Laboratory Technician – Surveillance Project

About the role

The Laboratory Technician will join Jhpiego’s One Health surveillance project in Pune, supporting the monitoring of acute febrile illness and acute diarrheal disease. Working closely with clinicians, surveillance staff and laboratory teams, the role ensures timely, accurate specimen handling and testing according to approved protocols and biosafety standards.

Key responsibilities

• Assist clinicians and surveillance staff in enrolling eligible patients as defined in the study protocol.
• Collect, label, and transport clinical specimens (blood, throat swab, urine, stool) while maintaining cold‑chain requirements.
• Complete informed‑consent procedures and accurate documentation for each participant.
• Enter patient and sample data into registers and electronic systems, ensuring completeness and timeliness.
• Perform serum separation, aliquoting, smear preparation, staining and microscopy.
• Conduct bacterial culture, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, including use of automated platforms.
• Run ELISA and PCR assays following diagnostic algorithms.
• Maintain laboratory logs, inventory of consumables, and raise replenishment requests.
• Follow biosafety and biomedical waste management protocols and protect patient confidentiality.

Required profile

• Diploma or degree in Medical Laboratory Technology, Microbiology or a related field.
• At least 2‑3 years of experience in clinical specimen collection and laboratory testing.
• Familiarity with biosafety procedures and cold‑chain handling.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.

Required skills

• ELISA
• PCR
• Bacterial culture
• Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
• Microscopy
• Serum separation and aliquoting
• Smear preparation and staining
• Data entry into laboratory registers and electronic systems