Animal Welfare Program Compliance Specialist

  • Charles River Laboratories
  • Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • Full Time

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.

Job Summary

We are seeking an Animal Welfare Program Compliance Specialist to support our CRADL sites. This position is based in Cambridge, MA, and follows a hybrid work model, requiring a combination of on-site and remote work.

This individual coordinates the execution of the Charles River animal welfare program at Insourcing Solutions CRADL sites. Ensures internal programmatic alignment in practices between sites and liaises between animal welfare teams, IACUC, Operations, EHS, and Veterinary Services utilizing resources from and ensuring compliance with Global Animal Welfare & Training. Supports correspondence with regulatory and accrediting agencies as well as internal and external auditors and ensures timely follow up to findings or areas of programmatic improvement.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The following statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

  • Responsible for scheduling and organizing North America CRADL Animal Welfare Team meetings
  • Administer Animal Welfare Team meetings and record minutes including reported animal welfare events, follow-up, resolution, and other discussions pertaining to long-term animal welfare initiatives
  • Attend IACUC meetings and present summaries of animal welfare events and updates, responding to and/or relaying committee questions and concerns as needed
  • Ensure that each vivarium has a designated and trained primary Animal Welfare Specialist at the technician level and a backup at the supervisor level.
  • Ensure that clients and staff are trained and familiar with animal welfare event reporting processes and able to identify their site's Animal Welfare Specialists
  • Conducts internal quality assurance procedures as part of the Post Approval Monitoring program
  • Maintains tracking documentation of Post-Approval Monitoring activity and assign follow up actions as needed
  • With operations team, assist in updating and implementing the Quality Improvement and Assurance program documentation across sites
  • Schedule and coordinate internal corporate program audits and visits, providing necessary documentation and organizing follow-up correspondence with input from appropriate stakeholders
  • Assist in producing reports for the Institutional Official
  • Work with management to ensure site compliance with Charles River animal welfare event reporting processes, including updated signage appropriately posted
  • Ensure Annual Welfare Training is completed and maintain documentation of signed animal welfare pledges
  • Maintain consistency between sites by advising site Animal Welfare Teams on responding to animal welfare events in congruency with similar events or trends at other sites

Essenttial Duties and Responsbilities (continued)

  • Serve as a Resiliency Ambassador through the resiliency program in Global Animal Welfare & Training
  • Identify additional candidates for Resiliency Ambassador and provide support for broadening the presence of the Resiliency program
  • Assist in processing client requests for documents such as Inter-Institutional Assurances, Memoranda of Understanding, etc., and ensure timely correspondence
  • Coordinate necessary correspondence with client funding agencies
  • Monitor research regulatory changes including federal, state and local compliance
  • Participate in initiatives and strategic plans including programmatic changes based on updated regulations and or site visit recommendation
  • Encourage innovations and process refinements that promote animal welfare by identifying potential nominees for programs such as PAWS awards
  • Coordinate the discussion, trial, and implementation of animal welfare initiatives to ensure alignment and consistency across sites
  • Identify trends in animal welfare events and concerns across sites and convey information to Attending Veterinarian and to relevant stakeholders, e.g. procurement and operation
  • Participate in the Animal Welfare Network by attending quarterly calls and staying apprised of trends across Charles River, applying lessons learned
  • Under the direction of the Attending Veterinarian or designee, propose, assign, and/or coordinate the implementation of policy and practice changes to promote animal welfare
  • Work to develop, cultivate, and maintain constructive working relationships with clients, IACUC members, and relevant teams to facilitate communication of animal welfare concerns and

actions taken to address them

  • Assist leadership to organize and ensure timely correspondence with external regulatory agencies, examples include AAALAC, OLAW, DEA, the Cambridge Commissioner on

Laboratory Animals

  • Schedule and coordinate external site visits and inspections, providing necessary documentation and organizing follow-up correspondence to leadership
  • Assist with semiannual facility inspections and program reviews as needed

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

The following are the minimum qualifications for this role:

  • Associate degree (A.A./A.S.) or Bachelor's degree (B.A./B.S.) in animal, laboratory, or life science field.
  • Minimum of three (3) years working in animal programs supporting veterinary staff or laboratory animal programs.
  • Minimum of (2) years' experience with an electronic protocol management system.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Administrative experience.
  • Previous IACUC and laboratory animal veterinary technician experience.
  • Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician (ALAT) certification from AALAS and Certified Professional IACUC Administration (CPIA).

The hourly range for this position is $34.50-$39.50. Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including experience, skills, education, certifications, and location.

About Insourcing Solutions

Charles River Insourcing Solutions can streamline research by delivering operational and cost efficiencies through the strategic insourcing of GMP, GLP and non-GLP research services from discovery through safety assessment. Insourcing Solutions provides you with the ability to maintain control of your facility and expertise while leveraging available space.

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 worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

We're committed to providing benefits that elevate your quality of life. Based on your position these may include: bonus/incentives based on performance, 401K, paid time off, stock purchase program, Health and wellness coverage, employee and family wellbeing support programs, and work life balance flexibility.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, family status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

It is unlawful in some states (including Massachusetts) to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

If you are interested in applying to Charles River Laboratories and need special assistance or an accommodation due to a disability to complete any forms or to otherwise participate in the resume submission process, please contact a member of our Human Resources team by sending an e-mail message to .... This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

For more information, please visit www.criver.com.

234093

Job ID: 523574451
Originally Posted on: 6/4/2026

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