Manager, Laboratory Operations Management

Kaiser Permanente; Downey, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaiser Permanente in Downey, CA seeks a Laboratory Operations Manager to lead the day-to-day clinical laboratory activities, ensure timely reporting, maintain competency, and uphold quality, safety, regulatory, and accreditation standards in a labor-managed environment.

This leadership role focuses on training, performance management, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver accurate test results and compliant laboratory services.

Qualifications

• Requires leadership experience in a healthcare-related lab setting.
• Knowledge of laboratory safety and quality assurance standards.
• Experience with compliance, regulatory, and accreditation processes.

Responsibilities

• Provide developmental opportunities; coach and drive performance improvements.
• Translate business plans into tactical actions and improve processes.
• Maintain testing and training standards; ensure ongoing competency.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and accreditation requirements in labs.
• Coordinate cross-functional lab operations and align with quality management systems.

Skills

Operations Management

Safety Management

Computer Literacy

Quality Improvement

Quality Assurance

Regulatory Compliance

Stakeholder Management

Employee Training

Education

Bachelor's degree in medical lab science or equivalent

California Clinical Laboratory Scientist license or equivalent

Job description

Job Summary:

In addition to the responsibilities listed below, this position is also responsible for ensuring timely and accurate laboratory reporting in the section they manage; managing day-to-day operations of the clinical laboratory in a labor management partnership environment, including both credentialed and non-credentialed personnel; maintaining competency in laboratory testing and performing bench work as appropriate; and managing quality assurance, safety, compliance, regulatory, and accreditation standards and activities.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Provides developmental opportunities for others; builds collaborative, cross-functional relationships. Solicits and acts on performance feedback; works closely with employees to set goals and provide open feedback and coaching to drive performance improvement. Pursues professional growth; develops and provides training and development to talent for growth opportunities; supports execution of performance management guidelines and expectations. Leads, adapts, implements, and stays up to date with organizational change, challenges, feedback, best practices, processes, and industry trends. Fosters open dialogue amongst team members, engages, motivates, and promotes collaboration within and across teams. Delegates tasks and decisions as appropriate; provides appropriate support, guidance, and scope; encourages development and consideration of options in decision making.
• Manages designated work unit or team by translating business plans into tactical action items; oversees the completion of work assignments and identifies opportunities for improvement; ensures all policies and procedures are followed. Aligns team efforts; builds accountability for and measuring progress in achieving results; determines and ensures processes and methodologies are implemented; resolves escalated issues as appropriate; sets standards and measures progress. Fosters the development of work plans to meet business priorities and deadlines; obtains and distributes resources. Removes obstacles that impact performance; identifies and addresses improvement opportunities; guides performance and develops contingency plans accordingly; influences teams to execute in alignment with operational objectives.
• Maintains testing and training standards by: ensuring alignment between the departments strategic initiatives and the development and implementation of technical and/or non-technical training materials while allocating training resources; evaluating relevant personnel competency on an ongoing basis; and anticipating future training needs, planning regular, in-service, and competency training programs, and completing own training.
• Maintains compliance and accreditation by: influencing and implementing policies and work instructions in alignment with applicable regulations, license requirements, accreditation standards, and inspection checklists pertaining to laboratories and facilities where testing is performed; routinely assessing adherence to all requirements related to the recruitment, processing, testing, storage, and distribution of materials and samples; identifying and implementing appropriate corrective and preventive actions for addressing technical and/or non-technical deficiencies in regulatory/accreditation inspection processes; supervising the renewal process for personnel licensure; and reviewing teams updates to technical and/or non-technical documentation.
• Serves as a link between medical laboratory services and other services by: planning for the alignment of current practices with regulatory/accreditation changes and issues, inspection citations, current events, and trends relevant to services, quality, and training; leading cross-functional teams to proactively evaluate and improve technical and/or non-technical quality management systems; networking and collaborating across internal teams locally to coordinate and align lab operations, quality, and utilization; communicating with external vendors, local/state public health and safety organizations, and other health care providers; and driving alignment with local and national standards and regulations, and utilization of technology and initiatives.
• Ensures medical laboratory operations and improves processes by: managing efficient operations, quality, service, patient safety, member/customer satisfaction, and cost effectiveness through evaluation and standardization of technical and/or non-technical services and processes; implementing innovative work plan processes to improve systems across the continuum of care; participating in the evaluation and implementation of new testing methodologies, processes, and technology that have the potential to improve service, quality, and/or efficiency; ensuring the resolution of onsite facilities issues of varying complexity with internal and external vendors; collaborating with employees to cultivate teamwork and a progressive work environment; managing personnel during periods of varying work load; monitoring the use of inventory and maintenance systems, building the supplies inventory, and estimating usage and costs; and managing ongoing technical and/or non-technical project management, including local, regional, and national initiatives, and status reports.
• Manages service quality by: reviewing applicable policies and procedures for audit and process improvement projects; recommending, establishing, and implementing corrective actions, preventive actions, and process improvements based on internal and external quality audits of technical and/or non-technical processes; developing plans for correcting deviations from expected quality control results; analyzing the effectiveness of strategies used to ensure that tests are performed properly and results are verified before being shared; proactively anticipating and resolving potential barriers that may prevent specimens from being collected and processed according to established time and quality standards; resolving proficiency testing concerns; and driving the application of strategies to resolve problems of varying complexity related to pre-analytical (collection, processing, etc.), analytical, or post-analytical testing, as applicable.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum three (3) years of experience in a leadership role with or without direct reports in a healthcare related field.
• Bachelors degree in medical lab science or equivalent, or health care related field AND minimum six (6) years of experience in medical technology, clinical laboratory sciences, or health care related field OR Minimum nine (9) years of experience in medical technology, clinical laboratory sciences, or health care related field.

• Clinical Histocompatibility Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Cytogeneticist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Microbiologist Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Toxicologist Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Hematologist Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Reproductive Biologist Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Laboratory Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Immunohematologist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Genetic Molecular Biologist Scientist License (California) required at hire OR Clinical Chemist Scientist License (California) required at hire

Additional Requirements:

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Operations Management; Safety Management; Computer Literacy; Member Service; Medical Sanitation and Infection Control; Medical Terminology; Medical Equipment; Quality Improvement; Quality Assurance and Effectiveness; Patient Sample Collection; Business Process Improvement; Cost Optimization; Operational Excellence; Compliance Management; Confidentiality; Health Care Compliance; Maintain Files and Records; Employee Training; Stakeholder Management; Legal and Regulatory Requirements; Health Care Quality Standards

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical Supervisor Certification from the American Board of Bioanalysis.
• Medical Technologist Certification.