Offsite-Medical Microbiology Technologist

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES :

• With approval from the COR, make advance arrangements, within a minimum of three weeks’ advance notice, for checking out and picking up Government vehicles to travel to remote sites.
• Support maintenance of the lab’s College of American Pathologists (CAP) accreditation.
• Will play an instrumental role in performing biannual correlation study, documentation of quality controls, and maintenance for automated clinical microbiology instruments, performing the required proficiency survey and providing a summary of the conduct of this work in the annual report required.
• Collect MDROs and send them to the MRSN weekly for the phenotypic and genotypic characterization and respond to the inquiries from the MRSN leadership.
• Support the implementation of long and short-read sequencing platforms and perform quality control testing, instrument maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Work collaboratively within MRSN laboratories to sequence and analyze (assemblies, typing, comparative genomics, resistance gene predictions, etc.

the isolates in the MRSN repository as requested / prioritized by MRSN leadership.

• Utilize long and short sequencing technologies for high-throughput bacterial genome sequencing and support in the near real-time sequencing and genomic analysis of contemporary isolates received on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis at the MRSN.
• Troubleshoot existing technologies and validate and implement new sequencing technologies as required.
• Perform sequencing and / or genomic analysis of isolates as part of collaborative projects initiated by the MRSN leadership.
• Catalog and categorize all resistance genes of interest in target MDROs, to include : Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacteriaceae among others as determined by MRSN leadership and mission directives.
• Prepare flash and outbreak reports to communicate in near real time on the inferred occurrence of nosocomial transmission events.
• Prepare global and annual surveillance reports to communicate on the emergence and prevalence of MDROs in selected hospitals and / or regions of the world, as determined by MRSN leadership and mission directives.
• Assist in the instruction and execution of Next-Generation Sequencing teaching courses offered by the MRSN that involve whole genome sequencing assembly and analysis using a variety of software tools to better understand bacterial epidemiology and antibiotic resistance.

REQUIRED DEGREE / EDUCATION / CERTIFICATION :

Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university in medical laboratory science, medical technology, clinical laboratory science, or in a related science (e.

g., laboratory science such as chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology, immunology, etc.).

Medical Technologist (MT) / Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) / Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) certification by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP), National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA), or American Medical Technologists (AMT).

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE :

• Comprehensive knowledge and experience in performing clinical microbiology including identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests.
• Ability to collect MDROs and submit for the phenotypic and genotypic characterization.
• Comprehensive knowledge and experience in performing clinical microbiology including identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests.
• Basic knowledge of NGS technologies, including long and short-read sequencing platforms.
• Basic knowledge and experience in DNA extraction and DNA sequencing library preparations.

REQUIRED CITIZENSHIP AND CLEARANCE :

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Must have completed NACI with ability to obtain Secret Clearance.
• Must have Valid U.S. State Driver’s License
• Must have valid U.S. Passport.

The Alaka ina Foundation Family of Companies (FOCs) is a fast-growing government service provider. Employees enjoy competitive salaries.

Eligible full-time employees enjoy a 401K plan with company match; medical, dental, disability, and life insurance coverage;

tuition reimbursement; paid time off; and 11 paid holidays.