Technical and Research Infrastructure Director

Commonwealth of VA Careers; Blacksburg (VA); On-site; USD 121,000 - 131,000; Full time

Job summary

Virginia Tech's Micro-/Nanofabrication Cleanroom and Laboratory seeks a Technical and Research Infrastructure Director to provide strategic and operational leadership. You will translate institutional priorities into equipment upgrades, data-acquisition systems, and shared-user operations, guiding the technical roadmap and major equipment programs.

The role supervises staff, manages budgets and user fees, and coordinates with vendors, academic labs, and external partners to advance

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in engineering, physical science, applied science, or a related field, or a bachelor's degree with significant relevant professional experience.
• Professional experience in semiconductor fabrication, microfabrication, nanofabrication, scientific instrumentation, advanced manufacturing, or research infrastructure.
• Experience commissioning, integrating, modifying, troubleshooting, or managing sophisticated equipment.
• Experience with vacuum systems, lithography, plasma processing, thin-film deposition, instrumentation, controls, sensors, networking, laboratory automation, or a comparable technical area.
• Experience leading complex technical projects involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience with budget or resource-management responsibilities.
• Experience developing technical specifications, procedures, configuration records, or engineering documentation.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or coordinating technical personnel.

Responsibilities

• Lead the facility’s technical roadmap, major equipment programs, and infrastructure modernization.
• Oversee budgets, cost-recovery and user-fee structures, and the lab information management and billing platform.
• Coordinate with external partnerships, and approved user projects, across multiple labs and vendors.
• Supervise technical personnel and ensure configuration control and engineering standards.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Budget management

Technical documentation

Education

Advanced degree in engineering/physical science

Bachelor's degree with significant relevant experience

Tools

Vacuum systems

Lithography

Plasma processing

Thin-film deposition

Instrumentation

Controls

Sensors

Laboratory automation

Networking

Job description

Job Description

The Technical and Research Infrastructure Director provides strategic and operational leadership for the Virginia Tech Micro-/Nanofabrication Cleanroom and Laboratory within the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering. This shared research and education facility supports semiconductor devices, nanophotonics, microelectromechanical systems, quantum technologies, advanced materials, biointerfaces, and emerging devices.

Reporting to and working under the guidance of the Faculty Director, the position translates approved scientific and institutional priorities into implementable equipment, engineering, instrumentation, process-support, data-acquisition, and facility capabilities. The Director leads the facility’s technical roadmap, major equipment programs, infrastructure modernization, engineering standards, configuration control, vendor technical relationships, and integration of validated research capabilities into routine shared-user operations.

The position supervises technical personnel, including the Nanofabrication Process and Integration Engineer, and coordinates activities across the Whittemore Hall Cleanroom, Electron-Beam Lithography Laboratory, university service units, faculty laboratories, equipment vendors, and approved user projects. The Director also oversees facility budgets, cost-recovery and user-fee structures, the laboratory information management and billing platform, external partnerships, and eligible extramural infrastructure-funding efforts.

Required Qualifications

• • Advanced degree in engineering, physical science, applied science, or a related field, or a bachelor's degree with significant relevant professional experience.


• • Professional experience in semiconductor fabrication, microfabrication, nanofabrication, scientific instrumentation, advanced manufacturing, or research infrastructure.


• • Experience commissioning, integrating, modifying, troubleshooting, or managing sophisticated equipment.


• • Experience with vacuum systems, lithography, plasma processing, thin-film deposition, instrumentation, controls, sensors, networking, laboratory automation, or a comparable technical area.


• • Experience leading complex technical projects involving multiple stakeholders.


• • Experience with budget or resource-management responsibilities.


• • Experience developing technical specifications, procedures, configuration records, or engineering documentation.


• • Experience supervising, mentoring, or coordinating technical personnel.

Preferred Qualifications

• • Doctoral degree in a relevant engineering or physical-science discipline.


• • Proven history of progressively responsible technical leadership experience in a university cleanroom, shared-user facility, semiconductor facility, national laboratory, or advanced industrial research environment.


• • Experience with advanced fabrication and characterization technologies, such as electron-beam lithography, plasma etching, atomic-layer deposition, chemical-vapor deposition, physical-vapor deposition, or advanced metrology.


• • Experience with equipment procurement, commissioning, acceptance testing, vendor coordination, and lifecycle planning.


• • Experience with laboratory automation, equipment connectivity, data acquisition, industrial networking, or related technologies using platforms such as Python, LabVIEW, programmable logic controllers, OPC Unified Architecture, SECS/GEM, EPICS, or SiLA.


• • Experience with scientific-data systems, digital modeling, machine learning, cyber-physical systems, or automated laboratories.


• • Experience with facility financial management, cost-recovery or user-fee models, laboratory information management systems, or laboratory billing platforms.


• • Experience with cleanroom or laboratory planning, construction, modernization, or expansion projects, including coordination with architects and contractors.

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Restricted

Salary Information

$121,000–$131,000, Commensurate with Experience

Hours per week

40

Review Date

10/23/2026

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto,Ut Prosim(That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous Extension officesand research institutes. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Cole Tankersleyat [e-mail] regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.