Shirley Parsons has been retained by the University of California, Los Angeles, to seek a Biosafety Manager to lead its biological safety and high-containment programs on campus. The Biosafety Manager will act as the campus Biosafety Officer (BSO), which serves as the campus subject matter expert for biological safety/biosecurity at UCLA. The Biosafety Manager will be ex-officio member of the UCLA Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and is tasked with advising the committee on best management practices for mitigating biological hazards.
The Role
- Act as the Alternate Responsible Official to the High Containment Director and Associate Biosafety Officer for the Select Agent Program;
- Support and oversee the High Containment Director in managing the BSL-3 facilities & operations;
- Support and oversee the Vivarium Safety Officer in providing safety services to vivarium staff and researchers working with animals and plants;
- Set schedules and assignments of biological use authorization reviews;
- Set inspection assignments of laboratories with biological hazards including animal biocontainment facilities;
- Serve as the primary biosafety subject matter expert, advising stakeholders and supporting institutional committees on best practices
- Function as point of contact during regulatory inspections (NIH, CDC USDA, etc.);
- Review and manage the campus medical waste program;
- Provide input for Research Safety Plan Reviews;
- Manage biosafety training development; and
- Develop and maintain campus documents and policies such as the UCLA Biosafety Manual, Exposure Control Plans, Standard Operating Procedures/Policies, etc.
The Candidate
- Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in biosafety, including management of BSL-3 or higher containment facilities and working with infectious agents, human gene transfer, recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acids.
- Demonstrated leadership experience overseeing professional staff in a highly regulated environment, including mentoring and performance management.
- In-depth knowledge of NIH Guidelines, Cal/OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard, and federal select agent regulations.
- Experience working with vivarium operations and high-containment environments, managing risks associated with animal care, zoonotic diseases and infectious agents.
- Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with other staff members, administrators, managers, subordinates and academia.
- Ability to analyze complex technical data from environmental surveys, using logic and quantitative reasoning.
- Ability to make oral presentations, lead meetings, with persons of various social, cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds to persuade others to accept a specific action or opinion, and also to provide information to explain procedures, policies, etc.
- Skill in writing grammatically correct, concise and accurate communication for the purpose of training, inspection, gathering and dissemination of information relevant to biosafety.
- Demonstrated experience in coordinating and delegating tasks with various groups to meet common goals.
- In-depth knowledge of NIH Guidelines, Cal/OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard, and federal select agent regulations.
- Demonstrated experience in coordinating and delegating tasks with various groups to meet common goals.
- Bachelor’s Degree Microbiology, biology, industrial hygiene or related biological science or safety disciplines or equivalent experience / training Or Master’s Degree Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) is preferred but not required in biological sciences, microbiology, or related field or equivalent experience / training.
- Current professional biosafety registration or certification (RBP or CBSP, respectively) or eligibility for certification is strongly preferred.
