About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:

  • Funding: Arc will fully fund Core Investigator’s (PI’s) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.
  • Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators. 
  • Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
  • Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

Arc scaled to nearly 100 people in its first year. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly to several hundred in the coming years.

 

About the position:

Arc is searching for an experienced Lab Operations Manager who is passionate about operational excellence, collaboration and high communication. 

Reporting to the Head of Laboratory Operations, the Laboratory Operations Manager will be  responsible for solving day-to-day logistical challenges associated with the startup of a new  research institution. By actively identifying and facilitating operational excellence opportunities, you will provide first-class support to Arc scientists working with other members of Arc’s Research Operations team. Additionally, you will facilitate lab transitions for new faculty hires to the Arc labs in Palo Alto, CA and act as a liaison between the research and operational teams.

About you:

  • You love to build from the ground up. You enjoy the work to create new structures and processes instead of just maintaining them.
  • You are a collaborator and influencer. You value building relationships to get the information and insights you need for your job and work directly with the labs.  You’ve experienced the superpower of great teamwork and are comfortable influencing upward and across an organization.
  • You care about more than the lab operations. You like to understand the why and the who, the purpose behind the system, and the people who are going to use it.
  • You think strategically. You believe that high quality results come from a clear plan. You like looking weeks, months, or years ahead to make sure you’re building the right thing for the long term.
  • You are detail oriented. The small things matter, you would spot safety issues and a clean lab is a thing of beauty in your eyes.You are inspired by science. You see the transformational potential of biological research, and want to contribute to advancing the field with your expertise.

In this position you will:

  • Manage day-to-day operations of a mixed lab and office space across 100,000 sq ft. including molecular biology and tissue culture laboratories.
  • Oversee smooth and efficient use of Arc lab space, including optimization of research workflows and shared space usage.
  • In strong collaboration with the labs and end-users development, maintain and upkeep systems and applications, including monitoring systems, ticketing systems, ordering/inventory systems, and scheduling systems.
  • Work collaboratively with other members of the Lab Operations team, who oversee procurement (shipping/receiving), stocking, and lab services (autoclave/glasswash), etc.
  • Review and document scientific workflows. 
  • Develop and update equipment SOPs in collaboration with the super- users, labs and tech centers.
  • Assist with instrument training, scheduling, and maintenance.
  • Participating in onboarding lab members, including the evaluation and intake of incoming labs and their needs to ensure that things are set up from equipment to supplies, EH&S and instrument training, and more.
  • Assist lab owners with coordinating equipment moves and installations, ensuring site of installation met criteria for system operation, functional support and space.
  • Develop robust supply management workflows

Requirements:

  • 7+ years of operational support in a wet and dry laboratory scientific setting.
  • 5+ years of experience in managing multiple projects.
  • Strong understanding of workflows in shared life science laboratories.
  • Excellent cross-functional communication skills including an ability to partner and negotiate with labs, PI’s and senior management
  • Highly organized, with a drive to actively improve process and workflows.
  • Goal oriented with passion for independently working through defined goals and metrics.
  • Highly collaborative with great enthusiasm for working across cross-functional teams.
  • Able to calmly and positively navigate shifting priorities and rapid change.

The base salary range for this position is $84,000 to $132,000. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.

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