Job Summary
We have an exciting opportunity for a laboratory manager at our White City Incubator.
This key new role will play a vital part in the Imperial Incubation team, focusing on the management and safe operation of laboratories and shared equipment supporting deep tech startups. You will be the key contact for all community members using the space, especially the shared lab and shared equipment, including induction and training on their use. You will ensure the shared equipment is functioning properly, carry out risk assessments and regular ‘walk rounds’, liaise with suppliers for servicing and repairs, and support tours, events and VIP visits, providing excellent customer service.
Based in the Incubator at Imperial’s White City campus, this lively and varied post requires an enthusiastic self-starter who can multi-task, work to deadlines and take the initiative. You will have a significant interest in deep tech and in supporting the growth of startups and SMEs.
You will work with the rest of the incubation team to link innovators and inventors with the tools and expertise they need to realise their creative ideas, making connections between the various programmes and advice on offer, vital for early-stage companies.
The physical incubation and prototyping spaces, including the White City Incubator and Advanced Hackspace are a unique venture, outstanding in terms of scale and ambition within a university environment. The spaces house a bio-wet lab, woodwork/ metalwork/ electronics workshops, a digital manufacturing studio and a design studio. These cutting-edge facilities link to hot-desking/hot-house space: complementing the laboratory spaces.
Duties and responsibilities
- Take a proactive lead in the development and maintenance of safety management systems to manage multi-user laboratory/technical services to ensure safe use and compliance with statutory regulations to a high standard.
- Maintain a safe and risk-free environment including infrastructure maintenance (ad hoc and planned preventative maintenance), defect reporting and minor improvements, service contracts and visits, defects and minor lab works/upgrades, ensuring that the teams produce the necessary risk assessments and requests for changes.
- Nurture and support members of the Incubator in project development, providing technical guidance and assistance including working with academic, student and external startups and SMEs, and the Imperial entrepreneurial community.
- Carry out inductions of new teams and maintain training and safety records.
- Undertake general technician duties if required. This may include the movement of goods requiring manual handling.
- Support the delivery of showcase events and demo days.
Essential requirements
- PhD in engineering or equivalent knowledge and skills
- NEBOSH or similar Safety Certificate or above
- Demonstrable knowledge of laboratory safety and laboratory management
- Practical experience with a broad range of laboratory equipment
- Proven ability to communicate effectively and professionally at a variety of levels, with entrepreneurs, new academic and student ventures and spin-outs, external SMEs and Incubation teams.
- Experience of contributing innovative ideas in order to solve technical problems
- Experience in carrying out risk assessments
- Ability to organise own work with minimal supervision and prioritise work in response to deadlines
- Ability to use judgement to find solutions to challenges for which no standard procedures exist