Associate Scientist/Assistant Scientist I, REQ # 08-838

Employment Status: Full Time

Location:  Dugway, UT

Responsibilities:

Duties of this position will involve work related to and including cell culture of established human cell lines, such as preparing cell culture media, growing/propagating cell cultures in large volumes, preparing frozen stocks, viral propagation, performing sterility/viability checks, and employing excellent aseptic technique.
Will need to maintain a schedule and possibly work overtime to meet deadlines.
Tasks may be performed in a BSL-3 environment.

Other duties include:
Perform standard microbiological techniques including: bacterial propagation, morphological/biochemical testing, staining and microscopy techniques, and isolation of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.
Conduct characterization and identification methods such as: PCR, VNTR, AFLP, sequencing, MIDI, ELISA, and PAGE.
Prepare and present briefing to test directors and customers.
Document laboratory procedures and prepare detailed reports.
Must meet qualification requirements for the Biological Personal Reliability Program in order to handle Select Agents and work in BSL-3 environment.
Must meet eligibility requirements to obtain and maintain a US Department of Defense Security Clearance
Must be willing to participate in a vaccination program.

Experience/Skills/Education Requirements: 

BS degree in microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology or related life science from an accredited college or university (or an equivalent combination of education and experience). Must be able to execute specified experiments in microbiology laboratory for biological defense or environmental programs/projects. Participates as a member of an research/development team with responsibilities to execute assigned project objectives with nominal supervision. Provides laboratory support to test directors in the execution of specific projects. Generates and reduces data for test directors. Provides input to the production of test reports and maintains documentation of laboratory work. Must be competent in basic computer software (MS Work, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.)

Long periods of standing or sitting while wearing required personal protection equipment; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or similar activities; recurring lifting of moderately heavy items; walking over rough terrain or rocky surfaces.

Employee will be entrusted with working with pathogenic microorganisms and protein toxins after a very comprehensive training program. Manipulation of pathogenic and toxic materials will be conducted in Bio-safety Level III (BL-3) laboratory (utilizing personal protection equipment). Extensive work will also take place outside of the laboratory during field-testing. All of the environmental conditions normally encountered in the Western half of the United States can be expected in addition to exposure to nontoxic particles disseminated to the atmosphere during testing.

Applied Biosystems thermal cyclers, nucleic acid sequencers, and real-time detection systems, as well as standard biomolecular/microbiology equipment such as gel boxes, centrifuges, incubators, autoclaves, shakers, microscopes, UV/Vis spectrophotometers, plate readers, pH meters, analytical balances, and vortexers.

Attendance/Other Essential Functions:
Regular hours are Monday-Thursday 6:45am – 5:15pm Regular attendance and punctuality of scheduled hours is extremely important to attend meetings and meet deadlines. Overtime may be required.

Applied Biosystems thermal cyclers, nucleic acid sequencers, and real-time detection systems, as well as standard biomolecular/microbiology equipment such as gel boxes, centrifuges, incubators, autoclaves, shakers, microscopes, UV/Vis spectrophotometers, plate readers, pH meters, analytical balances, and vortexers.

Send Resume To:

Versar, Inc.
REQ # 08-838
E-mail: HR@versar.com

6850 Versar Center
Springfield, VA 22151
Fax: 703-642-6898

No phone calls please!