Internal job title: Associate Director CM (Comparative Medicine)

Location: Basel, CH, onsite #LI-onsite

The Head of Veterinary Medicine will lead a team of 3 VM associates to deliver the  "Veterinary Medicine" program for the Basel Rodent vivarium, with the aim of accomplishing flawless veterinary care including clinical monitoring/treatment and health & hygiene monitoring of  laboratory animal colonies as well as support of research groups in their in-vivo experimental work, organization/coordination of CM internal QA, leadership of veterinary technicians and training of staff. She/He will contribute to the CM leadership team onsite and globally for VM and CM strategies and improvements.

Key responsibilities:

• Prophylactic routine measures and diagnostic testing. Therapeutic measures in cases of diseases and injuries in animals. Herd treatments in animal colonies. 24 / 7 / 365 flawless veterinary emergency service.
• Microbiological routine monitoring of all animal populations and ad hoc testing of individual animals. Organization of specific microbiological investigations in suspected cases/diseases in animals and implementation of all necessary steps in case of animal hygiene breaks. Organization and monitoring of quarantine investigations. Interactions with third parties for the alignment on hygiene monitoring of Novartis contract breeding.
• Triage of animal imports and support of animal exports.
• Responsible for state-of-the art management of  prescription and non-prescription drugs in CM/VM as well as in all BR, Basel in-vivo labs according to legal requirements.
• Advising / supporting the research groups in veterinary medicine / lab animal science / microbiology / surgery / surgical hygiene and anesthesia. Veterinary input into new animal models of human disease.
• Organization and coordination of quality assurance in CM.
• Coordination of CM vivarium share point site incl. creation of guidance documents for all BR, BS in-vivo labs.
• Regular preparation and attendance of AAALAC site visits, and other regulatory inspections.
• Collaboration, support and implementation of CM-relevant projects – globally and locally.(e.g. 3R’s efforts)
• Continuing professional development and participation in training of CM staff.

Essential Requirements:

• Academic degree in Veterinary Medicine accepted in Switzerland, and 5+ years of relevant post-graduate experience
• Accredited & eligible to get cantonal licence for a veterinary practice together with a retail business licence for prescription and non-prescription drugs for Novartis
• Experience in applied laboratory animal science
• Experience in applied laboratory animal microbiology and hygiene monitoring
• Experience in small animal (rodent) medicine incl. surgery and anaesthesia
• Experience in experimental in-vivo work with rodent medicine incl. surgery and anaesthesia
• Able to work flexible and on weekends and holidays
• Work with potential health risk, (e.g., zoonoses, allergies) / Wearing PPE
• Languages: German and English

Desirable Requirements:

• Knowledge of Swiss federal, cantonal and local (Animal Welfare) law
• ECLAM certification preferred

*Please note that restrictions on flexible working may apply and will be discussed at interview stage if applicable

Accessibility and Accommodation:

Novartis is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to all individuals. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, or in order to receive more detailed information about the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to inclusion.switzerland@novartis.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.