Sr. Clinical Laboratory Technical Specialist
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.
Working at Abbott
At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and your family, be your true self, and live a full life. You’ll also have access to:
- Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
- An excellent retirement savings plan with a high employer contribution.
- A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries worldwide and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
- A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as the best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.
The Opportunity
This position works out of our Marshfield, WI location supporting rare disease genetic testing and hereditary cancer testing in the Cancer Diagnostics division.
We’re empowering smarter medical and economic decision-making to help transform the way people manage their health at all stages of life. Every day, more than 10 million tests are run on Abbott’s diagnostics instruments, providing lab results for millions of people.
Our Point of Care diagnostic portfolio spans key health and therapeutic areas, including infectious disease, cardiometabolic, informatics, and toxicology.
Our diagnostic solutions are used in hospitals, laboratories, and clinics around the globe. The crucial information derived from our tests, instruments, and informatics systems is often the first step in patient care decision-making for hundreds of health conditions from heart attacks to blood disorders to infectious diseases and cancers.
Our rapid diagnostics solutions are helping address some of the world’s greatest healthcare challenges.
Our molecular division delivers best-in-class innovative testing solutions for people around the world to provide answers to life’s critical health decisions. We help people live full and healthy lives through our accessible, molecular-based solutions.
The Sr. Clinical Laboratory Technical Specialist provides services of technical nature across Technical Laboratory areas. The Sr. Clinical Laboratory Technical Specialist is the front line in troubleshooting instruments, reagents, samples, and Laboratory Information system (LIS) issues and ensuring timely turnaround to ensure prompt test processing. The Sr. Clinical Laboratory Technical Specialist will perform complex laboratory tests in the clinical laboratory to provide rapid and accurate laboratory test results. This position will work directly with technical laboratory leadership to anticipate and resolve issues related to efficiencies in throughput, staffing, and laboratory processes. This position is also responsible for verifying in process sample status, pending list management, and investigating issues.
What You’ll Work On
Include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Perform highly complex analytic processes across multiple areas of the department without direct supervision.
- Operate laboratory instruments, performs maintenance, as needed, and ensures proper functioning of laboratory equipment and maintaining quality assurance records.
- Calibrate laboratory instruments to ensure accuracy of test results.
- Serve as immediate source of troubleshooting support to the technical laboratory teams and assist technical laboratory leadership in determining sources, solutions, and corrective actions for errors and issues.
- Pull, analyze, and interpret sample and instrument data and provide this information to other departments and customers, as needed.
- Apply step by step thinking, problem solving and critical thinking patterns.
- Ability to work on multiple projects across laboratory areas simultaneously.
- Maintain stringent standards for quality by investigating, correcting, and documenting any issues which might adversely impact the quality of test results and/or employee safety, and communicating these to the appropriate management representatives.
- Implement quality procedures and policies as necessary to support lab operations.
- Utilize statistical methods to assess laboratory testing.
- Ensure quality and timeliness of patient test results by investigating problems involving specimen collection, result reporting, and turn-around time.
- Maintain stringent standards for safety by investigating, correcting, and documenting any issues which might adversely impact employee safety, and communicating these to the appropriate management and EHS representatives.
- Stay abreast of industry to understand the potential impact and changes for the laboratory.
- Contributes to writing and modifying laboratory SOPs in order to maintain a high level of quality in test processes and results.
- Implement process improvements in across multiple laboratory areas for assays, workflows, and sample handling; and provide support to leadership and team during transitional phases.
- Assist leadership in researching, planning, writing, and executing new laboratory procedures, verifications, and validations relating to laboratory tests, workflow, instrumentation, sample handling and transportation.
- Ability to test and lead software improvements.
- Assist with training of laboratory procedures, processes, and policies as needed.
- Represent the laboratory by providing technical information and/or instruction to clients, new employees, students, residents, peers, and the public as requested.
- Demonstrate professional demeanor, in personal appearance and behavior, in all work-related interactions inside and outside of the laboratory.
- Ability to respond to stakeholder requests in a professional and timely manner.
- Uphold company mission and values through accountability, innovation, integrity, quality, and teamwork.
- Apply excellent verbal, nonverbal, and written communication skills.
- Ability to manage confidential information.
- Ability to become proficient in new programs rapidly.
- Apply high attention to detail.
- Ability to learn new laboratory skills and adapt to changing technology.
- Maintain regular and reliable attendance.
- Ability to act with an inclusion mindset and model these behaviors for the organization.
- Ability to work designated schedule.
- Ability to work on a mobile device, tablet, or in front of a computer screen and/or perform typing.
- Ability to work in front of a computer for up to 90% of a typical workday. Ability to work standing for approximately 90% of a typical workday.
- Ability to grasp with both hands; pinch with thumb and forefinger; turn with hand/arm; reach above shoulder height.
- May perform repetitious actions using lab tools.
- Ability to use near vision to view samples at close range.
- May be exposed to hazardous materials, tissue specimens, and instruments with moving parts, lasers, heating and freezing elements, and high-speed centrifugation.
- Participate in continuing education and staff meetings. Responsible for own professional development.
Required Qualifications
- Associate degree in a laboratory science (chemical or biological science) or medical laboratory technology from an accredited institution or equivalent laboratory training and experience as defined:
- 60 semester hours or equivalent from an accredited institution that, at a minimum, includes either 24 semester hours of medical laboratory technology courses, OR 24 semester hours of science courses that include six semester hours of chemistry, six semester hours of biology, and 12 semester hours of chemistry, biology or medical laboratory technology in any combination.
- 4+ years of high complexity testing experience in a clinical laboratory setting.
- Demonstrated strong professionalism and leadership skills.
- Demonstrated intermediate level project management skills.
- Demonstrated strong technical skills and professional working knowledge of job industry.
- Demonstrated ability to perform the Essential Duties of the position with or without accommodation.
- Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship.
- Professional working knowledge of local, state, and federal laboratory regulations.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in a chemical, biological or clinical laboratory science or medical technology from an accredited institution.
- For degrees not in those listed above: 90 semester hours which must include 16 semester hours in chemistry (6 of which must be in inorganic chemistry); 16 semester hours in biology courses; and 3 semester hours of math.
- 5+ years of high complexity testing experience in a clinical laboratory setting.
- Possession of active ASCP certification in QLS, MLS, MLT, or MB.
- Experience with laboratory automation.
- Experience working with laboratory information systems.
- Experience in molecular testing.
Learn more about our health and wellness benefits, which provide the security to help you and your family live full lives: https://abbottbenefits.com/
Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity.
Connect with us at abbott.com, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AbbottCareers.
The base pay for this position is $61,300.00 – $122,700.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.