Lab Coordinator

Job position: Lab Coordinator

The Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) was founded in 1970 through the initiative of the Norwegian and Swedish Save the Children organizations seconded by the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia. The Institute got its name from the Norwegian physician, Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, who first described the leprosy bacillus (Mycobacterium leprae). AHRI is a biomedical research institute that works in developing tools for prevention, control and treatment of mycobacterium and other diseases of public healthy importance through applied and basic biomedical research and training.

The Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (MNTD) Division in AHRI runs several projects in collaboration with local and international organizations. To coordinate and manage the division’s lab activities and different sub-teams and create a conducive ground for national and international laboratory quality accreditation the MNTD Division would like to hire qualified and experienced candidate in the position of Lab Coordinator for the projects within the Malaria Research Team.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Ensure the biosafety management system is developed and adopted, as well as safety or operations manual and a set of standard operating procedures
2. Ensure that every lab staff is working with good team spirit and perform her/his duties properly
3. Counsels and disciplines employees as needed to achieve productivity and smooth team spirit
4. Lead the preparation of annual lab plans and weekly lab plans; develop, implement, improve, monitor, and evaluate programs, projects, workflow, methods, and work products in accordance with established plans.
5. Administration and forecast resources needed like equipment, materials, reagents and supplies; manage organizational the lab equipment, reagents, and consumables under each project.
6. Work with staff to implement laboratory improvements and efficiencies identified through working groups with project PI, project coordinators, Directors, and other high-level management.
7. Obtain and maintain a Quality and Safety control system compliant with AHRI quality and Safety office allied with MNTD Quality and Safety focals.
8. Communicate with AHRI’s laboratory manager for anything that is beyond MNTD lab division 
9. Good communication skill with our collaborators abroad and within AHRI different lab units and management bodies
10. Delivering on time any assignment from core laboratory
11. Receive and record reagents under each project and store according to the manufacturer instructions.
12. Store each lab reagent based on the type of experiment used and make sure that it is easily accessible at all times and maintain accurate inventory records using a computerized system.
13. Control lab reagents for all types of lab experiments and make sure that it is recorded whenever lab staff is using from it
14. Order or inform project coordinator the availability of lab reagents before sample collection is started since procurement for the reagents most of the time takes longer time.
15. Assign and follow tasks given each lab staff daily
16. Follow up the sample reception, record and stored properly under different projects. And make sure that the number of samples, type of samples, Box layouts are shared with you and project coordinator before the transportation of the samples from field site to our lab (MNTD)
17. Prepare a schedule and follow the implementation for lab cleaning, lab logistics, gown laundry, Saturday shift for recording the fridge temperature, etc…
18. Order and follow lab reagent procurement before stock out and each project should cover its own lab reagents and consumables,
19. Ensure proper storage of samples and controls according to lab quality standards
20. Ensure every fridge under the MNTD lab division is recorded twice daily and every Saturday by the lab team according to the schedule you shared with everyone and hang the schedule on the notice board or on the wall.
21. Ensure every fridge is locked and keep the key with him/her
22. Induct new staff and MSC/PhD students, and ensure that they are registered and introduced to AHRI’s safety office before they start any lab experiments.
23. Assign a lab staff to train and mentor MSC/PhD students till they finished their lab experiment.
24. Ensure every lab staff and student follows experiments according to the protocol approved by the lab and export the data generated to the data team and ensure each experiment is recorded on lab log book and electronically and this version should be stored under MNTD’s central database system, not individual ownership. 

Required qualifications and work experience

·        A candidate must have MSc degree in Clinical Laboratory Science and/or Medical Laboratory Technology.

·        At least six years of relevant work experience and out of these four years should be as laboratory coordinator, manager or head at any health research institution and hospital.

Skills and Competences

ü In-depth knowledge of laboratory management and coordination practices, quality assurance protocols

ü Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to interact with various stakeholders effectively.

ü Proficiency in using computer skills preferably any laboratory information management software

ü Strong planning and organizational skills with the ability to prioritize tasks effectively in a fast-paced environment.

ü Fluency in English communication (spoken & written)

ü Willingness to be multi-tasked in lab coordination and quality management

ü Team work skills

Duty station: Addis Ababa

Required number: 1 (one)

Salary: As per the institutions salary scale

Term of employment: one year contract period with full time employment basis with possibility of extension based on performance and budget availability

How To Apply

How to Apply

Interested applicants who fulfil the above requirements should send their CV/resume through ethiojobs.net and to facilitate the screening process, applicants should also fill the online application form at the following website:

Please note that filling this online application form and sending your CV/resume through ethiojobs.net is mandatory and applicants who fail to fill the online form will not be considered for screening. Multiple submissions for this job post is not allowed.