Animal Health Technician

Vacancy Number: REF: AHT/AB/09/14
Department: Animal Biosciences
Duration: 3 years’ Contract

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit an Animal Health Technician to Manage Animal Resources at the Kapiti Plains Ranch, Machakos County.

ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and in 2014, an operating budget of about USD83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium  working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia.

ILRI works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries to keep their animals alive and productive, to increase and sustain overall productivity, find profitable markets for their products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases. 

Responsibilities

• Support animal health and production activities at the ranch that include:
• Clinical and pathological examinations of animals and recording of  findings;
• Sampling from animals according to protocols;
• Biological samples processing and analysis according to protocols;
• Basic parasitological examination of blood and faecal samples;
• Delivery of samples to the ILRI laboratory;
• Management of clinical and post-mortem records of animals and procedures performed;
• Treat animals with direction from ILRI institution veterinarian;
• Communicate regularly with ILRI institution veterinarian on herd health;
• Take care of the ranch resources;
• Any other duties that may be assigned by senior staff.

Requirements

• A Certificate or Diploma in Animal Health and Production from a recognised institution;
• At least 3 years’ experience for Certificate holders or 1 year experience for Diploma holders;
• Ability to work well in a team;
• Ability to maintain good relations with other staff members and researchers;
• Possess a valid driver’s license;
• Skilled at large animal handling;
• Skilled at sample collection (blood, faeces, etc) from cattle, and field preparation of blood and faecal samples for laboratory processing;
• Prepare blood samples for parasitological diagnostics;
• Skilled in reading blood slides and diagnosing blood-borne parasites of livestock and in conducting other measurements (eg PCV readings) on blood samples;
• Ability to prepare blood and serum samples for further processing and shipping;
• Ability to prepare faecal material of livestock origin for microscopy-based diagnostics (concentration techniques etc);
• Skilled in microscopy diagnostic techniques for gastro-intestinal parasites;
• Ability to undertake basic clinical diagnoses of endemic diseases of livestock;
• Ability to identify ticks and other ectoparasites;
• Ability to age animals through dentition;
• Skilled at maintaining accurate records;
• Ability to work with minimum supervision;
• Willingness to learn new field techniques where appropriate;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Some previous experience of working in a laboratory is desirable.

Terms of appointment: This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position based at our Kapiti Ranch Office, Machakos County and is for a 3 years’ contract period.

Job level and salary: This position is job level 1C with a starting salary of KES 51,967 per month. In addition to salary, ILRI offers medical insurance for staff and dependents, life insurance, pension at 12.5% employers contribution, annual holiday entitlement of 30 days + public holidays within ILRI’s National Recruited Staff Scheme.

How to apply: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development through our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ before 3 October 2014. The position title and reference number REF: AHT/ AB /09/14 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer