Laboratory Manager – 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

We are partnering with an established international provider of agricultural inspection, laboratory testing and trade assurance services to identify an experienced Laboratory Manager to lead one of its U.S. agricultural testing laboratories.

This is an opportunity for a laboratory professional who combines strong operational and technical leadership with a genuine understanding of the commercial agricultural industry.

The successful individual will take responsibility for the day-to-day performance of a laboratory supporting customers across the agricultural commodities and grain trading markets. Beyond maintaining technical standards and laboratory efficiency, they will play an important role in customer relationships, service delivery, commercial development and the continued growth of the wider business.

We are particularly interested in candidates who understand that successful laboratory operations are not simply about producing accurate results. They are also about turnaround times, customer responsiveness, commercial awareness and delivering a service that supports customers' wider trading and operational requirements.

Key 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.

Technical Scope

The laboratory operation supports testing across a range of agricultural commodities and related products, including:

• Grain and grain byproduct testing.
• Standard chemical and compositional analysis.
• Heavy metals and contaminant testing.
• Wheat functionality and quality analysis.
• Carnal bunt testing.
• Edible oils and associated quality testing.

Previous experience across all these testing areas is not essential. However, candidates should have a relevant laboratory background and the ability to understand and manage analytical testing operations within an agricultural or commodities environment.

Candidate Requirements

• Proven experience managing or leading a laboratory operation, ideally within agricultural testing, food testing, commodity analysis, grain inspection or related analytical services.
• Strong understanding of laboratory workflows, analytical methodologies, quality systems and technical reporting.
• Experience managing laboratory personnel, resources, equipment and operational performance.
• Commercial awareness, including an understanding of laboratory budgets, costs, utilisation, profitability and customer requirements.
• Strong customer-facing skills, with the confidence to engage directly with clients and resolve technical or operational service issues.
• Ability to balance technical quality with commercial performance and operational efficiency.
• Experience implementing process improvements and managing laboratory KPIs.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Experience within agricultural commodities, grain testing, grain trading or independent inspection services.
• Knowledge of ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory accreditation and associated quality management requirements.
• Experience with chemical analysis, pesticides, heavy metals, grain quality or edible-oil testing.
• Exposure to export commodities, agricultural supply chains and international trade requirements.
• Experience working within a multi-site laboratory or geographically distributed operational business.
• Previous involvement in developing new testing capabilities, expanding laboratory capacity or supporting commercial growth.

The Ideal Candidate

We are looking for a commercially minded laboratory leader rather than someone whose experience is limited to technical laboratory management.

The strongest candidates will have progressed through laboratory supervision or technical management into broader operational leadership, developing an understanding of how laboratory performance directly impacts customer relationships, revenue and profitability.

Relevant backgrounds could include agricultural and commodity testing laboratories, food testing businesses, independent inspection organisations, grain quality laboratories and other analytical testing providers.

Candidates with experience managing smaller laboratories or specialist testing facilities may be particularly attractive, provided they can demonstrate strong leadership, operational accountability and commercial awareness.

The role offers the opportunity to take ownership of an established laboratory operation while contributing to the wider development of a growing agricultural trade services business.