Associate Director, Laboratory Operations

National Jewish Health; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 118,000 - 156,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Medical Coverage

Paid Time Off (PTO)

Retirement Savings (403b)

Tuition Reimbursement

Disability & Life Insurance

Job summary

National Jewish Health in Denver, CO seeks an Associate Director of Laboratory Operations to provide centralized leadership for operational execution and people management across laboratories. This role partners with Directors to implement testing, technologies, and service lines while ensuring readiness for audits.

The ideal candidate has 7–10 years of progressive lab leadership experience, with a Bachelor’s in related fields and Master’s preferred, and a strong focus on regulatory compliance

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Laboratory Science, Biology, or related field; Master’s Degree preferred.
• Work Experience: 7–10 years of progressive laboratory leadership; experience managing supervisors and large teams.
• Special Training, Certification or Licensure: None

Responsibilities

• Provide centralized leadership for laboratory operations and staff management across laboratories.
• Direct supervisors in staffing, scheduling, workflow, and productivity; ensure consistent practices.
• Partner with Lab Directors to translate priorities into operational execution and new testing adoption.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory standards (CLIA, CAP, OSHA) and readiness for inspections.
• Monitor performance metrics (turnaround, quality, productivity) and drive improvements.
• Lead workforce planning, recruitment, retention, and staff development; manage employee relations.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Operational planning

Regulatory compliance

Staff development

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Medical Laboratory Science or related field

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Associate Director, Laboratory Operations

• Facility *National Jewish Health - Main Campus
• Department ADx - Clinical Lab - Administration
• Schedule - Shift - Hours Full Time - Day Shift: Monday - Friday

Position Summary
The Laboratory Operations Associate Director provides centralized leadership for laboratory operational execution and people management to ensure consistency, flexibility, and efficiency across laboratories. This role supports sustainable revenue growth by improving workforce utilization and operational readiness, while collaborating with the Laboratory Directors to support effective operation.

• Manages and develops an effective supervisory team by providing leadership, guidance, and resources; determines supervisory competency; coaches, mentors, evaluates, and disciplines supervisors; establishes expectations for leadership accountability, staff engagement, and performance management.
• Directs laboratory supervisors in managing daily operations, including staffing, scheduling, workflow, and productivity; ensures consistent operational practices across laboratory departments.
• Partners with Scientific and Medical Laboratory Directors to translate clinical, scientific, business, and research priorities into effective operational execution; provides operational leadership to support laboratory supervisors with implementation of new testing, technologies, and service lines.
• Ensures compliance with all applicable regulatory and accreditation standards, including CLIA, CAP, OSHA, and institutional policies; partners with quality and compliance teams to maintain readiness for inspections and audits.
• Monitors laboratory performance metrics, including turnaround times, quality indicators, productivity, utilization, and workforce performance; recommends and implements operational improvements in partnership with Laboratory Directors to achieve laboratory performance and growth objectives.
• Addresses operational challenges, including staffing shortages, workflow inefficiencies, and process breakdowns; implements corrective actions to ensure continuity of operations.
• Leads workforce planning efforts, including recruitment, retention, and staffing optimization; collaborates with Human Resources to address employee relations issues, performance concerns, and organizational changes.
• Provides operational leadership across a large, complex workforce with 50+ indirect reports by developing supervisors, strengthening leadership accountability, promoting staff engagement, and fostering a culture of operational excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Partners with the Executive Director and Laboratory Directors in strategic and operational planning, including forecasting staffing requirements, operational infrastructure, and resource needs necessary to support laboratory growth and service expansion.

Other Duties

• Represents ADx in meetings with outside clients and other organizations as needed.
• Accountability: Accepts full responsibility for self and contribution as a team member; displays honesty and truthfulness; confronts problems quickly; displays a strong commitment to organizational success and inspires others to commit to goals; demonstrates a commitment to National Jewish Health.
• Building Strategic Relationships: Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one's area and other areas, teams, departments, units, or organizations to help achieve business goals.
• Building a Successful Team: Using appropriate methods and a flexible interpersonal style to help build a cohesive team, aligns vision with shared values, manages change and encourages innovation.
• Business Acumen: Using economic, financial, market, and industry data to understand and improve business results; using one's understanding of major business functions, industry trends, and own organization's position to contribute to effective business strategies and tactics.
• Champion of Change: Facilitating the implementation and acceptance of change within the workplace. Cooperates with others to accomplish common goals; works with employees within and across his/her department to achieve shared goals; treats others with dignity and respect and maintains a friendly demeanor; values the contributions of others.
• Customer Focus: Ensuring that the customer perspective is a driving force behind business decisions and activities; crafting and implementing service practices that meet customers' and own organization's needs.
• Decision Making: Identifying and understanding issues, problems, and opportunities; comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that is consistent with available facts, constraints, and probable consequences.
• Managing Conflict: Dealing effectively with others in an antagonistic situation; using appropriate interpersonal styles and methods to reduce tension or conflict between two or more people. Addresses conflicts by focusing on the issues at hand to develop effective solutions when disputes or disagreements occur; helps others resolve conflicts by providing impartial mediation when needed.
• Talent Management for Leaders: Clearly establishes and communicates expectations and accountabilities; monitors and evaluates performance; provides effective feedback and coaching; identifies development needs and helps employees address them to achieve optimal performance.

Supervisory or Managerial Responsibility
Manages 6-12 employees

Travel
0-5%

Core Values

• Be available to work as scheduled and report to work on time.
• Be willing to accept supervision and work well with others.
• Be well groomed, appropriately for your role and wear ID Badge visibly.
• Be in compliance with all departmental and institutional policies, the Employee Handbook, and Code of Conduct, and complete NetLearning by the due date annually.
• Promotes a workplace culture based on mutual respect and merit, where all individuals are treated fairly and provided with equal opportunity to contribute to the mission and goals of the institution.
• Adheres to safe working practices and at all times follows all institutional and departmental safety policies and procedures.
• Wears appropriate PPE as outlined by the infection control policies and procedures.
• Demonstrates compliance with all state, federal, and all other regulatory agency requirements.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Laboratory Science, Biology, or related field required. Master’s Degree preferred.
• Work Experience: 7–10 years of progressive laboratory leadership experience required. Experience managing supervisors and large teams required. Experience in a complex healthcare or academic laboratory environment preferred.
• Special Training, Certification or Licensure: None

Salary Range:$117,978.17 - $156,026.13

Benefits
At National Jewish Health, we recognize that our outstanding faculty and staff are the essence of our organization. For every aspect of health care, our employees are our greatest asset. With that in mind, we have designed a valuable, comprehensive benefits package to meet the needs of our employees and their families.

• Comprehensive Medical Coverage:Multiple Cigna health plans for Colorado, regional office and remote employees. Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) available to pair with some plans.
• Paid Time Off:Generous PTO accruals to use for vacation and sick days, and six paid holidays, all compliant with Colorado state sick leave regulations.
• Dental & Vision Plans:Coverage effective the first of the month after hire.
• Retirement Savings:403(b) plan with employer contributions after two years.
• Wellness Incentives:Earn up to $200 annually for preventive health activities.
• Tuition Reimbursement:Up to $5,250 annually for full-time and part-time employees.
• Child Care Assistance:Childcare Flex Spending Account (FSA) with annual employer contribution.
• Loan Forgiveness:Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligible employer.
• Disability & Life Insurance:Employer-paid plans and optional buy-up choices.
• Voluntary Benefits:Full suite of coverage options such as Accident, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Plan
• Exclusive Discounts:Savings on local services, insurance, and RTD bus passes.

Anticipated Application Deadline: 2026-08-28

National Jewish Health
Human Resources
1400 Jackson St
Denver, CO 80206
303.398.1035
[e-mail]

National Jewish Health is a non-profit, non-sectarian institution and is a longstanding cornerstone in the Denver healthcare community. National Jewish Health seeks to attract the best-qualified candidates who support the mission, vision and values of the Institution. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, physical or mental disability, marital, familial or parental status, genetic information, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected classification. We are a tobacco and fragrance-free environment.