BRF Junior Colony Coordinator

In the Crick's Stp-Brf | Brf Colony Management Services Team.

The BRF Junior Colony coordinators are responsible for assisting in the management of a portion of the Institute’s strains on short-term projects & providing oversight and rolling checks of all Crick colonies, as well as collaborating with the members of CMS and the BRF to advance training and development of colony management skills amongst BRF and Scientific staff. This are at the direction of the senior members of the team. As part of this role they liaise with the groups assigned to them regularly, working to the optimal breeding strategies designed by the CCs and SCM for their stakeholders. They upload genotyping results, task breeders, and issue instructions for archiving of the lines under their remit. They need to apply the 3Rs and principals of A(SP)A, ensuring efficient use of animals and space, and to share their expertise freely with BRF & scientific staff. In addition, they sometimes assist in training and development of colony management skills.
Deadline for applications has passed.

Key information

Job reference
R842
Salary
From £26,000 per annum, subject to skills and experience.
Applications closed
08 August 2022, 23:59 BST
Hours per week
36 (full time)
Posted 21 July 2022

BRF Junior Colony Coordinator

This is a full-time, permanent position on Crick terms and conditions

Reports to: BRF Colony Coordinator

Summary

The Francis Crick Institute (the Crick) is a partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the Wellcome Trust, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London and Kings College London. It is a registered charity whose purpose is to conduct biomedical research into all aspects of human health and disease.

The institute is a world-leading centre of biomedical research and innovation. It promotes connections between researchers and disciplines and between academic institutions, healthcare organisations and businesses. Dedicated to research excellence, the institute will have the scale, vision and expertise to tackle the most challenging scientific questions underpinning health and disease. It is world-class with a strong national role—training scientists and developing ideas for public good. The Crick is located in a purpose-built research centre in central London (Midland Road next to St. Pancras International), and will house some 1,250 researchers and 250 support staff.

The state-of-the-art Biological Research Facility (BRF) enables world-leading scientific research involving the use of animals including mice, ferrets, laboratory opossums, fish and frogs. The BRF is both science and welfare driven, flexible, and forward-looking, and promoting collaboration within and beyond the Institute. The Biological Research Facility (BRF) are providing expertise and support for housing and experiment, all underpinned with world-class standards of welfare.

Organisation

Reporting to a BRF Colony coordinator and/or BRF Senior Colony Manager (SCM), the post holder will be a member of the Colony Management team assisting on the development & management of the rodent colonies at the Crick. The postholder will work with BRF colony coordinators (CCs), members of Colony Management Services (CMS) & the wider BRF to provide a cohesive, comprehensive, flexible and adaptable service to the Crick.  

The Crick is an institute with a dynamic & fluctuating population of researchers. The aim is to provide a discrete & flexible support system for the life of a lab allowing periods of intense help and/or training, as well as framework of wrap around assistance.

Key responsibilities

The BRF Junior Colony coordinators will be responsible for assisting in the management of a portion of the Institute’s strains on short-term projects & providing oversight and rolling checks of all Crick colonies, as well as collaborating with the members of CMS and the BRF to advance training and development of colony management skills amongst BRF and Scientific staff. This will all be at the direction of the senior members of the team.

As part of this role they will be expected to liaise with the groups assigned to them regularly, working to the optimal breeding strategies designed by the CCs and SCM for their stakeholders. They will be expected to translate and upload genotyping results, task breeders, and issue instructions for archiving of the lines under their remit. They will be expected to be part of a rolling programme of reviewing lab and colony management. They will always need to apply the 3Rs and principals of A(SP)A, ensuring efficient use of animals and space, and to share their expertise freely with BRF & scientific staff. In addition, they will sometimes assist in training and development of colony management skills.

Specific objectives will include, but not be limited to:

  • The post holder will be expected to assist in colony managing the mice for several scientific groups or BRF lines, working with the SCM or CC lead for a group, liaising with groups regularly to achieve established aims within a defined timeframe and reporting as required.

  • General colony maintenance instructions; genotyping the line, issuing breeding instructions, helping set colony size, ensure archiving of lines.

  • To work actively within the BRF units to ensure the optimisation of their breeding programmes and to ensure that breeding schemes are set up in conjunction with the technicians managing their lines.

  • The postholder will be expected to participate in programme of regular rolling checks, as defined by the senior CM staff, group by group to ensure all colonies are at an agreed standard (E.g. MCMS colony notes data on phenotype, development, breeding scheme, cryopreserved, defined background, optimal breeding efficiency etc) will be key. This will apply to all new colonies produced, rederived or crossed.

  • The Post holder may assist in the delivery of colony management training courses for new and existing scientists and BRF staff.

  • The Postholder will be expected to become proficient in the Mouse colony management system (MCMS) and associated tools.

  • The postholder will be expected to assist in other BRF activities related to colony management, including assisting in the units with husbandry where required, carrying out procedures for genotyping of lines, such as DNA extraction & PCR, assisting in archiving of mouse & fish lines (cryopreservation, dissection, superovulation, IVF), providing aseptic assistance to the surgical team and helping with import & export administrative tasks & shipper collection. 

Once in post the postholder will be expected to hold a PIL under A(SP)A and to complete their IAT qualifications up to level 2 and work towards level 3.

Person Specification

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: Bold, Open and Collegiate, in addition to the following:

Essential

  • Educated to GCSE level or equivalent and possess a minimum of 5 GCSEs (including Maths and/or Science)
  • The post holder will have some relevant experience in animal husbandry or colony management and possess a proven track record in a relevant position.
  • Working knowledge of GA production & breeding strategies.
  • Experience of contributing effectively to the work of a team, a flexible and cooperative approach to working with others
  • Experience and willingness to work on animal models, and can demonstrate empathy & respect
  • Has a desire to work in the laboratory animal technology field
  • Possesses good time management and organisational skills
  • Possesses good observational and attention to detail skills
  • Possesses clear and effective written and oral communication skills
  • Proven accurate record keeping skills

Desirable

  • Relevant qualification in animal technology or genetics (e.g. IAT level 2 or 3)
  • Experience of supervising and/ or training others
  • Familiarity with the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and past or present holder of a personal licence
  • Good working knowledge of MCMS or other colony management software
  • Prior experience of genotyping & some molecular biology