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Animal Care Facilities Engineer I

Summary

Responsible for all ACS (Animal Care Services) facilities with regard to building maintenance and equipment. Designs and fabricates new devices for special projects in relationship to the ACS facilities as well as devices needed for research in conjunction with principle investigator requests. Responsible for obtaining price quotes from vendors needed to repair equipment in all facilities not covered under normal operations and maintenance conditions. Performs equipment/systems preventative maintenance, equipment/systems trouble shooting, and repair on a regular basis. Orders and maintains inventory of repair and maintenance parts and supplies. Coordinates with contractors and vendors to ensure that the assigned work is done correctly. Inspects contractor work to ensure contract, code compliance, and work warranty dispute resolution. Responds to after-hours emergencies. May be assigned to on-call shifts.

Examples of Work

Job functions are specific duties that would be included in the essential functions of the job description. These functions are not all-inclusive nor do they cover the full extent of the duties performed.

  • Designs facilities, maintenance operations, and control systems.
  • Researches topics and/or coauthors research papers for publication.
  • Reviews design reports, plans, and specifications.
  • Performs engineering/architectural studies and prepares efficiency and performance reports.
  • Instructs others in the use and operation of research equipment.
  • Acts as the Facilities Engineer 2 or 3 in their absence.
  • Manages the department maintenance section which handles routine laboratory animal facility maintenance, painting, biomedical equipment preventive maintenance, animal housing, and equipment fabrication.

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate area; or a high school diploma or equivalent and four years of relevant experience. Appropriate college coursework or vocational/technical training may substitute at an equivalent rate for the required experience.

Preferred qualifications: Knowledge of equipment and facilities used in lab animal research. Need excellent communication skills, verbal and written, with ability to work in a teamwork environment with peers, researchers, vendors, trades personnel, and UF staff. Prefer HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and controls experience. Prefer experience with facilities and construction project planning. Experience with SharePoint and Microsoft Office suite software preferred. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science certification preferred.

Licensure and Certification

FL Incinerator Operator certification within 12 months of hire.
UF Supervisory Challenge completed within 18 months of hire.
A valid state driver’s license.

Supervision

Maintenance staff

To see common career pathways for each position at the University of Florida please visit the Career Paths section of the UFHR website.