Director of Vivarium Operations

Company Overview

Astera Neuro, part of the Astera Institute, is building the tools to decipher and ultimately write the neural codes behind perception, thought, behavior, and internal state. Since these tools don't yet exist, we're assembling a founding team of neuroscientists, computational scientists, and engineers to build them (hardware, software, and methods) and use them to study neural activity at unprecedented scale, with direct relevance to neurological and psychiatric disease. We do high-risk, high-reward science in a well-resourced, collaborative environment with competitive pay, and share our work openly under Astera's Open Science Policy.

Position Summary

We are building a new state of the art vivarium in the East Bay to support our neuroscience programs, including a substantial optogenetics and advanced imaging portfolio. We need a senior operations leader to take full ownership of the facility: building the regulatory infrastructure, setting up the physical space, and hiring and running a large team of animal care staff across all levels. We are hiring this leader now, during design and construction, so the person who will run the facility is the same person who shapes it.

This role spans two phases. In the spin up phase you will help shape facility design and commissioning, build our permits and regulatory registrations, qualify vendors, develop SOPs, and hire and train the team. Once running, you will own the vivarium day to day, including full staff leadership, husbandry oversight, vendor and budget management, and continuous inspection readiness. The right person treats safety and compliance as the foundation for ambitious science, not an obstacle to it.

What You Will Build

• Build the regulatory infrastructure from the ground up: site permits, USDA APHIS Class R registration, PHS Assurance through OLAW, the path to AAALAC accreditation, and the IACUC infrastructure, working with the attending veterinarian and outside regulatory consultants.

• Lead the vivarium build out: partner with our architects, engineers, and construction team through design and construction to ensure facility systems and equipment meet program requirements, source and qualify vendors for caging, feed, bedding, enrichment, supplies, and waste handling, and plan and execute the commissioning needed before animals arrive.

• Own the operational readiness plan: sequence permits, staffing, training, equipment, and SOPs against the construction schedule, and drive the program to a timely occupancy.

• Develop the SOP library covering husbandry, sanitation, biosecurity, environmental monitoring, emergency response, and occupational health.

• Hire, train, and lead a multi-level animal care organization of 20 or more staff, including supervisors, building the team structure and career paths as the program scales.

• Oversee daily husbandry, sanitation, environmental monitoring, and animal health programs in coordination with the attending veterinarian.

• Own the facility budget along with ordering and inventory for animals, supplies, and equipment, and manage colony tracking, breeding records, and census reporting.

• Maintain all permits, registrations, and accreditations on a current basis, and run the occupational health and safety program to keep the facility in continuous inspection readiness for IACUC, USDA, and AAALAC.

• Coordinate with PIs and research staff on protocol scheduling, procedure room access, and training, and build the reporting that gives scientific and executive leadership clear visibility into facility operations.

Who You Are

Required:

• Bachelor's degree with 10+ years of progressive experience in vivarium or laboratory animal facility operations, including 6+ years in a facility leadership role. Background in animal science, biology, veterinary technology, or a related life science, or equivalent experience.

• A track record of standing up or significantly reorganizing a vivarium program, including direct experience with a new facility startup, major expansion, or renovation.

• Experience hiring, developing, and managing a large, multi-level animal care organization of 20 or more staff, including supervisors.

• Hands on knowledge of rodent husbandry, breeding, and colony management.

• Deep working knowledge of the regulatory landscape: USDA APHIS, PHS Policy and OLAW, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, AAALAC standards, and IACUC processes.

• AALAS LATG certification, or LAT certification with LATG in progress.

• Strong project and operations management skills, with the ability to hold a construction milestone, a permit timeline, a vendor quote, an SOP review, and a staffing plan in mind at once and move them all forward together.

• Excellent communication skills with researchers, vendors, regulators, and senior leadership.

Preferred/Nice to Have:

• Experience securing USDA, OLAW, or AAALAC registrations for a brand new program from the ground up.

• Experience working with architects, engineers, and commissioning agents during vivarium design or construction.

• Familiarity with optogenetics and in vivo imaging workflows, including laser safety, light tight rooms, care of animals with chronic optical or electrode implants, and support for two photon or holographic stimulation experiments.

• Experience with non-rodent species or NHP facilities.

• Familiarity with vivarium management or colony tracking software.

• Experience growing an organization from a small founding team into a larger, structured department.

• Experience managing a facility operating budget and capital equipment planning.

• CMAR certification.

• Experience presenting facility operations and readiness updates to executive leadership.

Why Join Us

Very few people in this field get to build a vivarium from a blank slate: shape the facility during design and construction, stand up the regulatory program, hire the team, and then run what they built. This is that role. You will take Astera Neuro's new state of the art vivarium in the East Bay from construction through occupancy to a fully staffed, inspection ready facility, backed by a well resourced institute and a founding team of scientists and engineers, in support of a substantial optogenetics and advanced imaging research portfolio.

Astera Neuro provides a comprehensive benefits package and total compensation that is competitive and commensurate with the level of experience and qualifications.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion.