Facility Engineer, Laboratory Operations (AEC)

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Job summary

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) on the NIH Bethesda campus seeks a Facility Engineer, Laboratory Operations (AEC). The role oversees Building 50 tenant spaces, coordinates repairs and improvements, and collaborates with facilities, occupants, and contractors to optimize biomedical laboratory operations.

The candidate will manage communications, track maintenance priorities, and ensure safety and documentation across lab spaces, supporting critical biomedical research facilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• 3-5 years’ experience in architecture, engineering, construction, project management or facilities management industries.
• Experience managing biomedical research facilities.
• Understanding of building systems and laboratory operations, laboratory equipment (e.g. LN2 freezers, biosafety cabinets, chemical fume hoods, incubators), and laboratory operations.
• Excellent communication skills; written, verbal and visual.
• Dynamic interpersonal skills to collaborate across levels of the organization.
• Strong organizational skills to manage many interdependent tasks and schedules.

Responsibilities

• Oversee tenant spaces in Building 50 and coordinate maintenance.
• Document repairs, improvements, and deficiencies; liaise with ORF and occupants.
• Lead projects from building-wide upgrades to furniture and equipment enhancements.
• Manage tenant input, track maintenance trends, and document space repairs.
• Coordinate with safety offices and facilities operations for cross-organizational alignment.
• Maintain and update Building 50 documentation for labs and spaces.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Contractor management

Team collaboration

Building operations

Project coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Tools

FM software

MS Office

Job description

This full-time, long-term contract position is located on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, which is bus/bicycle/Metro (Red Line: Medical Center) accessible.

Compensation

Up to $120,000 / year based on experience and education. GS 12-13 Range

About You

• You’re passionate about building management and want to apply your skills towards improving biomedical laboratory building operations.
• You take ownership over your work to deliver creative, high quality solutions.
• You enjoy building relationships to get work done. Client interactions, contractor management, team collaboration and influencing others excites you.

About the Position

As a member of NHLBI’s Space + Design Branch (SDB), the Facility Engineer, Laboratory Operations (AEC) is responsible for all tenant spaces within building 50, a biomedical research laboratory building on the NIH’s Bethesda campus. Building 50, constructed in 2001, houses seven institutes across ~200,000 square feet of tenant space and is supported by ~240,000 of interstitial and facility MEP spaces. The Facility Engineer, Laboratory Operations (AEC) serves as the primary point of contact for all tenant occupied spaces. The Facility Engineer, Laboratory Operations (AEC) documents repairs, improvements, and deficiencies and collaborates across occupants and the Office of Research Facilities (building owner) to optimize building operations.

You will work closely with scientific and administrative occupants, facilities maintenance teams, external building-trade contractors, and various service providers to lead holistic building management solutions. Project types range from building wide systems upgrades to common space furniture, fixtures and equipment enhancements. We need someone who builds strong communities, seeks information resourcefully, and communicates to all stakeholders clearly. Core duties include:

• The Facility Engineer, Laboratory Operations (AEC) must take enormous pride in the physical condition, usability, and appearance of the entire property.
• Ongoing building repair and improvement communications.
• Bulk gas tank operations and management.
• Prioritizes tenant improvement projects by gathering tenant input, tracking trending maintenance issues, and documenting needed tenant space repairs.
• Contributes to building oversight through monthly facilities coordination meetings.
• Identifies building deficiencies and collaborates with the Division of Facilities Stewardship to create ORF candidate projects. Tracks IC priority candidate projects for building 50.
• Coordinates backup systems and sharing procedures across IC's - autoclaves, cold rooms, ice machines.
• Assists the ORF Division of Facilities Operations and Management with project management for IC affected repairs (e.g. radiators, cold rooms, etc.)
• Manages occupant priorities and resolution for critical maintenance and operations tickets.
• Manages temporary operational mitigations, coordinating with occupants and ORF Division of Facilities Operations and Management.
• Manages building occupant committee to gather input on short-term and long-term building improvements.
• Collaborates with the NIH Division of Occupational Health and Safety for building safety.
• Develops and maintains Building 50 specific cross-organizational facilities to occupant documentation (e.g. building service/location to lab owner cross-references).
• Develops and updates Building 50 specific standard instructional and signage documentation.

Preferred Skills/Background

• Bachelor’s degree or higher
• 3-5 years’ experience in architecture, engineering, construction, project management or facilities management industries
• Experience managing biomedical research facilities.
• Understanding of building systems and laboratory operations, laboratory equipment (e.g. LN2 freezers, biosafety cabinets, chemical fume hoods, incubators), and laboratory operations
• Excellent communication skills; written, verbal and visual
• Dynamic personality possessing a high level of interpersonal skills for effectively collaborating with all levels of the organization
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage and prioritize a multitude of interdependent complex tasks and schedules

Heart disease: the #1 leading cause of death in the United States. Utilize your resourcefulness to help us solve this, and other public health issues, by joining the Office of Intramural Management (OIM) within the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at NIH!

We provide world-class support to world-class scientists and clinicians investigating such critical areas as pulmonary functionality, aplastic anemia disease, and cell biology, and we're looking for a dynamic team member with a proactive approach to support the day-to-day processes within the OIM Space + Design Branch.