Assistant Biosafety Officer

🔍Dean of Research, Stanford, California, United States 📁Health and Safety 📅Feb 17, 2026 Post Date 📅107326 Requisition #

The Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) at Stanford University is dedicated to supporting and enhancing the teaching, learning, and research activities on our campus by promoting a safe and healthy environment. With over 50 specialists across 10 technical groups, we collaborate closely with top researchers, faculty, staff, and students to provide practical safety and environmental solutions. Our work environment is team-oriented, collaborative, vibrant, and deadline-driven.

EH&S seeks an Assistant Biosafety Officer (ABSO), who will play a key role in supporting Stanford University’s biological safety programs, reporting to the institutional biosafety officer (BSO). This position provides crucial support to the BSO by assisting with both personnel and programmatic oversight. The ABSO supervises a dedicated team of biosafety specialists who provide protocol review, consultation, and in-field services to the research community.

This position is integral in helping design, develop, and manage Biosafety & Biosecurity (B&B) programs across Stanford’s research enterprise, including the School of Medicine (SoM). The ABSO will provide technical, regulatory, and administrative support to Stanford’s Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), which oversees work with rDNA and infectious agents, while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and nurturing productive relationships with principal investigators (PIs) involved in cutting‑edge research.

• Develop, implement, and oversee biosafety programs; interpret policies and procedures as they apply to environmental, health, and safety practices.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in one or more areas of environmental, health, and safety specialization; lead technical meetings; represent assigned area and/or specialty in meetings and interact with internal and external customers.
• Directly supervise and provide guidance and development to individual contributors, including contractors and matrixed staff, external to the organization.
• Develop training programs and effective communication strategies around biosafety protocols and practices using modern engagement methods; create outreach for researchers, particularly students and post‑docs, that can be implemented on a rolling basis to continuously capture new incoming researchers.
• Ensure programs and practices are in compliance with the appropriate statutes and regulations and environmental, health, and safety requirements are met.
• Investigate and resolve problems, questions or complaints received from within the organization, customers, government regulatory agencies, etc.
• Ensure environmental, health, and safety inspections are conducted, corrective actions are completed on time, and all necessary documentation is maintained.
• Develop, maintain, audit, and evaluate current policies, procedures, and documentation for regulatory compliance and continuous improvement. May represent the university as a designated safety officer when mandated by regulatory requirements.

• Program Oversight and Development
• Serve as a member of designated research compliance committees; facilitate risk assessment and registration application processes for rDNA, prion‑like proteins, and biological agent protocols.
• Utilize data metrics to recommend corrective actions and continuous enhancements to biosafety programs.
• Conduct audits and assessments to maintain compliance with statutes and regulations relating to biosafety.
• Investigate and address issues or complaints from the university community and external or regulatory agencies.
• In alignment with the BSO, support compliance programs including blood borne pathogens, aerosol transmissible diseases, high containment research, specialized laboratory facility design and review, and compliant operation of specialized biocontainment facilities.
• Build Relationships and Increase Collaboration
• Supervise and mentor biosafety specialists and support staff, fostering professional growth and…