Director of Laboratory Planning

Description

• Ensure all laboratory designs meet applicable codes, standards, and regulatory requirements such as biosafety, chemical safety, cGMP, GLP, vivarium standards, and sustainability guidelines.
• Serve as the firm’s subject matter expert in laboratory planning for academic, commercial, healthcare, institutional, industrial, and government science facilities.
• Participate in business development, including proposal writing, interviews, client presentations, and project strategy. Participate in industry-related events to ensure the firm remains at the forefront of laboratory planning, visible in the appropriate markets, and is known and available to potential clients and partners.
• Review and coordinate specialty systems including laboratory casework and furnishings, fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, gas distribution, and equipment infrastructure.
• Oversee and mentor Laboratory Planners and architectural staff, and provide training and quality control for lab related project deliverables. This includes identifying internal and external staff appropriate to grow into Laboratory Planner or similar roles.
• Provide guidance on laboratory design trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in research and development environments.
• Develop laboratory planning concepts, diagrams, blocking and stacking, test fits, space metrics, and functional layouts.
• Support project management teams with scope definition, fee development, staffing requirements, and project schedules for lab related work.
• Maintain strong client relationships and act as a trusted advisor throughout design and construction.
• Lead user programming sessions with researchers, facility managers, and technical staff to define space requirements, workflows, equipment lists, adjacencies, and operational needs.
• Collaborate closely with architects, engineers, and consultants to integrate lab requirements with building systems including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, process utilities, and environmental health and safety systems.
• Conduct reviews during design documentation and construction to verify compliance with planning intent.

Requirements

• Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and manage multiple projects.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills for working with highly technical user groups.
• Background in architecture, laboratory planning, engineering, science facilities management, or a related science / technical field.
• Professional degree in Architecture, Engineering, or related field.
• Strong knowledge of lab equipment, scientific processes, building systems integration, and regulatory requirements.
• Extensive experience with laboratory programming and planning across multiple scientific disciplines.
• Experience in an architecture or design firm environment is highly preferred.

Benefits

Training + Development

Interview process

Visa Sponsorship

Security clearance