Laboratory Management

Typical job duties may include:

• Perform or review quality, design, and health checks on instruments to ensure equipment is functioning properly
• Prepare and process documentation and reports, including writing, reviewing, and collecting data from others
• Provide technical troubleshooting and crisis management when problems arise, which may require being on call 24 hours/day, 7 days per week
• Encourage mentoring relationships, so new hires learn from experienced professionals, in line with both personalities and learning styles
• Recruit, hire, fire, and supervise technicians, engineers, scientists, and other technical staff
• Conduct individual and team meetings to develop skills and solve problems between other team members
• Develop procedures to improve workflows, share best practices between shifts, and make current processes better/faster/cheaper
• Manage up the corporate ladder, ensuring that your plans align with senior management’s priorities, and avoiding costs and delays associated with changes
• Identify technical and scientific objectives for your department, in line with the organization’s strategic plan and mission, then create and implement plans to achieve those goals
• Maintain awareness of TSCA, FDCA, cGMP, RCRA, and other governmental regulations and how they affect daily decisions in the laboratory

Most lab managers have at least a bachelor’s degree in a natural science, and many have a master’s degree or Ph.D. (especially in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries). Another option is a Professional Science Master’s (PSM), a two-year graduate degree that combines advanced training in science and coursework in management, policy, or law. Several years of hands-on work at the bench or in the plant is required before being considered for positions in management. A Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree may be required for those managing research divisions at large companies.

In industry, most chemists start out in a more technical position, then advance by climbing either the research/technical or management career ladder. The research ladder involves staying close to product development and taking on more supervisory responsibilities and larger projects. The management or business ladder can involve moving away from the lab bench and more into sales/marketing or operations/production. Depending on industry, products may be simple or highly technical and may be sold to consumers or to other businesses. Scientists in management generally have slightly more experience than those in research and thus earn slightly higher salaries.

Once you move out of research and into management, it is difficult to move back to the laboratory, as your technical knowledge and skills become outdated quickly.

Opportunities for lab managers are expected to grow slightly slower than average for all occupations over the next 10 years. This is due to the fact that managers can take on more workers, and outsourcing of research and development causes consolidation of management. Competition is expected to be strong, since many bench scientists would like the control, flexibility, and resources that come with management.

If you want to stay somewhat involved in science, but are more interested in working with people, lab management may be the career for you. It requires a technical background, so you have a common language and can earn the respect of your coworkers, but also requires significant interpersonal or people skills.