Laboratory Operations Manager
Site Based Southampton
Full time, Permanent role
€excellent salary and benefits
We are hiring for a Laboratory Operations Manager for a state of the art £30million R&D facility in Southampton. This site undertakes world class science, with over four hundred highly specialised engineers and scientists working across nine technical spaces and labs. This R&D Innovation centre will support cutting edge research and product development efforts for their Global R&D Team to turn into products for the betterment of its consumers and their wellbeing.
Role Purpose
Our client is a leading global provider of laboratory facility management and laboratory equipment maintenance services. They have been awarded the contract to undertake all the laboratory equipment asset management and maintenance on site in Southampton. As such they are seeking a Site based Laboratory Operations Manager to oversee laboratory equipment maintenance and scientific equipment service engineering delivery at the Southampton Innovation Centre across all nine laboratories/workspaces. The successful candidate will hold accountability for all site-based laboratory equipment service delivery while leading a team of 4 - to include general laboratory equipment engineers, laboratory calibration technicians and a lab service co-ordinator to ensure exceptional service on site is provided.
This position requires the Laboratory Operations Manager to be on-site five days a week to co-ordinate and ensure that all the scientific equipment is up and running every day!
There is a diverse range of scientific equipment from laboratory automation to bench top laboratory equipment and analytical instrumentation such as HPLC, GC-MS, Mass Spectroscopy as well as autoclaves, fridges, freezers etc so there is lots of PPM, planned preventative maintenance, trouble shooting and no two days will ever be the same!
What You'll Do
Lead a diverse team of laboratory equipment service engineers, laboratory equipment calibration technicians, helpdesk and technical staff at the Southampton site, fostering a collaborative and high-performance work environment.
Deliver lab equipment service engineering support through the site based engineering team reporting directly in to you.
Manage third party service agreements and host vendor service engineers on site to undertake warranty maintenance to lab equipment
Drive operational control through metrics and KPI management, including customer satisfaction and service delivery performance
Be customer facing, working with the site based customer’s Laboratory Managers to deliver excellent engineering services on site.
Inspire and develop team performance through recruitment, coaching, mentoring, and recognition, ensuring a skilled workforce at the Southampton site.
Utilise SAP and other CRM tools for asset management and operational efficiency
Implement and manage continuous improvement initiatives and innovation projects focused on enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of Southampton site operations.
What You'll Need
Ability to commute/ work in Southampton on site Monday – Friday daily is essential.
Minimum of 5 years of experience managing a Laboratory as a Laboratory Manager or having worked for a Laboratory Services/ Lab FM Company as a Laboratory Operations Manager, managing onsite service engineers, maintenance engineers, maintenance technicians of equipment in a regulated laboratory, pharmaceutical or similar environment.
You will have been a Laboratory Manager, Laboratory Equipment Service Manager, Laboratory Engineering Operations Manager, Life Science Facilities Manager or equivalent with responsibility for a team of Laboratory Equipment Service Engineers, Calibration Engineers, Service Technicians or Calibration Engineers reporting into you where you have to co-ordinate the scheduling of PPM works to customer satisfaction and manage the team successfully.
Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. Quality, Business, Engineering, Chemistry or equivalent).
Proven Experience In Analytical Equipment Service/Laboratory Asset Maintenance/ Manufacturing or Laboratory Equipment Engineering Operations Management With Strong Leadership Skills.
Strong team development, performance management and employee engagement skills to motivate the team and drive performance excellence
Knowledge of working to GLP on a pharmaceutical, biotech, analytical chemistry, or medical device/similar R&D site. Other industries will be considered so long as you have managed the Laboratory Operations in an R&D setting
Experience with SAP or other similar CRM systems and good working knowledge of Excel.
Ability to work to budgets and ensure that the laboratory equipment maintenance is brought in on budget.
Ability to lead change management programs and drive operational innovation tailored to the Southampton site