Technical Specialist Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of diverse individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your diversity of culture, thinking, learning, and leading is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt's mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

HLA Lab

Job Summary:

This position performs all clinical testing, and instrument management for histocompatibility, and Immunogenetics Laboratory. Provides leadership in facilitating effective and efficient integration of the team and operations to properly provide laboratory services. Works with medical director, manager, and Team Lead to define performance standards and to support consistent outcomes which meet or exceed quality standards. Plans, coordinates, and facilitates the activities of personnel engaged in testing and implements new technology. Must be available for future nights and weekend scheduled on-call responsibility.

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Position Shift:

• VUMC, MetroCenter, Nashville, Tennessee. Fulltime, Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm CST

Preferred Qualifications :

Experience with HLA database applications

Bachelor's degree and 3yrs experience in Histocompatibility

Certified Histocompatibility Specialist (CHS), Certified Histocompatibility Technologist (CHT)

State of Tennessee categorical/ special analyst Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics

Sign-On Bonus Requirements :

The sign-on bonus is not applicable to current VUMC staff or former staff who have worked for VUMC in the past 12 months. The sign-on bonus is only available for full-time positions.

Consideration may be given to candidates that can obtain certification within 120 days, in accordance with state guidelines.

#VUMCRocks , #LabWeek , #Join Us!

VUMC Diagnostic Laboratories Summary

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has been rated the #1 Hospital in Nashville and the state of Tennessee by the US News & World Report. VUMC's Diagnostic Laboratories are undergoing an exciting time of change, including a planned expansion to a new state-of-the-art 110,000 sq ft laboratory. This, along with an established Professional Advancement Ladder (PAL), provides additional opportunities for growth within our system. VUMC is an academic medicine environment, providing team members frequent interaction with clinical teams and exposure to complex and novel infectious cases.

Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratories Department Summary

An exciting part of our "Laboratory Transformation " project is the creation of our Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory . This high-complexity laboratory will provide services to our transplant center, one of the country's largest and busiest transplant programs. The VUMC transplant center performs renal, cardiac, liver, lung, pancreas, and bone marrow/HSC transplants, as well as multi-organ procedures.

Our laboratory team will work closely with transplant surgeons/physicians/coordinator to measure and minimize the pre-transplant immunological risk. Following transplantation, we will monitor the early onset of allo-antibodies for a rapid treatment to prevent rejection complications.

We are looking for bright, energetic, and creative candidates with a record of independent work under complex conditions. They must be curious learners, self-motivated and capable of conducting multiple tasks with great attention to details. They should have a strong desire for ownership in developing this new laboratory, excellent communications skills, and strong work ethic.

The ideal candidate should have previous experience of clinical histocompatibility or, previous experience performing next generation sequencing and/or detecting antibodies using liquid arrays and flow cytometric assays.

A preferred skill set will be to have previous experience in the implementation of a Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory specific lab information system and solid MS Office Suite experience.

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has been rated the #1 Hospital in Nashville and the state of Tennessee by the US News & World Report. VUMC's Diagnostic Laboratories are undergoing an exciting time of change, including a planned expansion to a new state-of-the-art 110,000 sq ft laboratory. This, along with an established Professional Advancement Ladder (PAL), provides additional opportunities for growth within our system. VUMC is an academic medicine environment, providing team members frequent interaction with clinical teams and exposure to complex and novel infectious cases.

VUMC Recent Accomplishments

Because we are committed to providing the best in patient care, education and research, we are proud of our recent accomplishments:

• US News & World Report: #1 Adult Hospital in Tennessee and metropolitan Nashville, named to the Best Hospitals Honor Roll of the top 20 adult hospitals, 10 nationally ranked adult specialty programs, with 3 specialties rated in the top 10 nationally, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt named as one of the Best Children's Hospital in the nation, with 10 out of 10 pediatric specialties nationally ranked.
• Healthcare's Most Wired: Among the nation's 100 "most-wired" hospitals and health systems for its efforts in innovative medical technology.
• Becker's Hospital Review: named as one of the "100 Great Hospitals in America", in the roster of 100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs and to its list of the 100 Hospitals with Great Heart Programs.
• The Leapfrog Group: One of only 10 children's hospitals in the to be named at Leapfrog Top Hospital.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science: The School of Medicine has 112 elected fellows
• Magnet Recognition Program: Received our third consecutive Magnet designations.
• National Academy of Medicine: 22 members, elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding achievement

Human Rights Campaign Healthcare Equality Index: 6th year in a row that Vanderbilt University Medical Center was a Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Works with medical director, manager, and team lead to enable the team to optimize operational processes and meet quality performance standards within the Laboratory service.
• Participates in the employee selection process, assures staff are properly trained and meet competencies, identifies training needs, provides feedback for performance evaluation.
• Assists with developing policies and protocols and implementing quality control/assurance program, including appropriate proficiency testing and peer review standards.
• Maintains all required activities and documents to assure compliance with both regulatory and accreditation standards applicable to this laboratory.
• The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

• Leadership (Fundamental Awareness): Understands the difference between managing people and leading people. Demonstrates leadership with peers and as a member of a team. Influences others positively in work situations without having commensurate authority. Shows technical leadership in all areas of Histocompatibility testing by taking responsibility for projects and assignments. Demonstrates company values, high ethical principles, and personal integrity in everyday activities.
• Compliance (Novice): Can explain and apply basic statutory instructions in normal situations on the job. Understands the principles upon which the rules and regulations are based. Appropriately escalates problems relating to rules and regulations in timely and effective manner.
• Quality Management (Novice): Has provided continuous analysis and evaluation of assignment work processes, constantly striving for improvement in the way tasks and activities are accomplished by questioning their value to the process and contributing creative solutions. Has participated in the process of establishing, communicating and monitoring standards for quality and excellence. Demonstrates the ability to actually work on and improve a current business process, product or service.
• Business Results (Fundamental Awareness): Implements appropriate measures for attaining business results and tracks progress in meeting goals and objectives. Demonstrates the ability to deliver products and services on time, within budget, and in accordance with organizational standards and goals. Continuously demonstrates a strong focus on quality. Responds effectively to customer or client needs. Recognizes incipient problems and communicates them to management.
• Operations Planning (Novice): Demonstrates ability to realistically anticipate resource needs, identify discrete tasks, set priorities, define dependencies, schedule activities, meet deadlines, and organize work within areas of direct responsibility. Appropriately matches equipment and capital resources to task demands. Achieves results within budget. Competently handles multiple assignments simultaneously. Reshapes project during life-cycle evolution, if needed. Demonstrates ability to break down work into manageable and measurable units. Accepts changes to assignments with minimal disruption and loss of productivity. Able to absorb changes to major assignments while maintaining a high level of performance. Uses available time efficiently. Follows up to assure problems and issues are resolved.
• Employee Management (Fundamental Awareness): Understands the need for motivation, job satisfaction, performance feedback and communication. Demonstrates the ability to work well with others and build effective relationships. Distributes work assignments fairly, clearly defining tasks, roles and responsibilities. Establishes a positive work environment. Keeps people focused on the "big picture" and motivates them to perform at a high level.
• Laboratory Practices (Intermediate): Demonstrates mastery of laboratory practices in practical applications of a difficult nature. Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully delivering products and services using laboratory practices without requiring support and instruction from others. Able to train and educate by setting the example, giving technical instruction, providing leadership, and generally raising the level of performance of others while on the job.

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health's reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

Core Accountabilities:

Organizational Impact: Delivers projects/assignments that have a direct impact on goals/objectives of the unit/department that the job is in. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Conducts extensive analysis of situations or data to resolve numerous, complex issues; may involve the input/work of others. Breadth of Knowledge: Has in-depth level of knowledge within a professional area and working knowledge of other areas. Team Interaction: May lead mid-sized projects; coaches and guides team members.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas. - Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships. - Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences. Delivering Excellent Service: - Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions. - Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly. - Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area. - Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches. - Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges. - Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Histocompatibility Specialist - American College of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ACHI), Histocompatibility Technologist - American College of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ACHI)

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

3 years

Education:

Bachelor's (Required)

Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and to the principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. EOE/AA/Women/Minority/Vets/Disabled