Medical Laboratory Scientist Blood Bank

Job Family:

Scientist

Travel Required:

None

Clearance Required:

Ability to Obtain Public Trust

What You Will Do:
We are seeking a Medical Laboratory Scientist to independently provide clinical support services to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. The contractor will support transfusion medicine training for sponsored programs, including transfusion medicine and specialist programs. This is a full-time, on-site role in Bethesda, MD.

• Perform pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical laboratory testing using automated and manual methods in compliance with regulatory and accrediting agency requirements, including ABO/Rh typing, direct antiglobulin testing, antibody screening and identification, red blood cell (RBC) phenotyping, elutions, crossmatches, and isohemagglutinin titers.

• Independently resolve routine RBC blood group antibody problems and perform moderately complex testing in consultation with the technical specialist.

• Operate laboratory equipment to include performance of quality control checks, preventative maintenance, and calibration.

• Prepare blood components from whole blood collections, including frozen plasma, leukocyte-reduced red blood cells, buffy coat, and pathogen-reduced platelets.

• Manage blood component inventory and coordinate the import and export of required blood components.

• Properly prepare chemical reagents and replace expired reagents or defective products to ensure valid patient results.

• Operate laboratory equipment including centrifuges, dry bath incubators, and blood bank refrigerators.

• Perform blood typing, antibody screening, compatibility testing, and antibody identification procedures.

• Perform lot release and labeling for blood components.

• Evaluate testing and component orders for appropriateness based on screening criteria and communicate with clinical care teams.

• Identify and report critical, abnormal, and unacceptable test results and follow up according to established protocols.

• Document test and analysis findings and provide summaries to clinical and medical staff.

• Enter result data into standard spreadsheets and databases based on requirements.

• Identify problems with instrumentation, methodology, specimens, supplies, or results and act as outlined in predetermined protocols.

• Document quality assurance steps associated with testing procedures and report findings.

• Distribute samples to proper laboratory analytical section or affiliate laboratories as instructed by Laboratory Manager and protocols.

• Communicate with the laboratory manager and clinical staff regarding supplies needed to maintain uninterrupted operations on the clinical unit.

• Provide technical guidance and customer support to internal and external stakeholders by answering questions on analyte stability, reference materials, and statistical information, while serving as a resource for problem resolution and client needs.

• Perform minor repairs, as necessary.

• Monitor and maintain an appropriate supply inventory.

• Complete supply requests and coordinate ordering and delivery with procurement staff.

• Operate specialized clinical laboratory instruments and equipment, including Luminex, to generate testing results for researchers.

• Assist with the maintenance and updating of freezer inventories.

• Maintain documentation in accordance with National Institutes of Health and Department of Health and Human Services standard operating procedures and policy; comply with laboratory standard operating procedures, regulatory and safety guidelines, environmental policies and procedures, and College of American Pathologists regulations for data input, storage, and retrieval in laboratory information systems.

• Comply with all State, Federal, CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), safety, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), United States Department of Transportation and other government and applicable agency regulation.

• Research clinical and research regulatory requirements and recommend updates to processes and procedures.

• Conduct technical training for clinical fellows, visiting scientists, medical laboratory science students, and specialists.

What You Will Need:

• Bachelor’s degree in health sciences or related discipline

• Minimum FOUR (4) years of blood bank experience, preferably from within a clinical laboratory environment

• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite

• Experience with