Lab Manager, Microbial ecology, Coastal sedimentary protists

The lab manager will oversee day-to-day operations of an environmental microbial ecology laboratory focused on the molecular and microscopic identification of unknown protists, particularly from marine sedimentary environments. The successful candidate will manage daily research activities, lead hands‑on training of students, and contribute to the development of laboratory technologies and protocols.

• Maintain detailed up-to-date laboratory notebooks, utilize safe laboratory protocols, and keep the laboratory organized and in high-functioning condition.
• Maintain laboratory supplies inventory; anticipate needed supplies; place and expedite orders for supplies; verify receipt of supplies.
• Maintain laboratory equipment performance; develop operations, quality, and troubleshooting procedures; arrange equipment replacement, service, and repair.
• Maintain quality checks on safety of laboratory, including biohazards, gas tanks, and ensure maintenance of the facilities according to Good Laboratory Practices.
• Standardize and implement laboratory protocols for field sampling, microbial culture maintenance, microscopic imaging, and high-throughput sequencing (both short- and long-read platforms).
• Design and administer guidelines for data entry and data management in consultation with the principal investigator.
• Independently perform day‑to‑day laboratory work in conjunction with other lab personnel; help with new trainee onboarding by offering technical and safety trainings.
• Coordinate and perform field sampling for the establishment of time-series data.
• Contribute to the development of new lab technologies and to achieve project objectives in creative and effective ways.
• Document and report experimental results and methods for timely publication and grant applications.
• Work closely with the Principal Investigator to provide timely updates and report project progress.

• 1. Bachelor’s degree or higher in microbiology, microbial ecology, marine science, or a related life science discipline.
• 2. Minimum of two years of experience as a laboratory technician or research staff.
• 3. Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following: soil or sedimentary microbiology, microbiome identification, next‑generation sequencing, ecology and physiology of marine microeukaryotes.
• 4. Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills.
• 5. Demonstrated oral and written communication skills.
• 6. Demonstrated ability to organize, coordinate, and supervise research projects .
• 7. Demonstrated ability to work with diverse groups and cross disciplines.

• 1. Demonstrated experience in preparing high‑throughput sequencing libraries with marine sedimentary samples and/or low-input DNA.
• 2. Demonstrated experience in bioinformatics analyses of microbiome data.
• 3. Demonstrated experience in protist genomics/transcriptomics.
• 4. Demonstrated experience in advanced microscopy.