About the Position: Serves as animal caretaker and maintains sanitation within the facilities associated withlaboratory animals at the US Army Veterinary Training Center (VTC), Ft Sam Houston, Texas.

Duties

Serves as an animal caretaker maintaining sanitation within the facilities associated with laboratory animals. Responsible for husbandry of animal species to include, but not limited to cats, dogs, mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbit, hamsters, sheep, goats and swine. Supports personnel with handling a population of approximately 75 animals to administer medication, examination procedures, relocation, and grooming. Ensure accurate identification of animals moved, requested, or treated. Observes feeding habits of individual animals and reports any irregularities in appetite, consumption rate or rejection of food. Prepares and feeds regular and special diets to animals. Able to unload, lift, carry, and stack large bags or boxes of animal feed weighing 40-50 pounds, bedding materials, and other supplies and equipment weighing up to 75 pounds.

Requirements

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position requires a pre-placement medical and annual medical surveillance exam in accordance with Occupational Health requirements.
• Required to work other than normal duty hours, which may include shift work, overtime, evenings, weekends, and/or holidays.
• Position may require certification of training at the assistant level in the laboratory animal field by the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science and/or four months experience with laboratory animals in a medical research facility.
• Employee must be willing and able to obtain and maintain all required AALAS training and/or other training as dictated by current Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Policies within the time frame determined by management.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities. 30 Percent or More Disabled VeteransCurrent Department of Army Civilian EmployeesCurrent Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel WorkforceExecutive Order (E.O.) 12721Interagency Career Transition Assistance PlanLand Management Workforce Flexibility ActMilitary Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI)Non-Department of Defense (DoD) TransferOffice of Personnel Management (OPM) Interchange Agreement EligiblePeople with Disabilities, Schedule APostal Service/Peace Corps and Other Unique AuthoritiesPriority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician EligiblePriority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) EligiblePriority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability RetirementPriority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference EligibleReinstatementVeterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998 Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. There is no specific length of training or experience required. However, you must be able to demonstrate, through experience shown in your written application materials that you possess the sufficient knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the work of this position without more than normal supervision. Minimum Qualifications (Screen Out Element): Ability to do the work of an Animal Caretaker without more than normal supervision. The ability to perform some task including simple care for common laboratory animal species; assisting personnel in handling animals, and reporting irregularities in appetite, consumption rate or rejection of food or have received training on handling laboratory animal species; performing husbandry of animals, and maintaining laboratory equipment to include the operation of washing machines, bottle washer, incinerators and/or other related equipment - Failure to meet this Screen Out Element will result in an ineligible rating. Ability To Do The Work Of The Position Without More Than Normal Supervision Screen OutAbility to Interpret Instructions, Specification, etc.Ability To Use and Maintain Tools and EquipmentDexterity and SafetyKnowledge of MaterialsTechnical Practices (theoretical, precise, artistic)USE OF MEASURING INSTRUMENTS (MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, AS APPROPRIATE TO LINE OF WORK) Physical Effort: Animal care and grounds/facility maintenance duties will involve the movement and manipulation of heavy, awkward, and potentially injurious equipment; and the handling and restraint of (less than cooperative) animals. Such duties must be undertaken with proper personal protection provisions, and when appropriate, with personnel or mechanical assistance. Duties require prolonged standing, kneeling, crawling, repeated bending and frequent bending, lifting, and standing/working on hard concrete or asphalt ground surfaces. Must be capable of performing moderately heavy physical labor for several consecutive hours in outdoor environment, typical for South Texas, at all times of the year. Working Conditions: Animal care and maintenance duties are performed in both indoor (climate controlled) and outdoor environments. Animal care and use facilities are a combination of modern, conventional laboratory animal design, and outdoor cage runs and kennels for dogs, sheep, goats and pigs. Potential duty-related hazards include animal bites, scratches, and kicks; animal-related allergies; heat/steam injury from cage washing; exposure to potentially hazardous compounds (pesticides, medical compounds as antibiotics and sanitizing chemicals) and materials; lifting and crush injuries from heavy animals, caging systems, and grounds maintenance equipment. There is a remote possibility of exposure to certain zoonotic diseases including, but not limited to, Pasturella infected animal bites and mycotic(fungus) infections of the skin.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Contacts

• Address FR-APF-W3VZAA US ARMY TRADOC MEDICAL COE DO NOT MAIL Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 US
• Name: Army Applicant Help Desk