Laboratory Manager
What the work is
Plans, organises, directs, controls and coordinates the operations of a research, medical or production laboratory to ensure quality standards are met and health and safety standards comply with regulatory frameworks.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Implements, manages and oversees protocols, and ensures health and safety standards in the laboratory comply with regulatory frameworks
- Maintains laboratory equipment and inventory levels
- Trains technicians on the proper use of equipment and safety procedures to follow in the laboratory
- Manages the daily operations of a laboratory, including the supervision of employees and schedule of activities
- Monitors and ensures all laboratory operations are performed according to specifications
- Reviews the studies, tests and analysis performed in the laboratory
- Plans, organises and coordinates the quality management processes within the laboratory
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the environment team of a fictional dairy processing plant beside a river. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A year of careful monitoring shows the river downstream is healthier than before
- A plant manager asks your advice before making a change, not after
- A young scientist on your team spots a pattern in the data that nobody else noticed
Hard days
- A reading creeps toward a limit on the busiest week of the year
- Telling a production manager that a good idea cannot go ahead as planned
- Reporting to a regulator while the facts are still being worked out
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 149333, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.