Laboratory Administrative Assistant

Position: Laboratory Administrative Assistant (JDHAN_0322_010)

Department: Laboratory

Location: OUCRU-VN offices at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Kim Chung, Dong Anh & Phuong Mai, Dong Da, Hanoi, and at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi. Travel to hospitals, units around Hanoi, or within Viet Nam might be required.

Hours of work Full time: Monday – Friday, 37.5 hours per week, extra hours may be required.

Tenure: Initially for 01 years, including a 02 month probation period, with possibility of extension based on annual performance appraisal and Research approval

Reporting to: Hanoi Office Director, Lab manager

Background

The Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) is a large-scale clinical and public health research unit based in Viet Nam. We are hosted by the Hospital of Tropical Diseases (HTD) in Ho Chi Minh City, and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases (NHTD) in Hanoi. We also have sister units in Kathmandu, and Jakarta. As a Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme, we have received considerable support from the Wellcome Trust since our establishment in 1991.

Our ten-year vision is to have local, regional and global impact on health by leading a locally driven research programme on infectious diseases in Southeast Asia. This is being achieved via an integrated long-term research programme, contributions to training, the scientific literature, national and international meetings and membership of national and international committees. Priority is given to health issues important to the hospitals, and to Viet Nam as a whole. All work is intended not only to benefit the patients seen daily at our host hospitals but also to help improve patient care throughout Viet Nam and the region.

The main research interests are infectious diseases of local relevance, in the main unit in Ho Chi Minh City this includes dengue, infections of the central nervous system, HIV, emerging viral infections, malaria, tuberculosis, zoonotic infections, and antibiotic resistance; in Hanoi the focus is on respiratory viruses (influenza and SARS-CoV-2) and antimicrobial resistance.

We are looking for a laboratory administrative assistant to support the lab team in the management of the consumables and reagents, the management of the equipment including temperature monitoring of the freezers and organizing the maintenance, the organization of document system, and other administrative processes such as the import permits.

Please see more information on OUCRU Website: www.oucru.org.

Job summary

This position is responsible for the administrative support to OUCRU laboratories in Hà Nội.
Support the lab team in administrative and logistic issues including purchase requests, import permits, reception of items purchased, stock management and inventories, maintenance contracts.
Support the Quality Assurance officer in organizing the management of lab equipment (including maintenance and repairs), managing and maintaining document control system, document & record review and updates.
Liaise with the general financial and administrative team of OUCRU for all issues related to laboratory.
The lab assistant will be requested to move between sites within Hanoi on a weekly basis.

Key responsibilities and tasks

Supporting the Quality Assurance officer in organizing the management of laboratory documents and records as per OUCRU procedures related to document and record control systems. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Indexing, updating, storing and archiving lab documents and records, Health & Safety documents and records, laboratory quality management system documents and records and laboratory management personnel training records ;
- Scanning and uploading documents related to equipment maintenance and calibration, repair reports, certificates, training reports, etc;
- Update the equipment activities and upload the related reports to the Asset management system (DAX/Votiva).
Support Laboratory Manager and Quality Assurance officer in organizing the maintenance and calibration of lab instrument such as freezers and pipettes. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Developing routine preventive maintenance and calibration contracts and check the content of the contracts related to Equipment together with the purchasing team;
- Follow-up the execution of those contracts;
- Accompany external engineers coming to perform the maintenance on the different sites;
- Collect and upload the maintenance reports and coordinate with finance in clearing the payments in time;
- Support to do the inventory for Equipment in all sites once per year.
Support the lab team along the supply chain of stationary, lab consumables and reagents:
- Monitor inventories and prepare purchase requests in a timely manner,
- Communicate with suppliers and vendors and liaise with the Purchase department to collect quotations,
- Organize reception of items, using freezer-works for labeling and recording,
- Manage the stock, including monthly tracking of expired or soon-to-expire items, and planning and conducting inventories,
- Liaise with OUCRU’s CTU, Customs Offices, and Liaison Officers at OUCRU’s partnering institutions for obtaining import permits and retrieve items out of customs, as per Vietnamese regulations.
Initiate, organize, and support Laboratory Manager and Quality Assurance officer in the monitoring of temperature in lab equipment (freezers, incubators), summarizing the monitoring data, and respond to anomalies signals.
Support the Laboratory manager and Quality Assurance officer in organizing meetings, internal and external audit programs, and training programs, as per OUCRU procedures.
Perform small handiwork on lab equipment (defrosting freezers, cleaning water filters,…) and deal with equipment problems (identify the manufacturer/maintenance officer, contact with engineer to fix the problem, arrange visit, and follow-up the effectiveness of repairs), under the supervision and the responsibility of the Quality Assurance officer and/or as per equipment manufacturer’s instructions.
Support Laboratory manager in budget preparation, expenditure tracking of budget and materials.
Secretarial tasks such as minute the Lab meetings, translation (VN-EN and EN-VN), data entry, administrative and logistic support for meetings and trainings,…
Work as a substitute for other lab management staff in their administrative responsibilities.
Other duties related to lab management as requested by the Laboratory manager

Selection criteria

Essential:

BA/BSc
Documented experience in secretarial job (>1 year)
Knowledge in document management system and methodical approach to record-keeping
Experience in dealing with suppliers/manufacturers to perform equipment maintenance and repairs
Knowledge in purchase process and stock management
English basic skills in reading, speaking, writing and listening.
Familiarity with computers, particularly MS Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and email.
Able to work under pressure and multitasking skill

Desired:

Experience in document management system
Experience with laboratory work, or with healthcare institution, or research setting
Experience with import process in Vietnam
Well organized, enthusiastic and committed to Science/Research
Team player, Reliable

Benefits

Contracted salary: Negotiable (depending on actual experience and education).
Optional insurance: In-patient and out-patient medical coverage; Personal accident insurance coverage
Two months’ salary for annual bonus and clothes
Annual leave 18 days each year for the first year
Other responsibilities and benefits are based on Viet Nam Labour Law.

How to apply

Interested qualified candidates are invited to send their detailed resume and cover letter in English, including copies of relevant degrees, certificates by email to Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Hoa – Operations Manager: hoaptt@oucru.org

* The cover letter should detail:

– What part of your education, training or employment history has best equipped you for this position and why you would be a good candidate?

– Contacts of two referees who are your latest HR/ line manager and can provide details of relevant work experience and attitude

* We thank all applicants for their interest but only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.

Deadline for submission: 11^th April 2022