Laboratory Operations Manager

Role Name: Lab Manager

Work site: Seattle, WA (Onsite)

Duration: Long Term

Role Summary

We are seeking a Lab Manager to own and scale the operation of multiple infrastructure lab environments supporting retail technology, device validation, and pre-production engineering. This role is responsible for ensuring lab readiness, operational consistency, and effective execution of hardware testing across a broad ecosystem of connected devices and systems.

The Lab Manager serves as the operational backbone between engineering, product, program management, vendors, and field teams—enabling reliable testing, troubleshooting, and deployment of technologies used at enterprise scale.

Key Responsibilities

Lab Operations & Infrastructure Ownership

Own day-to-day operations of IoT and systems integration labs supporting hardware validation, product development, and commercialization.

Maintain lab infrastructure including racks, servers, networking equipment, cabling, and physical space organization.

Ensure lab environments remain stable, documented, and optimized for concurrent engineering and testing workflows.

Define and enforce lab standards for configuration management, organization, and operational readiness.

Hardware Lifecycle & Asset Management

Manage full lifecycle of lab hardware including intake, configuration, deployment, tracking, maintenance, and decommissioning.

Maintain accurate inventory across IoT devices, servers, displays, POS systems, and peripheral hardware.

Ensure configuration consistency between lab environments and production-like systems for accurate validation.

Hardware Validation & Issue Reproduction

Support engineering teams by reproducing, isolating, and diagnosing hardware and system-level issues in controlled lab environments.

Collaborate with firmware, hardware, and systems engineers to identify root causes and support resolution efforts.

Translate observed failures into structured technical findings that drive product improvements and engineering action.

Test Enablement & Execution Support

Prepare lab environments for testing activities including device setup, configuration, connectivity validation, and environment readiness.

Support firmware validation, software conversion testing, and system integration workflows.

Maintain lab readiness for rapid, multi-threaded testing requests across multiple programs.

Cross-Functional Coordination

Act as a central operational partner for program managers, IoT engineers, systems engineers, vendors, and field technicians.

Coordinate hardware logistics including shipping, receiving, and deployment of test equipment across distributed teams.

Enable effective communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders to align on lab priorities and constraints.

Process Development & Operational Improvement

Develop and maintain standardized lab processes, documentation, runbooks, and operational workflows.

Identify inefficiencies in lab operations and implement improvements to increase scalability, reliability, and speed of execution.

Support continuous improvement initiatives across lab systems, infrastructure, and workflows.

Infrastructure Planning & Expansion

Support design and expansion of new lab environments including R&D spaces and pre-production testing facilities.

Collaborate on network segmentation, equipment layout, and infrastructure planning to meet technical and operational requirements.

Partner with facilities and engineering teams to ensure safe, scalable, and functional lab environments.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience in lab operations, systems engineering support, or hardware infrastructure management

Strong understanding of hardware lifecycle management and configuration control

Experience supporting IoT, networking, or distributed hardware systems

Ability to troubleshoot complex hardware and system-level issues

Strong organizational skills managing multiple concurrent operational priorities

Experience working across engineering, product, and vendor teams

Ability to document processes and standardize operational workflows

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in large-scale retail, IoT, or distributed infrastructure environments

Familiarity with firmware testing, device validation, or hardware integration workflows

Experience supporting data center or lab infrastructure (rack/stack, networking, cabling)

Exposure to network configuration, VLAN troubleshooting, or device provisioning systems

Experience supporting cross-site lab environments or distributed testing operations

What Success Looks Like

Labs are consistently stable, organized, and ready for engineering use

Hardware issues are quickly reproducible and clearly documented

Engineering teams rely on lab environments for accurate validation

Lifecycle processes reduce operational friction and increase scalability

Cross-functional teams experience smooth coordination and predictable execution