Charles River Laboratories
Associate Group Leader / Animal Unit Manager
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For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.
The Role
Could you be our next compassionate and proven Animal Unit Manager?
Ready to lead and manage an animal facility at our site in Portishead?
You will be responsible for the smooth operation of the animal unit, compliance with UK Home Office regulations, with accountability in resolving day-day leadership tasks, management of several Technical and Husbandry Specialists, while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, staff performance, and procedural compliance.
This role requires a hands-on manager with strong organisational skills, sound understanding and hands on experience of working within a regulated animal research environment, and the ability to support a variety of preclinical research studies in a fast-paced Contract Research Organisation.
The role offers the opportunity to play a key part in high-quality research, supporting ethically conducted science and leading a committed animal care team.
Main Tasks
Operational
- Provide operational and people management for a small rodent animal unit.
- Ensure compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) and all Home Office, institutional, and ethical requirements.
- Act as a holder of a Home Office Personal Licence (PIL) and perform licensed procedures as required.
- Oversee animal welfare, husbandry standards, health monitoring, and environmental conditions within the facility.
- Support staff training, performance management, and rota planning.
- Maintain accurate records relating to animal use, staffing, training, and compliance.
- Liaise with scientists, veterinarians, the NACWO, and other Named Persons to support study delivery.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of facility processes, SOPs, and regulatory readiness.
- Support internal and external audits and inspections.
- Keep up to date on latest initiatives concerning animal welfare such as enrichment, handling and procedures.
- Liaise with external sites, facilities to aid continuous improvement in animal welfare.
People Leader
- Effectively manage direct reports on a day-day basis, through meaningful onsite interactions ensuring optimal performance and delivery to assigned client projects.
- Establish strong working relationships across the management community, identifying any potential areas for improvement and/or development and facilitating those opportunities for self and direct reports, where possible.
- Be a positive influence across the group, able to coach, guide and mentor more junior staff and peers as needed to achieve strategic goals as set out by the Senior Leadership Team and Site Director.
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Qualifications & Experience
- Degree, HND, or equivalent qualification in a biological or life sciences discipline, or significant equivalent experience in laboratory animal science.
- Demonstrable lab-based industry led experience in the Contract Research Organisation or biotech discovery environment.
- Proven leadership or supervisory experience, overseeing smaller teams on a day-day basis.
- Practical knowledge of standard conditions in animal facilities, including husbandry, biosecurity, environmental controls, and welfare assessment.
- Strong communication skills, able to foster working relationships with peers and reports alike in a professional manner.
- Home Office Personal Licence covering rodents.
- Eligibility and willingness to be appointed as a NACWO under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), subject to Home Office approval.
- Must be able to travel to the Portishead site daily and in an emergency.
- The role requires ability to provide out-of-hours NACWO support and unit work cover.
Advantageous, But Not Essential
- MSc/PhD within relevant discipline, in applicable field.
- Familiarity with requirements for ex vivo biomarker analysis techniques, assay development and validation.
- Proven track record of project leadership.
- Experience with client communication.
- Home Office Personal Licence covering surgical procedures and hands-on surgical experience in rodents (e.g., aseptic techniques, post-operative care).
- Eligibility and willingness to be appointed as a NTCO and/or NACWO under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), subject to Home Office approval.
- Understanding of use of anaesthetics and analgesics.
- A strong scientific and practical background in data analysis and experimental design.
What We Offer You
Charles River Discovery UK provides a competitive benefits package starting from day one of employment.
Financial & Retirement
- Highly competitive pension contribution packages, group life assurance, and group income protection.
Health & Wellness
- Private medical insurance (often extending to family members), private dental care, 24/7 remote GP access, and critical illness cover.
Work-Life Balance
- Generous parental leave policies, flexible working arrangements depending on business needs, and the option to buy or sell annual leave.
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Additional Perks
- Cycle to work scheme, electric car scheme, paid professional development and training opportunities, and a dedicated employee assistance programme for well-being support.
About Discovery
Discovery from Charles River is industry-proven in the successful development of novel therapies, with over 350 patents and 80 preclinical drug candidates delivered to our sponsors in the past 17 years. Backed by more than 650 scientists, our comprehensive, integrated portfolio employs the latest technology and platforms to provide chemistry, biology, and pharmacology services that support clients from the earliest stages of hit identification all the way through to IND. Our client-focused, collaborative approach creates true partnerships that anticipate challenges, overcome obstacles, and move us forward together on the journey of getting new drugs to market.
About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.
With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.
At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly supported the development of 86% of the drugs approved by the FDA in 2021.
At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to the principle of diversity and inclusion and work daily in this direction.
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