Laboratory Manager

Praxis, Inc.; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity in startup

Performance-based incentives

Access to cutting-edge labs

Relocation assistance

Unlimited PTO

Health insurance

Professional development stipend

Job summary

Pronoia Energy in Torrance, CA is seeking a Laboratory Manager to run the physical lab, procure and maintain equipment, manage chemical inventory, and oversee safety and compliance.

You will support scientists and technicians, ensuring that experiments run smoothly with calibrated instruments, proper records, and clear protocols, while advancing our room-temperature quantum energy storage research.

Qualifications

• Experience running a hazardous-materials or energetic-materials laboratory.
• Strong safety and compliance instincts with procurement and logistics skills.
• Calm, organized, service-oriented approach toward scientists and technicians.
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration in a startup environment.
• Excellent communication and coordination across technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Own lab operations including equipment, instruments, inventory, scheduling, and records.
• Lead safety and compliance for a lab and its reactive materials.
• Procure and maintain equipment and keep shared instruments calibrated and available.
• Remove operational friction so scientists and technicians can move fast and safely.
• Develop and enforce protocols that treat safety as enabling speed, not opposing it.

Job description

Company Overview

Pronoia Energy is a pioneering deep tech startup at the forefront of quantum energy storage innovation. As a lean, mission-driven team, we thrive on rapid prototyping, cross-disciplinary collaboration and solving complex engineering challenges to turn quantum physics into practical, scalable products. Our current focus is on developing our groundbreaking room-temperature macroscopic quantum energy storage technology that promises orders of magnitude greater energy density, faster charging, and higher power delivery as well as being cheaper and safer compared to existing battery technology. This represents a paradigm shift in energy storage with applications spanning consumer electronics, electric vehicles, renewable grids, and beyond.

Role Summary

To meet our ambitious goals we are hiring a Laboratory Manager to make our physical lab run optimally as the operational backbone of all our hands-on science. This is a high-leverage, high-reward role in a company whose competitive edge is iteration speed, you are the person who removes the friction between we want to test this and we are testing it. In this role you will own the laboratory end to end, procuring and maintaining equipment, managing chemical inventory and hazardous materials, owning safety and compliance, scheduling shared instruments, and keeping records. Because we handle energetic battery materials and reactive chemicals, your safety and compliance leadership is mission-critical. You will work in service of the scientists and technicians, ensuring that when they need to run an experiment, everything is there, calibrated, and safe. This role is onsite in Torrance, California.

Key Responsibilities

• Own lab operations including equipment, instruments, inventory, scheduling, and records.
• Lead safety and compliance for a lab and its reactive materials.
• Procure and maintain equipment and keep shared instruments calibrated and available.
• Remove operational friction so scientists and technicians can move fast and safely.
• Develop and enforce protocols that treat safety as enabling speed, not opposing it.

Required Qualifications

• Experience running a real hazardous-materials or energetic-materials laboratory.
• Deep safety and compliance instincts and strong procurement and logistics skills.
• A calm, organized, service-oriented approach toward the scientists you support.
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration in a startup setting.
• Excellent communication and coordination across technical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• A battery, chemical, aerospace, or pharmaceutical lab background.
• Hazmat-handling and lab-safety certifications.
• Experience standing up a new lab or scaling an existing one.
• Prior work in deep tech R&D alongside interdisciplinary teams.

What We Offer

• Chance to solve one of the world's biggest engineering challenges and pioneer quantum energy storage.
• Competitive salary, equity in a transformative startup, and performance-based incentives.
• Access to cutting-edge labs, tools, and resources in a flexible, collaborative work environment.
• Comprehensive benefits: health insurance, unlimited PTO, professional development stipend, and relocation assistance if needed.
• A culture of innovation where your work will accelerate our path to market impact.