Manager, Laboratory

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

PMI CHTN

Job Summary:

We are seeking a strategic and operationally strong Laboratory Manager to lead a high-performing human tissue biorepository supporting cutting-edge cancer research. If you are a leader who thrives in complex scientific environments, can develop operational infrastructure, and is passionate about building cohesive, high-functioning teams, this is the opportunity for you!
As the Laboratory Manager, you will oversee daily laboratory operations, biospecimen workflows, staff development, customer engagement, and data-driven performance management while ensuring regulatory compliance and service excellence.
This is an exceptional opportunity for you to shape the future of translational research support!

REQUIRED:
• Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent experience)
• 5 years of relevant experience
• Ability to effectively communicate w/a small team consisting of various degrees of knowledge and experience, from novice to expert
• Experience in developing Key Performance Indicators

You will work Monday-Friday, standard, daytime business hours on site at our office located at Vanderbilt Medical Center North on 21st Ave. in Nashville, TN.

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DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology offers a variety of post-doctoral fellowship opportunities for individuals with the M.D., Ph.D., D.V.M., or equivalent degree. Fellowships can be purely research-oriented experiences, and opportunities for these positions can be found at Employment and Training Opportunities. In addition to postdoctoral research fellowships, the department offers fellowship opportunities combining advanced subspecialty clinical training with related research experience. For additional information, please visit https://www.vumc.org/pmi/.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES •

Operational Leadership

• Direct day-to-day biorepository and laboratory operations supporting academic and commercial investigators.

• Optimize workflows related to tissue procurement, processing, annotation, storage, and distribution.

• Implement scalable processes that enhance efficiency, quality, and turnaround times.

Team Leadership & Development

• Manage, mentor, and develop a growing research team.

• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and mission-driven culture.

• Lead performance management activities, including coaching, evaluations, and professional development.

Strategic Performance Management

• Design and implement Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure operational success.

• Utilize metrics to drive continuous improvement and inform leadership decision-making.

• Develop dashboards and reporting structures for program visibility.

Customer & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a primary operational liaison to investigators and research partners.

• Ensure exceptional service delivery and responsiveness.

• Identify opportunities to expand services and improve the customer experience.

Technology & Data Systems

• Leverage enterprise platforms such as Workday and laboratory databases to support operational excellence.

• Partner with IT teams to improve data infrastructure and reporting capabilities.

• Champion data integrity and process automation where possible.

Scientific & Regulatory Excellence

• Apply strong knowledge of cancer biology and translational research workflows.

• Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements, institutional policies, and quality standards.

• Support audits, documentation, and accreditation activities.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in biological sciences or related field (Master’s preferred).

• 5–8+ years of progressive laboratory leadership experience.

• Direct experience working within a human tissue biorepository or biospecimen-focused program.

• Strong background in cancer biology or translational research environments.

• Demonstrated success managing teams and complex operations.

• Experience developing KPIs and performance metrics.

• Proficiency with Workday, database platforms, and the Microsoft Office Suite.

• Exceptional organizational, communication, and leadership skills.

• Proficiency with EPIC or other related Electronic Medical Records systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with biospecimen informatics systems.

• Lean/process improvement training.

• Experience scaling laboratory services.

 

 

Allied health is among the fastest growing occupations in healthcare today. This area can be defined as credentialed professionals who perform supportive, diagnostic, and therapeutic health care services to promote health and prevent disease in a variety of settings.

These areas are crucial to Vanderbilt Health’s reputation for excellence in these areas that has made us a major center for patient referrals from throughout the Mid-South.

Each year, people throughout Tennessee and the southeast choose Vanderbilt Health for their health care because of our leadership in medical science and our dedication to treating patients with dignity and compassion.

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Core Accountabilities:

* Organizational Impact: Directs activities to achieve operational plans with some near term effect on results of the department/area.* Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Identifies issues, gathers facts to resolve technical and operational problems. * Breadth of Knowledge: Applies in-depth knowledge and skills of a professional/technical area and basic management knowledge to manage the work of the team.* Team Interaction: Leads a complex department with a focus on implementation. Typically executes on a short to medium term strategies.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas. - Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships. - Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences .Delivering Excellent Services : - Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them. - Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions. - Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly. - Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure. - Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area. - Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches. - Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges. - Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications:

Responsibilities:

Certifications:

Work Experience:

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level :

5 years

Education:

Bachelor's

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.