At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead laboratory operations and ensure high-quality support for groundbreaking research.
- Company: Avantor, a global leader in scientific innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, career growth, and a diverse, inclusive culture.
- Other info: Join a passionate team dedicated to advancing life-changing science.
- Why this job: Shape the future of lab operations through innovation and digital transformation.
- Qualifications: Degree in Life Sciences and strong leadership experience in lab environments.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 65000 £ per year.
The Opportunity: The Research Services Manager for Lab Management is responsible for managing BAU Lab management operations on customer sites and leading the Laboratory Operations Manager. An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and passionate leader to join our team as Laboratory Operations Manager in Cambridge. This role is ideal for someone with a strong scientific background, operational leadership experience, and a passion for driving service excellence, digital transformation, and continuous improvement.
About the Role: As the Laboratory Operations Manager, you will lead Lab Support Operations across R&D laboratories, ensuring the delivery of high-quality laboratory support services that enable scientists to focus on groundbreaking research. You will have overall responsibility for operational performance, stakeholder engagement, service innovation, and people leadership while ensuring compliance, safety, and business continuity across multiple laboratory environments.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead Lab Support Operations across R&D laboratories.
- Ensure effective delivery of laboratory support services, stock management, and stores operations.
- Support extended working patterns and evolving business requirements.
- Ensure service continuity and operational excellence across laboratory environments.
- Manage service escalations and drive timely resolution of operational challenges.
- Act as the primary interface between laboratory users, customers, suppliers, and support functions.
- Lead customer meetings, governance reviews, and operational discussions.
- Build strong relationships with scientific, operational, and leadership stakeholders.
- Provide proactive communication and effective stakeholder management across all levels.
- Promote a customer-focused culture and continuously improve the user experience.
- Manage operational and financial processes, including cost journaling and cost centre cross-charging activities.
- Ensure resources are effectively managed to meet current and future business needs.
- Drive service performance through reporting, metrics, and data analysis.
- Identify trends and opportunities for service enhancements.
- Lead lean initiatives and process improvement projects.
- Champion digital transformation and AI-driven initiatives to improve productivity, efficiency, and customer experience.
- Provide leadership, coaching, and development for direct reports.
- Create a high-performing and engaged team culture.
- Ensure compliance with health, safety, and regulatory requirements.
What We're Looking For:
- Degree in Life Sciences or a related scientific discipline.
- Strong laboratory background with a solid understanding of R&D and laboratory operations.
- Proven experience leading operational teams within a laboratory, scientific, pharmaceutical, or research environment.
- Demonstrated experience managing customer relationships and stakeholder engagement.
- Strong people leadership and team development experience.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing abilities.
Why Join Us? This is a unique opportunity to lead a critical laboratory support function within a world-class scientific environment. You will play a key role in shaping the future of laboratory operations through innovation, digitalization, and service excellence while leading a talented team dedicated to enabling scientific discovery.
