Animal Safety Specialist

Job Posting Title:

Animal Safety Specialist

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Hiring Department:

Environmental Health and Safety

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Non-Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue

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Location:

AUSTIN, TX

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Job Details:

General Notes

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) promotes healthy and safe operations on campus, to protect students, faculty, staff, and visitors, and to ensure the protection of the environment.

We are committed to conducting our work in a way that reflects our value of diversity. To that end, we want all of our employees to feel confident that their varied backgrounds and experience are embraced.

Your skills will make a difference.

You’ll be working for a university that is internationally recognized for its academic programs and research. Your work will make a difference in the lives of FAS staff, thereby enhancing the student experience. If you’re the type of person that wants to know your work has meaning and impact, you’ll like working in our department and for UT Austin. UT Austin provides an outstanding benefits package including but not limited to:

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%)
• Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options
• Generous paid vacation, sick time, and holidays
• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan, with 8% employer matching funds
• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b)
• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses
• Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities.
• Tuition assistance
• Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets
• Free access to UT Austin’s libraries and museums with a staff ID card
• Free rides on all UT shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card
• For more details, please see https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards .

For more information on the Environmental Health and Safety group, please visit https://ehs.utexas.edu/ .

Purpose

Play a key role in UT Austin’s “What starts here changes the world” by influencing faculty, staff, and students and providing accurate and professional guidance to enhance the safety culture on campus. Work within the diverse and multifaceted Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), where no two days are alike. Provide technical support for the Animal Make Safe (AMS) program through daily incident response.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support of the Animal Make Safe (AMS) program through daily incident response. Work with outside agencies to investigate animal contact cases. Attend training, seminars, and workshops to gain and maintain knowledge for Animal Make Safe. Assist in the development of standard operating procedures and other written guidelines for the AMS program. Assist in training employees in procedures for AMS. Serve as a media point of contact for public interest stories about AMS. Participate in tabling events to promote the AMS program and support EHS. Maintain AMS equipment. Manage AMS database.
• Participate in monthly Safety Team meetings with the Dean of Students to review student events involving animals. Review and approve requests to bring live animals onto campus. Visits live animal events to make sure they are in compliance.
• Review, inspect and monitor of wildlife issues in buildings, new construction, and new properties. Work with building managers and other departments to identify and facilitate exclusion and repair requests and resolve wildlife issues.
• Assist with various Green Labs efforts including the Surplus Chemical program, specialty recycling collections, Lab Supply Swaps, water and energy conservation programs, and outreach.
• Responsible for the safe collection, handling, and processing of hazardous waste, regulated medical waste, and other regulated waste materials for the University of Texas at Austin campuses following all regulatory requirements and internal procedures. This includes scheduling or coordinating waste collections with internal customers as needed.
• Perform lab inspections at all UT research facilities. This includes entering evaluations, emailing evaluations, chemical inventories, lab personnel, updating and printing lab sign information, and training.
• Performs other related functions as assigned. Attends staff meetings, safety training, or meetings. Attends plant operation and maintenance training courses. Required to carry a University cell phone during work and on-call hours.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Natural Science, Industrial Hygiene, Environmental Science, or a related field. At least two years of experience in the operation and support of environmental health and safety programs, animal control, or related fields.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

Required qualifications, plus three years of experience in the operation and support of environmental health and safety programs, animal control, or related fields.

Driving Required

This job requires a class “C” operator’s driver’s license. The applicant selected must provide a current three-year driving record from the current state of residence. If not currently a Texas resident, a Texas driver’s license must be obtained within 30 days of becoming a Texas resident.

Salary Range

$46,000 + depending on qualifications

Work Shift

40 hours a week, Monday – Friday 08:00 AM – 05:00 PM. Extended shifts including nights, weekends, and holidays

Working Conditions

May be required to work in confined spaces, manholes, tunnels, and elevated work. May be exposed to loud noise, high dust, and allergen levels. May be required to lift up to 50lbs. Often required to twist, grasp, push, pull and bend. May be required to perform elevated work. Occasional work from ladders and/or scaffolds. May be required to operate forklifts, personnel lifts, and cranes.

Required Materials

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

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Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer , complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English) [PDF]
• E-Verify Poster (Spanish) [PDF]
• Right To Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right To Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

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Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031 .

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the 2021 report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe, Suite UTA 2.206, Austin, TX 78701.