Associate Group Leader / In Vivo Unit Manager (Animal Research)

Location: Portishead, United Kingdom; daily travel to the Portishead site is required, including emergency attendance. The role also requires out-of-hours NACWO support and unit work cover.

Company

hirify.global provides clinical research services, commercial insights, and healthcare intelligence for the life sciences and healthcare industries.

What you will do

• Lead the daily operation and people management of a small rodent animal unit.
• Ensure compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, Home Office regulations, institutional requirements, and ethical standards.
• Oversee animal welfare, husbandry, health monitoring, biosecurity, environmental conditions, and facility records.
• Manage training, performance, rota planning, and day-to-day support for Technical and Husbandry Specialists.
• Coordinate with scientists, veterinarians, the NACWO, Named Persons, and external facilities to support preclinical study delivery.
• Support audits, inspections, SOP improvement, regulatory readiness, and licensed procedures.

Requirements

• Degree, HND, or equivalent qualification in biological or life sciences, or significant equivalent experience in laboratory animal science.
• Industry experience in a contract research organisation or biotech discovery environment, with practical knowledge of animal facility husbandry, biosecurity, environmental controls, and welfare assessment.
• Proven leadership or supervisory experience managing smaller teams.
• Home Office Personal Licence covering rodents.
• Eligibility and willingness to be appointed as a NACWO under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, subject to Home Office approval.
• Strong communication, organisational, coaching, and mentoring skills, with willingness to provide out-of-hours unit support.

Nice to have

• MSc or PhD in a relevant discipline.
• Experience with ex vivo biomarker analysis, assay development and validation, project leadership, or client communication.
• Personal Licence covering surgical procedures and hands-on rodent surgery experience.
• Eligibility and willingness to be appointed as a NTCO and/or NACWO under ASPA.
• Knowledge of anaesthetics, analgesics, data analysis, and experimental design.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive benefits package available from the first day of employment.
• Financial and retirement benefits.
• Health and wellness benefits.
• Work-life balance support and additional perks.
• Opportunity to contribute to ethically conducted preclinical research and animal welfare improvement.