Laboratory Attendant

Duties

Working in a laboratory and office environment:
-Must undertake and successfully complete the Laboratory Attendant understudy training program, including the successful completion of a mock trial.

-Receives, inspects, catalogues, verifies, labels, and stores biological, chemical and physical evidentiary material submitted for all types of forensic analyses; maintains chain of custody of evidentiary material.

-Enters information from cases received into the Laboratory Information Management System in an accurate and timely manner, generates service requests, enters diary dates and priority level; links evidentiary materials to appropriate service requests based on forensic service required.

-Records observations of evidentiary materials received including leakages, spills, damaged and/or unsealed packages, unsafe shipping practices, unauthorized/mis-directed submissions, informs law enforcement investigators of such observations.

-Packages, ships, records, transfers internally and externally, audits and destroys biological, chemical and physical evidentiary materials; handles hazardous and bio-hazardous material in accordance with relevant procedures and in compliance with relevant legislation and regulations.

-Provides records management services; produces reports and transfer documentation of evidentiary material received and returned; processes non-evidentiary material requests (e.g. subpoenas) for police agencies and Crown counsel.

-Maintains evidence receipt area, and performs clean up of biological and chemical spills in accordance with health and safety regulations and protocols; orders office and laboratory supplies.

-Complies with disclosure requests by producing statement of involvement, chain of custody report, exhibit notes and case documentation; liaises with Crown counsels, court personnel and law enforcement investigators; presents testimony in court with respect to continuity and handling of evidentiary materials and standard practices, policies and procedures.

Work environment

Work locations:

Ottawa: 1200 Vanier Parkway, Ottawa, ON
Edmonton: 15707 - 118th Avenue, Edmonton, AB
Vancouver: 5201 Heather St. Vancouver, BC
NOTE: Vancouver laboratory will be moving by the end of 2019 to ''E'' Division HQ located on 14200 Green Timbers Way, Surrey, BC.

Working Conditions:

- The work involves exposure for extended periods of time on a daily basis to disagreeable or unpleasant material such as criminal case information (e.g. sexual assaults, attempted murders, crimes against children, vehicular accidents, robberies), graphic descriptions of major case investigations, and crime scene photos along with evidentiary material such as sexual assault exhibits, body organs from autopsies, body parts and tissue, blood and other body fluids, maggot and parasite infested articles, fire debris.

- The work involves the need to handle high pressure and conflicting priorities, including the immediate processing of evidentiary material from major investigations requiring prompt forensic analysis, and the preparation for and the giving of court testimony. There are ongoing pressures to complete the workload independently, in a timely manner, and in compliance with many policies, procedures, and federal regulations. There is a high workload volume with frequent interruptions, requiring task prioritization and concentration. Errors made in processing of evidentiary materials may have a significant negative impact on a criminal investigation.

- The work is conducted in a laboratory environment on a daily basis; the work involves exposure to dust, dirt, noxious odors, cold conditions (down to -30ºC) when handling, storing and retrieving evidentiary material from refrigerator and walk-in freezer storage facilities, wearing protective clothing (e.g. gloves, masks, laboratory coats/gowns, closed toe shoes) for a large percentage of the work day, handling all types of forensic exhibits including solvents, chemicals, biologically hazardous substances such as liquid blood and contaminated needles, risking potential exposure to contagions such as hepatitis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), handling and checking firearms to ensure they are "proven safe" for handling and examination by others, handling potentially explosive materials, handling knives and other sharp items, handling drugs and other agents of unknown toxicity, handling gasoline samples and other accelerants, pepper spray, other aerosols, paint samples and fire debris. Forensic exhibits are typically handled in a sealed state except for firearms, packages that are damaged/compromised, when destruction is required, etc.

Intent of the process

The immediate need is to staff three positions (one per site: Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouer) on an indeterminate basis, with various linguistic profiles and an RCMP Enhanced Reliability security clearance.

A pool of candidates may be established and may be used to staff similar positions within the RCMP at our Forensic Laboratories (Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver) on an indeterminate or specified period (including term, acting, or assignment) basis, with various linguistic profiles and various RCMP security clearances.

Should a Civilian Member (CM) be found qualified and selected for appointment, the appointment will not result in a change of status to the Public Service (PS) category for the CM. Notification regarding the CM appointment will be sent to all applicable candidates who are within the area of selection and participated in the advertised process.

Should a Public Service (PS) employee be found qualified and selected for appointment, notification regarding the PS appointment will be posted accordingly on www.jobs.gc.ca.

(SEE OTHER INFORMATION)

Positions to be filled: 3

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

You must meet all essential qualifications in order to be appointed to the position. Other qualifications may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed. Some essential and other qualifications will be assessed through your application. It is your responsibility to provide appropriate examples that illustrate how you meet each qualification. Failing to do so could result in your application being rejected.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Education:
Successful completion of secondary school education OR an employer-approved alternative

Degree equivalency

Experience:
1. Experience in performing general administrative duties, which may include responding to internal/external inquiries, processing incoming/outgoing mail, OR file creation and maintenance.
2. Experience preparing general correspondence or reports.
3. Experience providing operational records management utilizing manual or electronic procedures and systems.
4. Experience using software applications (e.g. Email, Word Processing, Spreadsheet applications).

If you possess any of the following, your application must also clearly explain how you meet it (other qualifications)

Successful completion of post-secondary education relative to this position.

Degree equivalency

Do you have experience working in a laboratory environment?

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
Travel to court will be required.
Overtime work may be required.
Willingness and ability to work in a police environment, including exposure to unsettling and/or graphic material.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
Ottawa: English Essential, Bilingual Imperative BBB/BBB
Edmonton: English Essential
Vancouver: English Essential

Information on language requirements

Knowledge:
1. Knowledge of laboratory practices in relation to exhibit handling.
2. Knowledge of laboratory safety guidelines.
3. Knowledge of operational records management.

Abilities & Skills:
1. Ability to prioritize and multi-task a workload.
2. Ability to communicate effectively orally.
3. Ability to communicate effectively in writing.

Personal Suitability:
1. Attention to Detail
2. Dependability
3. Flexibility
4. Initiative
5. Effective interpersonal skills

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Knowledge of the RCMP National Forensic Laboratory Services

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women

Information on employment equity

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance - RCMP Enhanced Reliability Status security clearance.

All applicants for positions within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be subject to a thorough security clearance process which includes an interview wherein questions may include (but not limited to), reference checks, previous employment, on-line activities, credit checks, alcohol and/or drug use.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
Within first 12 months of appointment:
• This position is comprised of an understudy training program. As part of the conditions of employment, the appointed candidate must successfully complete the understudy training program including the successful completion of the mock trial within the first 12 months of their appointment. Failure to meet this condition of employment will result in termination of employment or rejection on probation.

To be maintained throughout their employment after successfully completing the understudy program:
• Must be willing and able to testify in a court of law.
• Must be willing and able to work with dangerous goods.
• Must be willing and able to handle firearms.
• Must be willing and able to work in a wide variation of temperature (e.g. fridge and freezer areas).
• Must be willing and able to lift heavy objects weighing up to 32kg.

Other information

Candidate must clearly demonstrate in their resume that they meet the education and experience requirements. Failure to provide sufficient information will result in the candidate being screened-out.

Candidates must obtain the required pass mark for each qualification in order to be given further consideration in the selection process.

Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof of Canadian equivalency. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca/

Candidates from outside the federal public service will be required to pay for their own travel and relocation expenses.

Random selection may be used to identify which applicants will be assessed in this appointment process.

PLEASE NOTE: For this selection process, our intention is to communicate with applicants by e-mail address for screening/assessment purposes (including issuing screening results, and sending invitations for written tests and interviews).

Applicants who apply to this selection process must include in their application a valid e-mail address and make sure this address is functional at all times and accepts messages from unknown users.

Candidates invited to an interview will be required to bring proof of their education credentials, in the form of a diploma or official transcript (original documents only).

Written test(s) may be administered.

Interview may be conducted.

Reference checks may be conducted.

Candidates must meet all of the essential qualifications noted in the Statement of Merit Criteria to be appointed to a position. A candidate may be appointed to a position even though she/he does not meet any or all of the asset qualifications or operational requirements. However, meeting these criteria is desirable and may be a deciding factor in choosing the person appointed.

Your resume must clearly demonstrate how you meet the requirements.

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce reflective of Canadian society. As a result, it promotes employment equity and encourages candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a member of a visible minority group.

The Public Service of Canada is also committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity or testing, you should advise the Public Service Commission or the departmental official in a timely fashion of the accommodation measures which must be taken to enable you to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.