Lab Operations and Project Manager

Planet Group; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

Planet Group is seeking a Lab Operations and Project Manager in Foster City, CA, onsite. The role pays $40–$44.17 per hour and runs for 15 months, with responsibilities spanning lab operations leadership, capital planning, vendor coordination, and project delivery.

You will lead cross-functional projects, manage equipment and facilities moves, and develop dashboards to improve lab efficiency and reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, or Business with significant lab operations experience.
• Ability to independently lead complex initiatives, influence stakeholders, manage competing priorities, and deliver improvements.
• Preferred experience includes lab infrastructure projects, equipment lifecycle management, capital planning, vendor management, and biotech/pharma labs.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational leadership and issue resolution for lab operations.
• Lead cross-functional projects including lab moves and facility initiatives.
• Manage lab assets through planning, procurement, installation, maintenance and decommissioning.
• Coordinate with Facilities, Procurement, IT, EHS, Finance, scientists, and vendors.
• Support capital planning, budgets, POs, invoicing, and project financial tracking.
• Monitor operations, identify risks, and implement corrective actions.
• Develop dashboards, project plans, and governance processes for visibility.
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce non-scientific work and improve service delivery.
• Support the TD operating model rollout with standardization and scalable processes.

Skills

Operational leadership

Issue resolution

Cross-functional projects

Lab moves

Infrastructure improvements

Equipment relocations

Vendor management

Capital planning

Budget management

Project tracking

Performance monitoring

Governance

Continuous improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, or Business

Job description

Lab Operations and Project Manager

Pay: $40-44.17per hour
Duration: 15months
Location:Foster City, CA (Onsite)

Core Responsibilities:

• Serve as a Lab Operations partner providing operational leadership and issue resolution support.
• Lead cross functional projects including laboratory moves, infrastructure improvements, equipment relocations, and facility initiatives.
• Manage laboratory assets and equipment through planning, procurement, installation, maintenance, service coordination, and decommissioning activities.
• Coordinate stakeholders across Facilities, Procurement, Information Technology, Environmental Health and Safety, Finance, scientists, and external vendors.
• Support capital planning, operational budgets, purchase orders, invoice management, and project financial tracking.
• Monitor operational performance, identify risks, and implement corrective actions to improve laboratory efficiency and reliability.
• Develop and maintain operational metrics, dashboards, project plans, and governance processes to improve visibility and execution.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that reduce non-scientific work, improve service delivery, and enhance the scientist experience.
• Support implementation and refinement of the Technical Development operating model, including standardization, stakeholder engagement, and scalable service delivery processes.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, Business, or a related field with significant experience supporting laboratory operations, technical operations, project management, or research environments.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex initiatives, influence stakeholders, manage competing priorities, and deliver operational improvements.
• Preferred experience includes laboratory infrastructure projects, equipment lifecycle management, capital planning, vendor management, operational excellence programs, and biotechnology or pharmaceutical laboratory environments.