Lab Manager – Analytical Chemistry for Pilot Plant

Mariana Minerals; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Mariana Minerals is seeking a Lab Manager to build and lead the analytical laboratory supporting the DSM Pilot Plant in Houston. You will own the lab setup, instrument selection, QA/QC, staffing, and data workflows connecting results to plant decisions.

The role requires 8+ years in analytical labs with hands-on ICP-OES/ICP-MS/XRF experience and 3+ years leading teams, plus strong inorganic chemistry and method validation knowledge.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master degree in Chemistry, Metallurgy, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years hands-on analytical laboratory experience, including ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and XRF.
• 3+ years managing laboratory personnel or leading analytical teams.
• Experience analyzing solids and solutions from mineral processing or metallurgical operations, including sample prep for refractory matrices by acid digestion and fusion.
• Strong understanding of inorganic chemistry, trace element analysis, matrix and interference effects, spectral corrections, and method validation.
• Experience supporting both high temperature and wet chemical process streams, including slags, calcines, dusts, leach solutions, and solvent extraction phases.
• Demonstrated experience implementing QA/QC systems and maintaining data integrity standards in a production or pilot support environment.
• Experience standing up a new laboratory, or significantly expanding one, including instrument selection, installation, and qualification.
• Experience implementing or administering a LIMS or comparable digital data workflow.
• Experience in minerals processing, metallurgy, chemicals, specialty materials, or a similar industrial environment.
• Working knowledge of OSHA laboratory standards, chemical hygiene requirements, hazardous waste handling, and shipping of regulated samples.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced startup environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to present analytical limitations and uncertainty clearly to engineers and operators.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily laboratory operations supporting pilot plant campaigns, process development, and product qualification
• Specify, purchase, install, and commission analytical instrumentation and sample preparation equipment for a new laboratory, and manage the associated capital and operating budgets
• Supervise, mentor, and develop analytical chemists and technicians, including hiring, training and qualification records, scheduling, and performance reviews
• Oversee analytical testing using ICP-OES, ICP-MS, XRF, XRD, titration, ion chromatography, and other relevant techniques
• Own sample preparation for difficult mineral matrices, including crushing, pulverizing, splitting, drying, loss on ignition, acid digestion, and fusion of refractory materials
• Establish, validate, and continuously improve analytical methods for high matrix solutions such as concentrated leach liquors, high salt streams, and organic phases from solvent extraction
• Support pyrometallurgical characterization needs including elemental assay of feeds, calcines, slags, dusts, and residues, along with moisture, LOI, carbon and sulfur, and particle size analysis
• Manage external and umpire laboratory relationships for methods held outside the site, including sample shipping, turnaround, and result reconciliation
• Provide analytical inputs to mass balance and metallurgical accounting, and work with process engineers to resolve balance closure issues
• Develop and enforce laboratory SOPs, QA/QC protocols, and data validation procedures, including certified reference materials, duplicates, spikes, blanks, and control charting
• Collaborate with process and plant engineering on sampling-point design and validation, covering location, sampler type, frequency, and sample handling, and confirm that each point delivers a representative sample before it is relied on for process decisions.
• Own detection limits, precision and accuracy targets, and documented uncertainty for every reported method
• Implement and administer a laboratory information management system or equivalent digital data workflow, including sample chain of custody from the plant floor to the reported result
• Set and hold turnaround time commitments by priority tier, so operations receives time-critical results fast enough to act on them
• Maintain and oversee calibration, preventive maintenance, and troubleshooting of analytical instrumentation, and manage service contracts and vendor relationships
• Manage laboratory inventory including consumables, gases, standards, and reagents
• Ensure compliance with safety regulations, the chemical hygiene plan, and environmental requirements
• Own safe handling, storage, and segregation of concentrated acids, bases, flammable solvents, and hazardous samples, including fume hood performance and emergency equipment readiness
• Manage laboratory waste characterization, accumulation, and disposal in line with regulatory requirements
• Lead laboratory incident investigation and corrective action, and participate in site hazard reviews

Skills

Lab management

Analytical chemistry

ICP-OES

ICP-MS

XRF

XRD

Education

Bachelor or Master degree in Chemistry, Metallurgy, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field

Tools

ICP-OES

ICP-MS

XRF

XRD

LIMS

Acid digestion / fusion prep

Job description

Mariana Minerals is seeking a Lab Manager to build and lead the analytical laboratory supporting the DSM Pilot Plant in Houston. You will own the lab setup, instrument selection, QA/QC, staffing, and data workflows connecting results to plant decisions.

The role requires 8+ years in analytical labs with hands-on ICP-OES/ICP-MS/XRF experience and 3+ years leading teams, plus strong inorganic chemistry and method validation knowledge.