Associate Production Manager
EarthOptics
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Office
Location: Raleigh • North Carolina • United States
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Salary
💰 $27 - $30 per hour
About the role
- Owns hiring, onboarding, training, scheduling, and performance management for full-time and seasonal laboratory staff
- Sets clear roles, responsibilities, and daily production expectations for the lab team
- Provides ongoing coaching, feedback, and development support to ensure individual and team performance
- Ensures team adherence to company policies, safety standards, and laboratory SOPs
- Accountable for daily soil sample processing operations, including production scheduling, staffing coverage, and throughput planning
- Develops and maintains sample processing schedules for instrument operators and preprocessing staff to meet quality and turnaround targets
- Monitors production performance and resolves operational bottlenecks to ensure timely, accurate delivery of soil analysis outputs
- Provides hands-on operational support as needed, including equipment setup, calibration, and troubleshooting
- Ensures laboratory operations comply with all safety, regulatory, and quality standards
- Develops, implements, and updates laboratory SOPs and safety protocols
- Communicates daily production status, risks, and capacity updates to the Lab Operations Manager and cross-functional partners
- Collaborates with upstream and downstream teams to align processing timelines and manage turnaround expectations
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree or higher in any scientific discipline
- 3-5 years of progressive lab experience with at least 1 year of experience managing the day-to-day operations of a production-scale wet lab, which includes inventory management, lab safety compliance and chemical handling
- Strong leadership and people management skills with ability to recruit, train, and develop both full-time and seasonal staff
- Excellent organizational and workflow management capabilities to coordinate production operations and meet quality/turnaround targets
- Strong accountability mindset with commitment to immediately report production issues, equipment problems, or personnel concerns to supervisor
- Data-driven approach to monitoring lab performance metrics and ensuring on-time delivery
- Proficient in the effective use of modern AI tools to automate tasks and increase productivity
- Deep knowledge of soil chemistry analysis (incl. equipment maintenance/calibration), laboratory safety protocols, compliance regulations, and chemical handling procedures
Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance - 90% funded by EarthOptics for benefit-eligible employees and 55% for dependents
- Company-paid LTD, STD, and Life Insurance
- Meaningful equity option grants
- 401k Plan + Employer Match up to 4%
- Pet Insurance
- 17 days of paid time off, plus 10 additional company holidays
- Parental Leave
- Professional Development Stipend + access to learning platforms
- Candidate Referral Program
- Above and Beyond Bonus Program
- Regular opportunities to give feedback on our benefits offerings
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
laboratory operationssoil sample processinginventory managementchemical handlingequipment setupequipment calibrationtroubleshootingdata analysisperformance metricsquality control
Soft Skills
leadershippeople managementorganizational skillsworkflow managementaccountabilitycommunicationcoachingfeedbackcollaborationproblem-solving
Certifications
Bachelor's degree in scientific discipline