Senior Scientist - Veterinary Applied Research

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 touch-point 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 humane and gracious society for all, where pet owners, communities, and animals co-exist in greater harmony within 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 (PSS) Division of AVS. As a member of the multi-disciplinary team at CAVS, you will be responsible for providing professional and competent laboratory research for animal and zoonotic disease biosurveillance programmes as well as various research projects with national and international partners 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.

You will be working on the following:

1. Undertake assigned projects for method establishment/validation and molecular pathogen characterization.
2. Develop, establish, and validate test and analysis 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).
3. Translate research outputs for use in biosurveillance programs and disease investigation.
4. Perform laboratory diagnostic analysis, in support of disease outbreak investigations and biosurveillance programmes.
5. Participate in the maintenance of a quality assurance system in compliance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017.

What we are looking for

1. Areas of study: Biology, Biotechnology, Biomedical Science, Life Science, or related fields, with minimum one year hands-on experience in a veterinary, medical or research laboratory.
2. Postgraduate qualification in Microbiology, Life Sciences, or related science discipline is preferred.
3. Highly motivated individual with passion for laboratory work.
4. Team player with initiative, drive and good interpersonal/communication skills and able to work independently.
5. Good IT skills e.g. sound applied knowledge of Microsoft Office.

Office Location: The Animal & Plant Health Centre, 6 Perahu Road Singapore 718827.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified. Appointment will be on a contract basis.