Senior Manager, Research Operations

Lila Sciences; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 148,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Generous early equity

Job summary

A pioneering scientific platform in Cambridge, MA is seeking a Research Operations Manager to lead the integration of lab data and automation, ensuring high-quality scientific operations. This role demands a candidate with over 8 years of experience in R&D and significant leadership skills. The successful applicant will drive team performance and ensure compliance with quality assurance standards while fostering a culture of safety and professional growth. Competitive salary range of $148,000–$198,000 USD along with bonus and equity options.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in scientific R&D, high-throughput labs, or instrumentation-heavy environments.
• Substantial QA/QC and QMS experience.
• Demonstrated success in leading scientific and operational teams.

Responsibilities

• Architect the production and quality infrastructure for scientific operations.
• Build and lead the team for the Research Operations organization.
• Ensure process consistency and maintain quality frameworks.

Skills

Scientific R&D experience

Quality Assurance/QC skills

Leadership and management

Workflow optimization

Communication skills

Job description

Your Impact at Lila

Lila Sciences is seeking a deeply technical and rigorous leader to build and lead our Research Operations (ResOps) organization. This role integrates high-throughput production of lab data, automation-assisted laboratory execution, quality control systems, operator career development, and continuous improvement into a unified operating engine that accelerates Lila’s path to scientific superintelligence (SSI).

Your Leadership Will Directly Increase The Intelligence And Reliability Of Lila’s Scientific AI Systems

You will architect the production and quality infrastructure that transforms cutting‑edge R&D into standardized, automated, continuously improving scientific operations—and build the team that will power that future. The remit of the Production and Quality functions are as follows:

Production

• Validating scientific workflows directly on automated and semi‑automated lab equipment
• Executing experiments with accuracy and consistency
• Monitoring scientific and operational quality metrics across runs
• Generating high‑quality, fully observable datasets for AI model training
• Collaborating with domain scientists and AI researchers to realize closed‑loop learning

Quality

• Ensuring process consistency and scientific integrity
• Maintaining standard operating procedures and quality control frameworks
• Performing internal audits and supporting external audits
• Maintaining end‑to‑end data integrity and traceability
• Building a Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) infrastructure for quality assurance

What You'll Be Building

• Design and lead the operational backbone for driving autonomous scientific discovery.
• Build and deploy the Production and Quality functions for application across life science, chemistry, and materials science.
• Drive the Research Operations team to maximize AI learnings from the lab.
• Establish and own a career development framework that nurtures the most energetic and brilliant minds in Research Operations, with paths spanning automation engineering, research science, technical and team leadership, and beyond.
• Partner with Software/Automation to establish observability dashboards, run‑booking systems, and data pipelines.
• Maintain audit‑ready traceability, deviations, investigations, and CAPA procedures where applicable.
• Build a team culture centered on safety, quality, scientific excellence, and professional growth.
• Manage vendor Service Level Agreements (SLA) including turnaround time, availability, and quality of research operations and coordinate with internal stakeholders (LabOps, procurement, and science/product teams).
• Manage multi‑shift coverage, cross‑training, and shared instrument scheduling.
• Work with domain scientists and automation engineers to validate scientific workflows before operationalization.

What You’ll Need To Succeed

• 8+ years of experience across scientific R&D, high‑throughput labs, manufacturing, or instrumentation‑heavy environments.
• Substantial QA/QC and QMS experience.
• Demonstrated success leading multi‑layered scientific and operational teams.
• Expertise in workflow optimization and SOP/QMS development.
• Exceptional communication, incident management, and cross‑functional leadership skills.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with lab orchestration systems, automated workcells, and observability pipelines.
• Familiarity with molecular biology, protein science, chemistry, and materials science.
• Experience scaling operations from early‑stage to production.
• Technical leadership via publications, patents, or engineering community engagement.

About Lila

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science. We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method. We are introducing scientific superintelligence to solve humankind’s greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at www.lila.ai.

Compensation

We expect the base salary for this role to fall between $148,000–$198,000 USD per year, along with bonus potential and generous early equity. The final offer will reflect your unique background, expertise, and impact.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Note to agencies: Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. Submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment agencies is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Sciences’ internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Lila Sciences by 2x.

Get notified about new Research Operations Manager jobs in Cambridge, MA.