Lab Operations Specialist

Blackbird Laboratories; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

Health/Dental/Vision

401k

Job summary

Blackbird Laboratories in Baltimore seeks a hands-on Lab Operations professional to manage day-to-day lab activities and support functions for the BioHub. The role requires coordinating equipment maintenance, onboarding residents, and ensuring safety and compliance in a busy incubator environment.

You will report to the Director of Lab Operations and work onsite Monday–Friday with some after-hours support when needed. Strong teamwork and communication are essential for success.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years hands-on laboratory experience, preferably in molecular biology/biochemistry space.
• Understanding of EHS regulations applicable to biological laboratories and BSL2 requirements.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve equipment and facility issues with minimal supervision.
• Exceptional communication, organizational and prioritization skills.

Responsibilities

• Be a steward of Resident experience in Blackbird BioHub.
• Coordinate instrument maintenance, calibration, and PM records.
• Support onboarding/offboarding of resident companies and employees.
• Maintain safety, housekeeping, and SDS/chemical inventories.
• Support planning and execution of facility modifications and upgrades.

Skills

Laboratory operations

Biosafety awareness

Equipment troubleshooting

Communication

Risk assessment

Teamwork

MS Office

Safety protocols

Job description

Blackbird Laboratories is a nonprofit life sciences incubator dedicated to transforming research breakthroughs into scalable, venture-ready biotech companies. We are committed to advancing a better future for patients with unmet medical needs. We collaborate with scientists from world-class institutions and early-stage founders in the greater Baltimore region to transform innovative research into life-changing therapies through company creation.

Blackbird BioHub is a +40,000 sqft world-class biotech incubator that opened in early 2026 on the Baltimore Peninsula that empowers early-stage life sciences startups by providing founders and their teams with top-of-the-line shared equipment, a collaborative infrastructure, and a community built for innovation.

Position Overview:

This role will play an important role within the Blackbird Team to cover a wide range of laboratory operations and support functions for the Blackbird BioHub. Duties for this position include all aspects of operations management. The ideal candidate will be experienced in operationalizing laboratory and technical environments and will work well in a team environment to support the need for redundancy in operations management. They will exercise good judgement in a variety of situations, with excellent written and verbal communication, administrative and organizational skills.

This is an onsite role Monday – Friday with some flexibility in the hours. Occasional response to urgent matters outside normal work hours may be required. This role reports to the Director of Lab Operations.

Lab Operations Responsibilities:

Be a steward of an incredible Resident experience. The BioHub aspires to deliver a space with first-in-class Resident support where the facility, and all its amenities work 100% of the time.

Instrumentation & Maintenance Programs

• Supporting instrument selection/acquisition. Evaluating all new equipment purchases weighing cost, technical specification requirements, and suitability for an incubator setting perspectives.
• Maintaining equipment service schedule, including PM record management and service documentation.
• Coordinate and document calibration of requisite BioHub equipment/instrumentation.
• Developing clear, concise tenant guides and/or training to tenants.
• Re-evaluating policies and procedures that do not deliver this objective and redesigning them.
• Familiar with cytometers or high content imaging systems would be a plus.
• Oversee login and access configuration for shared lab computers and instrumentation workstations.
• Supporting onboarding/offboarding of both Resident companies and individual resident employees
• Inventory, restock common spaces for supplied consumables
• Prepare and maintain common-use solutions, buffers, and media, as needed.
• Support resident scientists with general cell culture workflows, cryogenic storage, and mycoplasma testing programs.
• Maintain and update SDS, chemical inventories, & biological use inventories
• Support hazardous waste disposal
• Maintain emergency response readiness including spill kits, weekly testing of eye wash stations, and monthly testing of safety showers.
• Develop/co-develop safety, disinfectant protocols for common equipment.

Facility Operations Responsibilities:

• Support (document, respond, resolve, follow-up) for day-to-day facility requests
• Coordinate with other operations team members to ensure failure mitigation plans redundancy for all aspects of BioHub operations (Office & Lab).
• Apply a hands-on approach to common facility and lab problems: assembling and mounting equipment, minor plumbing fixes, managing cabling and utility organization, and coordinating more major facility issues with external support.
• Set-up and break down equipment for new resident move-ins and move-outs.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance the resident experience
• Collaborate with Operations personnel to provide back-up and cross‑functional administrative support as needed.
• In coordination with managed services provider and Lab Ops team, develop device management strategy which supports data management needs of Residents and allows for siloing of proprietary data analyses.
• Support maintenance of a clean, organized, functional shared spaces; enforce lab housekeeping standards.
• Other operational support, as required by the role.
• Support planning/construction process for any facility modifications/upgrades required by Blackbird Laboratories.

Skills/Experience:

• 3-5 years of hands-on laboratory experience, preferably in the molecular biology, biochemical, virology, or immunology space. Preferred 1-2 years of experience in a lab management, lab coordinator, or senior research support role.
• Understanding of EHS regulations applicable to biological (and chemical) laboratories (OSHA, EPA, CDC/NIH biosafety guidelines) and BSL2 requirements.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve equipment and facility issues with minimal supervision.
• Exceptional communication, organizational and prioritization skills
• Ability to analyze risk and make informed operational decisions based on risk assessments and impact analysis.
• Flexibility to work as part of a team or independently to meet goals.
• Strong Microsoft office skills are required: specifically, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Candidates must be comfortable with personal protective equipment (PPE), occasional lifting of up to 50 lbs, and performing tasks that require manual dexterity and attention to safety protocols.

Excellent benefits with generous Paid Time Off policy plus additional leave. Eligible for family health, dental and vision coverage on date of hire. 401k Plan with 3% Safe Harbor Match.

Blackbird Laboratories provided the wage range above in accordance with MD State Transparency Laws to support Equal Pay initiatives. This pay range is subject to change at any time and pay will commensurate with experience and/or other factors allowable by law.

Blackbird Laboratories is an equal opportunity employer committed to giving all qualified applicants consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, military/veteran status or national origin.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.