Laboratory Leader, Agricultural & Commodity Testing

X4 Engineering; Louisiana; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

X4 Engineering partners with an international provider of agricultural inspection and testing to lead a U.S. agricultural laboratory.

The Laboratory Manager will oversee day-to-day operations, ensure accurate results, and drive service delivery across grain trading markets. You will manage personnel, recruit and develop staff, monitor workflows, control costs, and maintain ISO/IEC 17025 quality systems where applicable, while maintaining strong customer relationships.

Responsibilities

• Laboratory Leadership: Manage the day-to-day operation of an agricultural commodities testing laboratory, ensuring efficient workflows, appropriate resource allocation and consistent service delivery.
• People Management: Lead, develop and motivate laboratory personnel, overseeing recruitment, training, performance management and succession planning.
• Technical Operations: Maintain oversight of laboratory testing activities, ensuring accurate, reliable and timely analytical results in accordance with relevant industry standards and customer requirements.
• Quality & Compliance: Ensure laboratory quality systems, procedures, equipment and documentation meet applicable regulatory, accreditation and industry requirements.
• Commercial Awareness: Understand the financial and commercial performance of the laboratory, monitoring operational costs, productivity, capacity and profitability.
• Customer Relationships: Develop strong relationships with customers, acting as a senior point of contact for technical queries, service issues, turnaround times and testing requirements.
• Business Development Support: Work alongside the commercial team to identify opportunities to expand existing customer relationships, introduce additional testing capabilities and support new business opportunities.
• Operational Performance: Monitor key performance indicators, including turnaround times, sample volumes, utilisation, productivity, quality and customer satisfaction.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify and implement improvements to laboratory processes, efficiency, resource utilisation and customer service.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with field inspection teams, commercial colleagues and wider operational management to ensure an integrated service offering across agricultural trade operations.

Job description

X4 Engineering partners with an international provider of agricultural inspection and testing to lead a U.S. agricultural laboratory.

The Laboratory Manager will oversee day-to-day operations, ensure accurate results, and drive service delivery across grain trading markets. You will manage personnel, recruit and develop staff, monitor workflows, control costs, and maintain ISO/IEC 17025 quality systems where applicable, while maintaining strong customer relationships.