We are seeking a highly organised, proactive and technically skilled Lab Operations Supervisor to oversee the safe, efficient and effective day-to-day running of the AgileLab, ensuring the maintenance of laboratory equipment, compliance with health and safety regulations, and the delivery of high-quality technical support and guidance to tenants, whilst fostering a collaborative laboratory environment and supporting the continuous improvement of laboratory operations.
The position is set to commence 7 December 2026 and will be from 37.5 hours per week for 12 weeks (with a pay rate of £19.16 per hour + holiday pay).
Main Duties
Reporting to the Finance Manager, the Finance Officer is a key member of the Finance team responsible for the administration work and smooth running of purchase ledger section and support the team.
Main Duties
- Responsible for managing and being hands on with the day-to-day running of the Lab e.g. by ensuring equipment is functioning and monitoring/ordering stock as necessary.
- Maintain equipment, arrange waste disposal, perform quality checks and contribute to the general cleanliness and upkeep of the laboratory space.
- Provide a high standard of support and advice to tenants before, during, and after their move into the Lab and provide an ongoing point of reference for the Lab tenants.
- Arrange bi-annual Lab Tenant meetings and hold regular periodical meetings with the individual tenants
- Meet with prospective tenants to understand their aims and requirements of the shared working space. Building an understanding of each tenant’s area of research to ensure that the planned experiments of different tenants can safely and successfully be undertaken in the lab concurrently. This will require knowledge of chemical processes.
- Assist with induction and training of tenants, providing training and advice on shared lab equipment and good laboratory practice as appropriate.
- Adapt and respond to changing needs of Lab tenants. Explain technical problems and convey agreed solutions to lab tenants.
- Maintain a database of laboratory chemicals and equipment.
- Keep up to date with and advise on matters relating to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), Health and Safety, COSHH sheets and other regulations relevant to the post, ensuring that standard Health and Safety guidelines are adhered to by tenants.
- Working collaboratively with the Directorate Health and Safety Manager to report and investigate accidents/near misses and write and maintain generic risk assessments as required. Be the primary contact for the Lab emergencies.
- To ensure the safe and correct disposal of chemicals and other hazardous substances in accordance with established procedures.
- Implement and maintain a system for ensuring preventative planned maintenance of all shared lab equipment. Liaise with suppliers to negotiate the procurement of equipment and installation as well as ongoing service and maintenance packages (in liaison with finance and the CIE Manager).
- Write and review basic operating procedures including risk assessments for equipment as required.
- Assist the CIE Manager with space planning to maximise occupancy levels and support new tenants entering the Lab and existing tenants seeking grow on space.
- Hold exit interviews with departing tenants to gather information to feed into continuous improvement of lab practice.
Selection Criteria:
- Experience of working in a laboratory environment with practical experience of laboratory equipment and apparatus.
- Knowledge of health and safety regulations in a laboratory environment including experience working with the safe handling, storage and disposal of chemicals and other hazardous substances (COSHH)
- Educated to at least A-level or equivalent qualification in science or equivalent experience
- Good knowledge and understanding of general science
- Strong attention to detail, with the ability to organise laboratory information in a clear and organised fashion
- Ability to troubleshoot problems with the Lab operations and arrive at an appropriate solution through confident decision-making skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build productive working relationships with commercial tenants, University colleagues and external contractors
- IT skills including a knowledge of MS Office, Outlook and the aptitude to learn new IT systems
- Ability to organise own workload and a proactive approach with excellent organisational and planning skills including the ability to work accurately and carefully and to prioritise workload.
- Understand the needs of startup companies, including confidentiality, funding pressures and proof-of-concept experiments
- Customer relationship management experience
- Commitment to working sustainably as under LEAF accreditation
Vacancy ID: 25018
Please be aware that all candidates need to be able to start work immediately and must be able to work on site if required to do so.
Further information can about the Temporary Staffing Service can be found on our website https://www.jobs.ox.ac.uk/temporary-staffing-service