Scientist / Centre for Animal & Veterinary Sciences (Contract)

[What the role is]

The Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS), a cluster of NParks, safeguards the health and welfare of animals through comprehensive and integrated programmes and works closely with partners in the veterinary and animal-related industries to strengthen capacities and enhance competencies in animal health and welfare. It is the main touchpoint on animal and veterinary matters in Singapore and the first responder for all animal-related feedback. It also conducts public education and engagement programmes to foster a society where pet owners, communities, and animals co-exist in our City in Nature.

[What you will be working on]

You will be part of the Centre for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (CAVS) team under the Professional and Scientific Services Division of AVS. As a member of the trans-disciplinary team at CAVS, you will be responsible for providing professional and competent laboratory diagnostic and research support for animal and zoonotic disease biosurveillance programmes, various research projects with national and international partners, as well as laboratory services for external customers with the objective of meeting NParks mission to  create the best living environment through excellence in nature conservation, greenery and recreation, and veterinary care, in partnership with the community.

Duties include:

• Undertake assigned projects for method establishment/validation and molecular pathogen characterization.
• Perform laboratory diagnostic analysis, in support of disease outbreak investigations and biosurveillance programmes.
• To develop, establish, and validate test protocols for higher order pathogen characterization e.g. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and other sequencing platforms for the genetic/genomic analysis of veterinary and zoonotic pathogens, in various sample types including environmental samples (e-DNA and e-RNA pipelines).
• To transfer the applied research analysis pipelines for use in biosurveillance programs and disease investigation.
• Participate in the maintenance of a quality assurance system in compliance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017.

[What we are looking for]

• Areas of study in Biology, Biotechnology, Biomedical Science, Life Science, or related fields, with minimum one to two years of hands-on experience in a relevant veterinary, medical or research laboratory preferred.
• Highly motivated individual with passion for laboratory work.
• Team player with initiative, drive and good interpersonal/communication skills and able to work independently.
• Proficient in IT skills e.g. Microsoft Office.

Office Location:

Animal & Plant Health Centre, 6 Perahu Road Singapore 718827

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified. Successful candidates will be offered a 11-month employment contract.