Career Center

Recovery staff are the eye bank’s first responders. They travel to hospitals, medical examiner offices, and funeral homes — day or night — to perform a physical assessment of the donor, draw blood for testing, and carry out sterile corneal excision or enucleation within hours of death. The work also includes packaging and delivering tissue and specimens to the lab, keeping recovery vehicles and equipment ready, and, at the coordinator level, scheduling and deploying the recovery team.

Getting there: Requirements vary by eye bank — some ask only for a high school diploma with strong on-the-job training, others recommend a bachelor’s degree in a science field, and an associate’s degree is common in between. Most recovery staff earn their Certified Eye Bank Technician (CEBT) credential from EBAA within their first year or two. Because donors don’t wait for business hours, this role runs on nights, weekends, and on-call rotations, and requires a valid driver’s license, physical stamina (lifting and moving up to 350 lbs is typical), and comfort working independently in emotionally difficult settings.

Once tissue reaches the eye bank, processing and lab staff take over — evaluating it under slit lamp and specular microscopy, preparing it for DMEK, DSAEK, and other transplant-ready forms, and maintaining the sterile field and equipment that make that work possible. It’s precise, hands-on science, often against a tight clock, with fine motor skills doing as much work as scientific knowledge.

Getting there: An associate’s or bachelor’s degree in biology, chemistry, or a related science is commonly preferred, though hands-on lab or ophthalmic experience is frequently accepted in its place. CEBT certification is standard within a defined window after hire. Because tissue doesn’t wait for regular hours, weekend, holiday, and on-call rotations are part of the job.

This is the phone-based clinical role at the center of every donation: coordinators take referral calls, screen medical records, present the option of donation to families, and — if the family says yes — obtain recorded authorization and a full medical/social history on the spot. From there, they determine donor eligibility against FDA and EBAA standards and prepare charts for release. It requires real medical judgment paired with genuine sensitivity, often in the same phone call.

Getting there: An associate’s degree (psychology, social work, or a scientific discipline) is typically required, with some eligibility-focused roles asking for a bachelor’s in a science field. Medical terminology experience is a plus, and CEBT or similar certification is often preferred. This role runs on a 24/7 on-call basis, so strong telephone communication skills and the ability to stay composed under pressure matter as much as the medical background.

This team supports donor families long after the initial call — sending correspondence, facilitating confidential letters between families and transplant recipients, and collecting (with consent) the stories and photos that help the public understand what donation means. They also carry the mission outward: organizing volunteers, representing the eye bank at community events, and building awareness of eye donation.

Getting there: An associate’s degree in a related field plus a couple of years of experience is typical at the entry level, moving to a bachelor’s degree and five-plus years for team lead roles, and eight-plus years for a director-level position overseeing the whole function. Backgrounds in social work, counseling, communications, or another human-services field are common. Expect some evening, weekend, or holiday work around events and family needs.

Partner relations staff build the referral relationships that make donation possible in the first place — visiting hospitals, hospices, funeral homes, and medical examiner’s offices to train staff, answer questions, and keep referral processes running smoothly. At the specialist level it’s relationship-building and education; at the manager level it adds coaching a distributed team and using referral data to sharpen strategy.

Getting there: An associate’s degree with a few years of relevant experience covers the specialist role; the manager role generally asks for a bachelor’s degree and seven-plus years of progressively responsible experience, including supervising others. A background in healthcare administration, account management, or sales is a strong asset, along with confident presentation and training skills.

QA staff protect the integrity of every step in the process — auditing donor charts and lab records, tracking quality metrics, investigating adverse reactions, and keeping the eye bank ready for FDA and EBAA inspections at any time. It’s detail-driven work with real stakes: a missed step here can affect whether tissue is safe to transplant.

Getting there: Entry-level roles often accept postsecondary coursework in health care or science in place of a degree, with one to two years of quality-systems experience. More senior roles typically require a bachelor’s degree in a life science and several years in a regulated environment — tissue banking, pharmaceuticals, or medical devices — often with certifications like ASQ’s Certified Quality Auditor or a CEBT credential. Working knowledge of FDA tissue regulations (21 CFR Part 1271) and EBAA Medical Standards applies at every level.