Posting Details

Posting Information

Posting Number
PG194832EP

Internal Recruitment
No

Working Title
Operations Manager

Anticipated Hiring Range
Commensurate with education and experience (anticipated hiring range $110,000 - $120,000)

Work Schedule
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Primary work location is onsite, with occasional after-hours availability required to support critical facility operations and respond to emergencies or other business needs.

Job Location
Raleigh, North Carolina

Department
Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs

About the Department

The Self-driving Platforms for Expedited Experimental co-Design (SPEED) Programmable Cloud Laboratory is a $20 million National Science Foundation-funded national research infrastructure led by NC State University. Located in Woodson Hall, SPEED will provide academic, government, and industry researchers with remote access to integrated self-driving laboratories for accelerated discovery and development of advanced functional materials and molecules.

SPEED brings together expertise in laboratory automation, artificial intelligence, experimental science, data engineering, cybersecurity, and workforce development. The facility will operate a suite of autonomous experimental platforms through a shared digital infrastructure, enabling users to design, execute, monitor, and analyze experiments remotely. SPEED is supported by collaborators at NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, MIT, industry partners, and an initial national network of academic users.

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.

People & Resource Management

• 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.

Safety, Compliance & Risk Management

• 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.

Stakeholder Communication & Continuous Improvement

• 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.

If you are an analytical and collaborative leader who enjoys bringing people, technology, and complex operations together, we invite you to apply. This is an opportunity to help build and manage a cutting-edge research facility while supporting researchers, technical teams, and partners from across the university and beyond.

Other 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.

Qualifications

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Physical Sciences, Laboratory Management, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.

Other 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(s) or Certification(s)

N/A

Valid NC Driver's License required
No

Commercial Driver's License required
No

Recruitment Dates and Special Instructions

Job Open Date
08/28/2026

Anticipated Close Date
9/11/2026; if posting is still active we are accepting and reviewing applications.

Special Instructions to Applicants

Please include a resume, cover letter and contact information for at least three professional references.

Position Details

Position Number
00112288

Position Type
EPS/SAAO

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) (1.0 = 40 hours/week)
1.0

Appointment
12 Month Recurring

Mandatory Designation - Adverse Weather
Non Mandatory - Adverse Weather

Mandatory Designation - Emergency Events
Non Mandatory - Emergency Event

Department ID
230101 - Interdisciplinary Programs - SVP