussions.
• Adapt to the dynamic needs of the team, demonstrating flexibility and a proactive approach to problem-solving.

Profile 

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in biomedical, biochemical, biotechnological techniques or animal care (or related)
• FELASA B/C certificate, or willingness to obtain the certificate in a timely manner
• Fluent in English, for both written and oral communication
• Experience working with mice.
• Knowledge and previous experience of working in a lab (health and safety).
• Basic computer skills (text processing, spreadsheet, presentations)
• Enthusiastic team player
• Experience in molecular biology techniques
• Leadership qualities

Desirable but not required

• Basic understanding of immunology
• Experience as a lab manager
• More advanced computing skills
• Experience with intra-venous and intra-peritoneal injections and oral gavage in mice
• Experience with flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, histology, tissue processing 

Key personal characteristics

• You are highly organised
• You can lead a team to achieve the shared goals
• You are enthusiastic and curious about scientific research
• You are willing to organise and participate in the general lab organisation
• You can work well in a team and independently
• You are accurate and critical of your work and its implementation
• You have a strong ability to multi-task and meet deadlines
• You enjoy other cultures and are respectful of others and their different ideas/opinions

We offer

• The ability to work on high-impact research topics
• Full or part-time (80%) appointment as a laboratory technician at VIB/UGent, a highly ranked research institute with a competitive pay scale and benefits (health insurance, sports facilities)
• A permanent position after an initial trial period
• A stimulating and supportive international research environment (with English as main language)
• State-of-the-art infrastructure
• A varied work schedule, with significant autonomy over how you plan your day
• An ability to progress in your work, taking on more technical and challenging tasks as you grow in your role
• Job is available immediately, starting date is negotiable
• Various training opportunities to broaden your skills

How to apply?

Motivated candidates are asked to apply online using jobsoid. Additional requirements:

• Please upload your full CV
• Please upload a motivation letter
• Please add the contact details of at least two references