Pharmaceutical Lab Technician Job Description

Pharmaceutical Lab Technician Job Profile and Description

Pharmaceutical laboratory technicians are assistants who work in the pharmaceutical industry. They usually work under the instructions of a veterinarian, physician, and scientists for researching and developing medications. A pharmaceutical laboratory technician keeps a record of laboratory records, supervises experiments and tests compounds. They also have the responsibility to maintain the safety and cleanliness of the pharmaceutical laboratory.

While a pharmaceutical technician can find employment in government agencies, most of them work for private pharmaceutical companies that make finished drugs like tranquilizers, vitamins, antibiotics, veterinary medicines, antiseptics etc.  Some pharmaceutical lab technicians work for companies manufacturing biological products that include vaccines, toxins and serum.

Pharmaceutical Lab Technician Duties and Responsibilities

Following are the common duties of a pharmaceutical lab technician:

• Performing lab tests so as to produce precise and reliable data for supporting scientific investigations.

• Executing routine tasks perfectly and following the strict methodologies for carrying out analyses.

• Preparing samples and specimens.

• Constructing and operating standard lab equipment like pH meters, centrifuges etc.
• Ensuring that the pharmaceutical laboratory is resourced and well stocked.
• Recording and interpreting the results for presenting them to the management.
• Using computers for complex mathematical calculations and preparation of graphs.
• Keeping abreast of technical developments, especially the ones that can improve reliability and save time.
• Demonstrating the practical procedures.
• Conducting researches on the identified topics related to research.

Pharmaceutical Lab Technician Skills and Specifications

Some of the major skills expected from a pharmaceutical lab technician are as follows:

• Critical thinking i.e. using reasoning and logic for identifying strength and weaknesses of the facility.
• Operations monitoring i.e. watching dials, gauges and other indicators for ensuring that a machine is working correctly.
• Reading comprehension involving written paragraphs and sentences in various work related documents.
• Understanding the processes and objectives spread over multi-disciplinary functions related to drug development.
• Familiarity with laboratory guidelines of the US government.

Pharmaceutical Lab Technician Education and Qualification

Following are the typical education and qualifications required for being a lab technician.

• Bachelors’ degree in science with major in life sciences or chemistry.
• At least 2-3 years of experience in similar capacity in large or major pharmaceutical company.

Pharmaceutical Lab Technician Salary

A pharmaceutical lab technician can command an average salary of about $56,040 per year, excluding perks. The remuneration increases with experience. Such personnel can go on to become senior lab technicians.