Lab Manager
US$200,000 – US$300,000 / yr base salary
Posted 14 Jul 2026
Advertised as “Senior Staff Lab Manager (R5090)”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Level
- R5090
- Expected experience
- 10+ yrs
- Management level
- People management
- Employment
- On-Site
- Contract
- Full-time
| Base salary | US$200,000 – US$300,000 / yr |
|---|
Field of studyComputer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering (or related)
Study levelBachelor's
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Job Description:
We are seeking an experienced Senior Staff Lab Manager to lead the design, development, operation, and long-term strategy of our engineering laboratories. This is a highly technical leadership role responsible for creating world-class lab environments that enable hardware and software engineering teams to rapidly develop, integrate, test, and validate complex systems.
The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong operational leadership, driving lab architecture, infrastructure modernization, asset management, and engineering support while leading a team of engineers and technicians.
What you'll do:
Lab Strategy & Infrastructure
- Own the overall vision, architecture, and roadmap for engineering laboratory infrastructure.
- Design, build, and commission new laboratory spaces to support evolving engineering programs.
- Define standards for laboratory layout, power distribution, networking, cooling, safety, security, and scalability.
- Develop long-term modernization plans to ensure laboratory capabilities remain aligned with engineering needs.
- Evaluate and implement new technologies, tools, and automation to improve laboratory efficiency and reliability.
Lab Operations
- Own day-to-day laboratory operations across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Develop scheduling processes that maximize lab utilization while minimizing conflicts and downtime.
- Plan and coordinate preventative maintenance, calibration, repairs, and equipment lifecycle management.
- Manage laboratory uptime, availability, and operational readiness.
- Establish operational metrics, KPIs, and reporting for lab performance.