Clinical Laboratory Scientist

L

LabMinds Staffing & Recruiting

Clinical Laboratory Scientist

Sitka, AK
Full Time
Paid
  • Responsibilities

    Position Overview

    Under minimal supervision, the Medical Laboratory Scientist / Medical Technologist applies advanced technical skills and seasoned judgment to perform a full range of sample test analyses and laboratory services independently in a hospital-based setting. This role involves full responsibility for technical laboratory operations, complex problem-solving (including transfusion medicine and microbiology), procedural development in CLSI format, quality control oversight, staff training, and regulatory compliance.

    • Coverage: Requires shift work, night, and weekend call to ensure 24-hour laboratory coverage.
    • Patient Population: Serves pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients.

    Key Responsibilities

    Testing & Technical Performance

    • Perform all levels of laboratory testing, including CLIA-defined high-complexity testing across microbiology, transfusion medicine, molecular biology, and infectious disease safety.
    • Evaluate, interpret, and report accurate test results while ensuring sample suitability.
    • Identify and resolve inconsistencies in patient results, troubleshooting complex technical issues in collaboration with MLTs and Laboratory Support Technicians (LSTs).
    • Assess result validity independently before release to healthcare providers.

    Quality Control & Compliance

    • Establish and maintain departmental Quality Control (QC) programs, defining acceptable performance parameters across all testing phases.
    • Maintain instruments and equipment, review Levey-Jennings (LJ) charts, and implement remedial actions when test systems deviate from established standards.
    • Write departmental procedures in CLSI format and coordinate manual updates and reviews.
    • Support regulatory readiness and compliance for CAP, CLIA, and Joint Commission standards; assist with departmental Process Improvement (PI) initiatives.

    Consultation, Leadership & Operations

    • Provide test utilization and basic interpretation guidance to medical and nursing staff (referring advanced clinical questions to the Laboratory Medical Director).
    • Provide LIS consultation and educate staff on acceptable laboratory medicine practices.
    • Direct, assign tasks to, and review the work of MLTs and LSTs.
    • Train new staff, laboratory students, and existing personnel on new methodologies; assist management with staff competency evaluations.
    • Coordinate inventory levels to ensure adequate supply availability.

    Qualifications & Requirements

    Education

    • Degree: Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology or a related field required. (Progressively responsible work experience or training may be substituted on a year-for-year basis).
    • Minimum Requirement: High School Diploma or equivalent required.

    Certifications & Licenses

    • Professional Certification: Medical Laboratory Scientist / Medical Technologist certification via ASCP, AMT, or equivalent national credentialing agency required.
    • Competency: Clinical Competency Assessment required within 3 months of hire and re-certified every three years.

    Experience

    • Minimum of one (1) year of progressive clinical laboratory experience, OR one (1) year of hospital internship following degree completion.

    Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

    • Knowledge: CLIA high-complexity testing standards; LIS operations and laboratory software; equipment operation/maintenance; comprehensive quality control processes; CAP, Joint Commission, and CLIA regulatory guidelines.
    • Skills: Strong written and oral communication; effective technical troubleshooting; establishing cooperative working relationships.
    • Abilities: Ability to work independently, make critical diagnostic judgments, train and mentor staff, maintain continuing education, and manage competing priorities under tight timelines.