LSI High Throughput Facility Manager

Job Title

LSI High Throughput Facility Manager

Job Category

M&P - AAPS

Job Profile

AAPS Salaried - Research and Facilitation, Level E

Job Family Group

Staff - Non Union

Department

LSI Leadership | Life Science Institute | Faculty of Science

Compensation Range

$10,459.67 - $15,675.58 CAD Monthly

The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.

Job End Date

January 3, 2028

Posting End Date

December 21, 2026

Note:Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

The High Throughput Biology (Bio!) Core Facility

Bio! runs a state-of-the-art automation and liquid handling facility geared towards helping to bring costs to a reasonable level for faculty and SME wishing to pursue high throughput science.  The facility runs classical high throughput compound screens (>150,000 compounds), is responsible for high content screening, performs high throughput library builds for sequencing projects, and enables high throughput solutions for investigator related projects. 

Job Description Summary

This position will manage the high-throughput screening core facility situated in the Life Science Institute (LSI). The facility will support diverse research initiatives through the LSI and Bioproducts Institute, and provide core support to researchers and highly qualified personnel (HQP) participating the Ecosystem Services, commercialization and entrepreneurship (ECOSCOPE) NSERC industrial stream training program. The facility houses a number of HTS and HCS related devices including a LabCyte workstation and supports diverse research initiatives through the LSI, and provides core support to researchers and highly qualified personnel (HQP) participating in small molecule screening, enzyme discovery and the automation of scientific processes including but not limited to: amplicon, metagenome and WGS library preps, large-scale DNA/RNA/plasmid isolation, and DoE studies. The position is responsible for a wide range of functions in order to manage strategically all technical, financial, legal, administrative and reporting components of the facility and to oversee operations and maintenance of the critical infrastructure.

Organizational Status

The position reports to the LSI Director and is a member of the Project Management Team.. The incumbent will also act as a liaison between the project leader, various project participants, ORS, UILO, , UBC Finance and the supporting grant agencies. Will work closely with LSI members, Bioproducts Institute and ECOSCOPE members  to coordinate activities and manage the facility in support of research, training and translational initiatives.

Work Performed

- Provides Strategic Research Management and operations support for user facility e.g., manage acquisition and operations of core infrastructure, schedule screening activities, manage data resulting from completed screens and other processes, diagnose and troubleshoot errors or malfunctions associated with core infrastructure, oversee maintenance and service contracts, develop platform capabilities of infrastructure to expand core services.
- Oversees project management to forecast, monitor and report on the completion of research milestones and facility operations.
- Prepares, manages and oversees accounts and receivables on behalf of the facility e.g., invoicing for fee for service and cost recovery, work with LSI Director and UILO to develop service contracts for private sector users.
- Manages scientific groups to produce timely & quality detailed reports to participants and granting agencies.

- Manages technical staff to meet the objectives of the facility
- Plans performs, and presents the results of prototyping experiments that demonstrate the utility of core resources and infrastructure for the purpose of developing educational and outreach material for the facility.
- Assesses human resources needs with project leaders, reviewing staffing levels, evaluating current needs including reducing appointments or hiring additional short term project staff or students. Working with the LSI Director and administration as to how to ensure milestones are reached with the staffing levels associated with facility operations and management.
- Reviews and ultimately determines the successful applicants for hire. This position will hire, train, supervise, and review facility employees and if necessary, discipline & terminate positions.
- Writes and participates in grant applications for additional contributions to facility operations to a variety of agencies, private & public companies, such as the Vancouver Economic Commission, Western Economic Diversification Fund, and emerging venture partnerships in the biotechnology/cleantech space.
- Approaches possible contributors to provide additional funding on in-kind contributions. . Key decision making activities include fundraising e.g., on-line and alumni giving campaigns, public and private sector sponsorship and grant writing, selecting participants, entering contracts, booking, scheduling, and strategic networking with the Vancouver Economic Commission, venture firms, internship sponsors, and other training and certification programs on behalf of ECOSCOPE.
- Budgets and reviews financial reporting documents for the facility, including detailed financial & milestone reporting to the granting agencies.
- Regularly maintains contact and communication with academic and private sector partners to ensure optimal training outcomes, meeting of the partners research needs, and raising of necessary funds.

- Performs business development by engaging with current and potential clients, partners, local businesses, academics, and funding agencies, cultivating market feedback and statistics, and adapting the business model to meet the needs of clients and partners.
- Develops a program for community engagement, including planning events with the public, potential donors, alumni groups, business groups, and other academic institutions. This includes public presentations at events as well as academic and business conferences.

- Develops curriculum for the biological engineering module of the ECOSCOPE core course and content management in collaboration with faculty program members to ensure core course is contemporary and balanced.
- Makes strategic decisions regarding academic partnerships with business and design schools and relevant certification programs to meet educational goals.
- Develops multimedia materials including a website for the facility, graphic design of outreach brochures, and figure editing for relevant publications.
- Plans and presents related workshops. This includes deciding on the topics, researching and compiling the content, and giving technical presentations on core infrastructure capabilities.
- Prepares & organizes additional activities for the facility including seminars and infrastructure demonstrations to support UBC iGEM, BIOMOD and BioDesign teams and partner organizations.
- Writes & edits articles for facility publications including scientific reports and press releases.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

A high degree of judgment and initiative is required in making appropriate decisions, including those involving financial and human resource issues. Errors in judgment or decisions may negatively impact the trainees, financial and operational activities of the facility and training program. Errors in judgment may negatively impact the reputation of the facility, training program and the University.

Supervision Received

The successful applicant works under their own direction, operating independently within policies and procedures and must display a high level of initiative, drive and responsibility. Sets own priorities in consultation with the LSI Director.

Supervision Given

Manages a team of scientists, technicians and students and contractors working in the facility. Consults with granting agency representatives, collaborators from the private & public sectors.

Minimum Qualifications

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

Post-graduate degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent professional designation and experience. MSc or PhD in bio-engineering, microbial ecology, molecular biology, bio-physics, chemistry, or biochemistry preferred. Candidates without advanced degrees in focus areas may also be considered if they have highly relevant management experience consisting of 7 years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience if not responsible for a research project. Five years of experience in a field of specialization or equivalent combination of education and experience if responsible for a research project. Should be comfortable with statistical programming, spreadsheets, word processing, information management, robotic workflows, instrumentation, grant and report writing, and website updating. Must be able to multi-task and manage multiple projects simultaneously. Must be able to manage competing deadlines and forecast upcoming responsibilities. Experience with data-driven problem solving, visual analysis, and entrepreneurship a plus. Strong fundamentals in the following areas: statistics, management, public speaking, finance, screening, automation systems and biotechnology. Applies systems approaches to create the conditions for effective leadership and student training. Strong written and oral communication skills a must.