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Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Essential Job Duties:
As the Operations Manager, you will connect SPEED's scientific mission with its day-to-day operations by coordinating facility access, staffing, scheduling, safety, equipment readiness, procurement, and user support. SPEED will serve researchers from universities, national laboratories, government agencies, and industry, and your leadership will help establish the facility as a dependable, accessible, and professionally managed research resource.
You will also help shape the operational foundation of a growing national research resource. SPEED will serve researchers from universities, national laboratories, government agencies, and industry, and you will play a key role in establishing SPEED as a dependable, accessible, and professionally managed facility. Through thoughtful coordination, responsive support, and effective operational leadership, you will help create an environment where researchers can focus on advancing their work through remote autonomous experimentation.
List of Primary Responsibilities
Facility & User Operations
- Lead daily facility operations, including laboratory readiness, platform availability, staffing coverage, access, scheduling, and user support.
- Develop and maintain operational procedures for user onboarding, experiment submission, training, platform access, technical assistance, and project closeout.
- Coordinate laboratory capacity and schedules across internal researchers, academic users, government collaborators, and industry partners.
- Monitor facility utilization, experiment throughput, turnaround times, incidents, and user needs to identify and resolve operational issues.
- Lead and support technical and operational personnel, including establishing priorities, schedules, performance expectations, training, and cross-coverage for critical facility functions.
- Manage operational budgets, purchasing, inventory, service contracts, equipment needs, and vendor relationships in coordination with university partners.
- Maintain operational records and monitor staffing, resource needs, project milestones, and facility deliverables.
- Lead facility-wide safety and risk management activities, including hazard assessments, emergency procedures, incident response, inspections, training, and business-continuity planning.
- Coordinate with Environmental Health and Safety, information technology, research administration, facilities, and other university partners to support applicable safety, compliance, cybersecurity, and research requirements.
- Investigate operational incidents and recurring failures and implement corrective and preventive actions.
- Serve as the primary operational contact for SPEED leadership, users, university administrators, vendors, and external partners.
- Communicate facility capabilities, access requirements, schedules, limitations, risks, and operational updates to technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Use operational data and user feedback to improve procedures, training, services, facility reliability, and user support.
- Contribute to strategic planning for facility growth, new platform deployment, service expansion, workshops, demonstrations, sponsor visits, and long-term sustainability.
Other Work/Responsibilities:
In addition to the core responsibilities of this role, there may be occasional opportunities to take on additional duties. This offers an opportunity to build on your skills, explore new areas, and gain a deeper understanding of the department's operations.
Minimum Experience/Education:
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Physical Sciences, Laboratory Management, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
Required Qualifications:
- Demonstrated experience coordinating complex technical operations involving multiple personnel, projects, users, facilities, and competing priorities.
- Experience developing and implementing standard operating procedures, schedules, training processes, and operational documentation.
- Working knowledge of laboratory safety, risk management, equipment maintenance, procurement, and regulatory or institutional compliance.
- Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary technical personnel, prioritize competing demands, resolve operational issues, and make sound decisions in a fast-paced research environment.
- Effective communication skills with the ability to work collaboratively with researchers, engineers, administrators, vendors, students, and external partners.
- Demonstrated progression of responsibility in research operations, laboratory management, shared research facilities, engineering operations, or a related environment, with increasing responsibility for coordinating personnel, facilities, equipment, safety, and operational activities.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master's degree in engineering, physical sciences, operations management, business administration, or a related discipline.
- Experience managing a university core facility, user facility, national laboratory resource, pilot facility, or other shared research infrastructure.
- Familiarity with automated laboratories, robotics, chemical or materials research, self-driving laboratories, or remotely operated research equipment.
- Experience overseeing externally funded research programs, major equipment installations, multi-institutional projects, budgets, procurement, service contracts, or vendor relationships.
- Knowledge of scheduling systems, asset-management systems, user portals, laboratory information systems, or operational dashboards.
- Proven ability to use operational data and performance metrics to improve facility reliability, utilization, and user support.
Required License or Certification:
N/A
AA/EEO Statement:
NC State University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal opportunities for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, and veteran status. The University encourages all qualified applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, to apply. Individuals with disabilities requiring disability-related accommodations in the application and interview process are welcome to contact 919-513-0574 to speak with a representative of the Office of Equal Opportunity.
If you have general questions about the application process, you may contact Human Resources at (919) 515-2135 or workatncstate@ncsu.edu.
Final candidates are subject to criminal & sex offender background checks. Some vacancies also require credit or motor vehicle checks. Degree(s) must be obtained prior to start date in order to meet qualifications and receive credit.
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