Laboratory Manager, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

University of Delaware; Newark (DE); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Delaware's Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering department seeks a Laboratory Manager to oversee Colburn Lab operations in Newark, DE. You will coordinate safety, equipment maintenance, and lab improvements, ensuring compliance with EH&S and university standards.

The role supports teaching labs, trains student hourly workers, and partners with Facilities Management on renovations. Qualifications include an engineering degree with several years in lab prototyping, strong CAD and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering with five years design/build prototyping experience.
• Experience with lab instruments and life sciences processes including safety inspections.
• CAD software and LabVIEW knowledge; familiarity with safety programs and equipment maintenance.

Responsibilities

• Repairs, maintains, or dismantles laboratory equipment as directed.
• Supports undergrad labs; designs equipment to industrial standards and trains teaching assistants.
• Directs shop personnel and consultants for lab equipment servicing and modernization.
• Coordinates lab equipment installation, shipping, and acceptance testing with vendors.
• Co-chairs Facilities & Safety committee and responds to lab emergencies.
• Liaises with EHS, Facilities Management, and other safety teams to ensure compliance.

Skills

Lab equipment design

R&D prototyping

CAD software

Data logging systems

Instrumentation operation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

LabVIEW

National Instruments

Job description

Laboratory Manager, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Job no: 504084
College / VP Area: College of Engineering
Work type: Staff
Location: Newark, DE
Categories: Research & Laboratory

Pay Grade 31E

Context of Job

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) is nationally and internationally recognized for excellence, with undergraduate and graduate programs that are consistently ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. (e.g., #5 and #7, respectively; 2026 US News and World Reports), and a #1 ranking in the latest NSF HERD report on chemical engineering R&D expenditures. The teaching, research, and service activities of the department are competitive with top programs across the U.S. and around the world. The department’s 27 primary and joint faculty are leaders of major, internationally-impactful institutes and centers that are fueling discovery, unprecedented new training, and impactful problem-solving, including the Manufacturing USA Institute NIIMBL (National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals), the Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI), and the Center for Clean Hydrogen (CCH).

The department’s laboratories are headquartered in Colburn Lab, with additional laboratory infrastructure in the Ammon-Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation (APBio) Building, the Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (ISE) Building, and several satellite sites. Colburn Lab represents one of the most complex and high-risk laboratory buildings on campus, housing 75% of the department’s researchers as well as its undergraduate training operation, and supporting wet laboratory experimentation ranging from chemical reactor design, to x-ray and laser-based analysis of materials systems, to manipulation of complex microbial and mammalian cellular systems.

Given the complexity of CBE’s research activities, laboratory and building safety are essential to the department’s operations. The use of hazardous chemicals, specialized equipment, and complex research processes requires ongoing attention to safety, regulatory compliance, preventative maintenance, and risk mitigation. Maintaining a safe environment protects faculty, staff, students, and visitors while minimizing disruptions to research and teaching. The Laboratory Manager plays a critical role in identifying and addressing safety concerns and collaborating with the departmental Lab Safety Manager, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), Facilities Management, and departmental leadership to ensure a safe, compliant, and fully operational research environment.

Under limited direction of the Senior Business Administrator and the Chair, the Laboratory Manager: (1) assists in the construction, fit-out and startup of the undergraduate and faculty research laboratories to ensure the projects are completed safely, on time and within budget; (2) ensures the effective maintenance, security and operation of the physical plant and individual laboratories, in a safe and environmentally sound manner, and within budget; and (3) establishes and maintains a coordinating role between the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, UD Facilities Management, and EHS to ensure laboratory operations and building infrastructure meet institutional safety standards and operational requirements.

Major Responsibilities

• Repairs, assembles, maintains or dismantles laboratory apparatuses at direction of the Department Chair.
• Supports the Undergraduate Education Committee and faculty person(s) leading the instruction of laboratory courses to improve reliability and usefulness of undergraduate lab experiments by designing and building equipment to industrial standards and training teaching assistants in its use. Specifies and orders undergraduate lab supplies and equipment.
• Directs shop personnel and consultants in servicing, modernizing, and building research and teaching lab equipment.
• Directs vendors and contractors for lab equipment installation and servicing; manages equipment shipping, receiving, and installation in laboratories.
• Co-chairs Department Facilities & Safety committee.
• Responds to and resolves lab emergencies including after-hours problems.
• Updates emergency action plans including creating and updating the department disaster plan.
• Liaises with the Department’s safety Laboratory Manager, University Environmental Health & Safety department, and national safety organizations to ensure that department practices remain aligned with current safety technology and resources, including SciShield or other safety management software for chemical inventories and research lab chemical lists.
• Advises lab users of safety resources in coordination with the Department’s safety Laboratory Manager.
• Manages laboratory waste storage and collection.
• Coordinates and performs hands-on research laboratory fit-outs as required by faculty. Equipment and laboratory fit-outs support chemical and biomolecular engineering research activities ranging from catalyst design and testing, to polymeric and ‘soft’ materials synthesis and characterization, to experimentation involving living systems such as microbial and mammalian cells.
• Assists researchers (e.g., graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs, and research scientists) with research equipment systems integration, including fixture designs and equipment mounts.
• Liaises with Facilities Services and Campus Planning (FSCP) on specific maintenance and laboratory improvement projects, including minor research lab renovations. Serves on campus-wide committees including the University Chemical Hygiene Committee and other committees as directed by the Chair and Sr. Business Administrator. Recommends space changes to CBE Chair. Liaises with the Department safety Lab Manager and other COE Lab Managers and Coordinators to improve safety training programs, share best practices, and network to share facilities and equipment.
• Coordinates laboratory, equipment, and office moves including faculty office and lab cleanouts. Assists staff with preparations for symposia, research reviews, and other events. Manages Colburn Lab loading dock traffic and compressed gas cylinder security. Trains and supervises student hourly workers.
• The CBE Laboratory Manager is expected to walk through department labs daily, taking a hands-on approach by providing 260+ graduate students, visiting scholars, post-doctoral fellows, research scientists, and undergraduate researchers with technical support of CBE research projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering related field with five years experience in design/build prototyping for R&D applications using modular design principles.
• Skills in component selection and integration, operations and maintenance of research lab instruments such as gas chromatographs, mass flow controllers, HPLC, FTIR, UV/VIS and mass spectrometers, chemical reactor and distillation systems, along with life sciences instrumentation and processes including ultracentrifugation, bioreactor design and operations, protein and peptide synthesis and purification, and best practices with lab instrument piping, tube bending and tube fitting selection.
• Experience in job hazard analysis, hazard review of chemical reactors, and organizing laboratory safety inspections and inspection follow-up.
• Routine use of CAD software, Microsoft Office software, and either LabView or engineering modeling software is required.
• Working knowledge is desirable in selecting sensors, valves, tube fittings, extruded aluminum and composite channel strut framing systems, wiring and cabling, HVAC, logic controllers and data logging systems including National Instruments products.
• Familiarity with machine tool technology and R&D shop processes, has CNC skills, tool making, heat treatment, and surface finishing process skills.

Notice of Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity

The University of Delaware does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, disability, religion, age, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law in its employment, educational programs and activities, admissions policies, and scholarship and loan programs as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other applicable statutes and University policies. The University of Delaware also prohibits unlawful harassment including sexual harassment and sexual violence.