Iowa State

Biomolecular NMR Facility Manager

Ames, IA Full time

Position Title:

Biomolecular NMR Facility Manager

Job Group:

Professional & Scientific

Required Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of related experience

Preferred Qualifications:

Extensive experience operating and maintaining high-field Bruker NMR spectrometers (≥ 600 MHz), including cryogen handling, troubleshooting, and coordination with vendor.

Demonstrated expertise in biomolecular solution NMR experiment design, pulse sequence implementation, and data analysis, as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications.

Strong computational skills for NMR data processing and analysis (e.g., NMRPipe, NMRFAM-Sparky), with experience developing or implementing analysis pipelines.

Evidence of effective mentorship and training of undergraduate students, graduate students, or postdoctoral researchers in NMR techniques.

Experience with instrument billing and budget management

Experience with ensuring safety measures of users associated with NMR instruments

Job Description:

The Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility (BNMRF) is seeking a Facility Manager to lead daily operations, maintenance, and strategic growth of this high-impact research space. The Facility Manager will join a vibrant NMR community and play a central role in supporting users, advancing method development, enabling collaborative research, and ensuring reliable, high-quality instrumentation performance. Instrumentation includes a 600 MHz spectrometer housed in the Chemical Instrumentation Facility (CIF), and 700 and 800 MHz spectrometers in the Biomolecular NMR Facility (BNMRF), along with a high-pressure system that supports a wide range of experiments across multiple scientific disciplines.

Key Responsibilities

  • Oversee daily operation and maintenance of 600, 700, and 800 MHz NMR spectrometers, including cryoprobe performance, cryogen refills, and vendor coordination

  • Train and support users in safe, effective instrument use; provide troubleshooting, experiment design guidance, and data interpretation

  • Develop and maintain SOPs, training materials, and manuals; ensure compliance with safety and data protocols

  • Collaborate on research through experimental design, pulse sequence optimization, data processing, and support for publications and grant proposals

  • Manage scheduling, usage tracking, reporting, budgeting, billing, and fee-for-service operations

  • Coordinate with external users and other ISU core facilities to enable collaborative and cross-platform research

Why Join US
In this position, you step into a highly autonomous role where your expertise shapes the facility’s direction and the research it enables. Rather than supporting a single PI or project, you will collaborate across departments and research groups, advising senior users, contributing to cutting-edge studies, and driving innovation in NMR applications. You’ll report directly to the Chair of Biochemistry, giving you the space and flexibility to prioritize needs, cultivate partnerships, and guide the facility’s long-term growth. If you enjoy both independence and community, working alongside many investigators without being tied to one lab, this role offers a unique professional home.

The candidate will be hired as a Technical Project Specialist III.

This position will remain open until filled. For full consideration, please apply before December 18th.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. on an ongoing basis without sponsorship. Immigration sponsorship is not available for this position.

Level Guidelines

• Senior-level position possessing high-level professional and/or technical skills working independently under minimal supervision to support ISU’s mission and department or work unit goals

• Applies senior-level professional knowledge and expertise to work requiring greater latitude

• Solves moderately complex problems and regularly exercises judgment to determine appropriate action

• Regularly exercises judgment to resolve problems and determine appropriate action on a broad set of issue and problems. May provide recommendations regarding problems/issues outside the bounds of defined procedures and practices

• Responds to complicated inquiries, provides training, and provides direction to lower-level staff

• May provide supervision for one to two other staff (i.e., leads a small work team)

• May lead projects for which well-defined practices and procedures may not exist

• Provides guidance to students

Appointment Type:

Regular

Number of Months Employed Per Year:

12 Month Work Period

Time Type:

Full time

Pay Grade:

PS811

Application Instructions:

To apply for this position, please click on “Apply” and complete the Employment Application. Please be prepared to enter or attach the following:

1) Resume/Curriculum Vitae
2) Letter of Application/Cover Letter

If you have questions regarding this application process, please email employment@iastate.edu or call 515-294-4800 or Toll Free: 1-877-477-7485.

Why Choose ISU?

Iowa State Employees enjoy comprehensive health and work-life benefits, including medical and dental; as well as:
• Retirement benefits including defined benefit and defined contribution plans
• Generous vacation, holiday and sick time and leave plans
• Onsite childcare (Ames, Iowa)
• Life insurance and long-term disability
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Various voluntary benefits and discounts
• Employee Assistance Program
• Wellbeing program

Original Posting Date:

December 4, 2025

Posting Close Date:

Job Requisition Number:

R18190