Position Title: Laboratory Supervisor

Effective Date: 2/1/2024

Reports To: Laboratory Manager

Position status: Exempt – Full-Time

Primary Function:

The Production Laboratory Supervisor is responsible for supervising day-to-day laboratory operations under the direction of the Laboratory Manager. This role plays a vital part in ensuring the competency of laboratory staff, the precision of laboratory results, and overall adherence to stringent quality standards. The Production Laboratory Supervisor also engages in performance management, coaching, and leadership to attract, develop, and retain a diverse and highly competent workforce. Production Laboratory Supervisor leads a dedicated team responsible for laboratory production and scaling output, ensuring efficiency and productivity.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Under the guidance of the Laboratory Manager, lead and manage laboratory operations to uphold the competence of laboratory staff and ensure the precision of laboratory results aligns with the high-quality standards anticipated by our clients.
• Collaborate closely with the Laboratory Manager to strategize and coordinate daily tasks and activities across all operations, demonstrating adaptability to accommodate evolving schedules and shifting priorities.
• Collaborate with the Laboratory Manager to develop, refine, and manage robust scheduling processes for staff, equipment, and reagents, ensuring that resources are effectively aligned with operational requirements.
• Work closely with the Laboratory Manager to guarantee that employees receive support and opportunities to address areas requiring improvement, and, when required, enforce appropriate disciplinary procedures.
• Conduct regular 1:1 meetings with staff, utilizing tools like Lattice, to provide personalized guidance, support, and performance feedback.
• Ensure the accurate performance of laboratory tests and timely reporting of results, maintaining quality and compliance.
• Investigate, resolve, and escalate production errors, when necessary, continuously seeking process improvements.
• Perform laboratory testing as needed. Assume lead role in assuring compliance within accordance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) regulations, CAP accreditation, FDA compliance, and/or specific state regulations.
• Assist with inventory management to maintain a balanced supply of reagents, consumables. Audit inventory on regular basis.
• Assist in implementation of quality standards with the Laboratory Manager and Quality Assurance Services to ensure consistently high-quality results and take appropriate immediate corrective action when necessary.
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration, working closely with management, facilities, and supply chain teams to guarantee a seamless flow of operations and materials throughout the department.
• Diligently track and analyze the root causes of rework issues to eliminate them effectively. Escalate any issues that have the potential to affect quality or cause delays in patient testing or test result delivery.
• Collaborate with the Laboratory Manager to create and revise Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), ensuring compliance with industry standards.
• Utilize laboratory information system (LIS) to investigate specimens, track their progress, communicate updates, access historical results, and employ any other necessary LIS functions.
• All other reasonable duties, as assigned.

Skills, Knowledge, Abilities:

Mental Abilities and Skills Requirements-

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in both verbal and written communications and excellent customer service skills in a culturally diverse organization.
• Effective leadership skills to manage and motivate laboratory staff, fostering a positive and productive work environment.
• Multitask and coordinate multiple projects/assignments simultaneously and completing assigned tasks accurately and on a timely basis.
• Ability to adapt in a constantly changing environment and the ability to work under tight deadlines.
• Excellent critical thinking skills to identify and address technical issues and discrepancies.
• Ability to train and develop laboratory staff, ensuring their competencies and skills align with job requirements.
• Ability to gather and review resources and select and synthesize data for reports and other written materials.
• Knowledge of laboratory safety protocols and the ability to enforce them.
• Commitment to ethical conduct and compliance with relevant standards and regulations in the laboratory environment.

Knowledge Needed-

· REQUIRED:

o 3 years of high complexity testing.

o Experience designing and implementing assay validations.

o Experience with SOP writing.

o Experience with molecular techniques, including PCR and nucleic acid extraction.

o Experience with immunoassays/colorimetric tests

o Experience with LC-MS/MS, HPLC, chromatography review

o Ability to troubleshoot and think critically.

· PREFFERED:

o Experience in an accredited lab, such as CAP, CLEP, ISO.

o Experience with western blot techniques.

o High throughput automated instrumentation.

o Experience handling BSL-2 level pathogens.

o QA/QC experience.

· Knowledge of general data analysis, statistics, and statistical process control.

· Knowledge of occupational safety and health rules and regulations.

· Demonstrates exceptional understanding of the elements that support high quality work processes, training, and quality assurance in molecular biology laboratories.

· Prior experience in Quality required with knowledge of CLIA regulations and CAP requirements.

Education and Certification:

Education/Experience Requirements-

• Master’s degree in one of the chemical, physical, or biological sciences with 4 years of clinical lab experience*; OR
• Bachelor’s degree in one of the chemical, physical, or biological sciences with 7 years of clinical lab experience in a laboratory*.
• Experience must include a minimum of 1 year leading staff, demonstrating a high level of competency when assisting in the analytical sample processing steps, and all other supporting functions.

Certifications-

• N/A

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to sit or stand for up to eight hours per day.
• Occasionally required to lift up to 20 lbs.
• Regularly required to sit, stand, bend, reach and move about facilities.

Work Environment:

VANCOUVER OFFICE - Most work will be performed in an office. However, this position may require some traveling and working between locations. Workweeks usually consist of 40 hours.

LAB POSITIONS - Most work will be performed in the lab. However, this position will require some traveling and working between locations. Workweeks usually consist of 40 hours.

Office Environment-

• Several common areas and meeting rooms for collaboration.
• Large windows which let in natural light during working hours.
• Fully equipped break room and bathrooms.

Lab Environment-

• Noise levels vary based on flow of business.
• Most floors are tile or concrete - individuals may stand for extended periods of time on these surfaces.

Tools and Technology:

• Desktop computer and laptop
• Scanners and printers

Hazards:

• Work is performed in an office environment, full manual dexterity and visual acuity required. However, access to the laboratory may be necessary and therefore employee may be exposed to potential physical harm from hazardous chemicals, infectious diseases, bloodborne pathogens, toxic materials, toxic gases, electrical hazards, dangerous tools, and equipment.
• Hep B Vaccination provided at no cost to employee.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by associates assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

Molecular Testing Labs embrace diversity and is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and hire without regard to any individual's race, age, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, religion, marital status or domestic partnership; pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions; other medical conditions or genetic characteristic; sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or transgender status; or any other basis protected by state, federal or local law, regulation or ordinance. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. Molecular Testing Labs provides reasonable accommodation upon job seeker request in all steps of the employment process.