Manager Lab Operations

About the Company

Sotera Health, inspired by Soteria, the Greek goddess of safety, reflects the company’s unwavering commitment to its mission, Safeguarding Global Health®. As a leading global provider of mission-critical sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services for the healthcare industry, Sotera Health combines nearly 200 years of industry-recognized scientific and technological expertise. With over 3,000 employees across 64 facilities worldwide, the company ensures the safety of millions of patients and healthcare practitioners annually. Sotera Health serves more than 5,800 customers in over 50 countries, including over 40 of the top 50 medical device companies and 9 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.

About the Role

The Lab Operations Manager is primarily focused on talent management, including the acquisition, training, development, and retention of employees. This role collaborates with Human Resources and leadership to identify and address employee issues while supporting the Senior Lab Operations Manager in providing strategic and operational oversight for the department. The Lab Operations Manager is also accountable for regulatory compliance, policy adherence, and technical oversight of laboratory testing.

Responsibilities

• Talent Management
  • Acquire, train, develop, and retain employees.
  • Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports.
  • Identify employee issues and lead improvement conversations in collaboration with Human Resources and leadership.
  • Manage direct reports to achieve profitable volume growth, quality, service delivery, employee engagement, and other department objectives.
  • Set clear performance standards and expectations to ensure personnel receive adequate communication and direction.
  • Develop succession plans for subject matter experts (SMEs) and key roles to maintain business continuity.
  • Partner with HR to create and implement retention plans.
• Department Level Operations & Strategic Oversight
  • Support the Senior Lab Operations Manager in improving and maintaining service quality by trending quality issues and developing action plans with the Quality Assurance Department.
  • Assist in executing the Nelson Labs’ business unit strategy while ensuring alignment with company values, mission, and goals, including:
    • Enhancing customer service experience, including turnaround times.
    • Ensuring the NL service standard is known and practiced.
    • Leveraging systems to drive competitiveness.
    • Addressing escalated client issues.
    • Preserving company focus on data and personal integrity.
    • Maintaining regulatory compliance.
    • Guiding implementation of company safety initiatives.
  • Operational Excellence
    • Understand and manage the business unit P&L, budget, and financial metrics.
    • Plan for business resources, personnel, and capital expenditures using financial models and ROI analysis.
    • Maintain and monitor production metrics in alignment with NL performance goals.
    • Optimize testing workflow across departments to meet business needs and client expectations.
    • Drive continuous improvement to increase efficiencies and reduce waste.
    • Manage and control expenditures within agreed-upon budgets.
    • Monitor utilization and key production metrics with staff visibility.
    • Execute the section training program to ensure resource availability and business continuity.
    • Manage and forecast supply chain to minimize or eliminate testing interruptions.
• Regulatory Compliance
  • Know and follow applicable regulatory requirements (GMP, GLP, ISO, etc.).
  • Adhere to company policies and procedures.
  • Complete required training on time.
• Professionalism
  • Attend work regularly and reliably.
  • Adhere to all policies and procedures.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with potential for people management; introduction to leadership training required.
• Laboratory science education, experience, or certifications preferred.
• Business/management training preferred.

Skills

• Strong people management capability.
• Desire to develop others.
• Ability to manage priorities and organize time effectively.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage conflict and conduct difficult conversations.
• Problem-solving skills for employee issues, laboratory processes, and customer challenges.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and break down silos to deliver an excellent customer experience.
• Advocacy for change.
• Persuasion and negotiation skills with staff.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products, especially Excel and Outlook.

Work Environment

This role operates in a professional office and lab environment. Routine use of standard office equipment such as computers, keyboards, phones, photocopiers, projectors, and file cabinets is required. The role occasionally involves entering the lab to perform work.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described are representative of those required to perform the essential job functions. The role involves moving or traversing 10% of the day and remaining in a stationary sitting or standing position at a desk while using a computer, keyboard, mouse, and phone 90% of the day. This position does not require heavy lifting greater than 50 lbs.