R&D Lab Responsible

What you will do

As an R&D Lab Responsible, you will take ownership of the daily operations of one or more research laboratories, ensuring a safe, efficient, and well-organized environment that enables researchers and engineers to perform at their best.

You will act as the main operational point of contact for lab users and service partners, driving continuous improvement, ensuring compliance with safety and quality requirements, and coordinating activities that keep the laboratory running smoothly.

Laboratory Operations

• Coordinate daily operations in the assigned laboratories and act as the primary point of contact for lab users and service teams.
• Define and maintain laboratory standards and ways of working, ensuring compliance with laboratory procedures and agreed practices.
• Organize onboarding and safety training for new laboratory users.
• Coordinate laboratory users and supporting staff where applicable, ensuring efficient collaboration and adherence to priorities.
• Own the accuracy of laboratory data platforms, including user access, inventory, and tool status information, ensuring they remain complete, reliable, and up to date.
• Drive the availability and readiness of consumables, chemicals, tool calibrations, and maintenance activities, coordinating with responsible colleagues and suppliers to prevent disruptions.

Safety and Compliance

• Promote a strong EHS culture and ensure compliance with environmental, health, and safety requirements.
• Organize regular safety inspections and ensure timely follow-up and closure of identified actions.
• Coordinate risk assessments for new chemicals, equipment, and processes, and implement appropriate mitigation measures in collaboration with EHS specialists.
• Maintain laboratory procedures and rules in line with EHS guidelines and operational needs.
• Address unsafe situations and behaviors and escalate significant or recurring risks when required.
• Ensure laboratories remain audit-ready and compliant with internal and external requirements.

Process Improvement and Technical Coordination

• Provide operational support for the introduction of new or modified processes, ensuring compliance with legal, operational, and EHS requirements.
• Coordinate tool installations, maintenance activities, and planned works with hardware engineers, facilities teams, and external suppliers.
• Communicate operational impacts and changes proactively to laboratory users and stakeholders.
• Review laboratory processes, workflows, and recurring incidents to identify risks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance safety, efficiency, and laboratory performance.

Communication and Collaboration

•  Facilitate regular interactions with laboratory users to understand needs, align priorities, manage changes, and drive closure of agreed actions.
• Coordinate activities across researchers, engineers, support teams, safety specialists, and suppliers to ensure smooth laboratory operations.
• Communicate priorities, operational updates, and laboratory requirements clearly and effectively.
• Organize and support laboratory visits, audits, and inspections, ensuring all practical and safety requirements are met.

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will determine the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Industrial Sciences, Engineering Technology in electricity/electronics  or a related technical field, or equivalent through experience. Some knowledge of computer science concepts, such as data management and networks, is a plus.
• Experience working in a laboratory, technical operations, manufacturing, facilities, or R&D environment.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to coordinate multiple activities and stakeholders simultaneously.
• A proactive, hands-on, and solution-oriented mindset with a strong sense of ownership.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, enabling you to work effectively with diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Ability to provide guidance, set clear expectations, and drive adherence to agreed procedures and standards.
• Capable of influencing and aligning stakeholders while applying rules and standards consistently.
• Comfortable providing onboarding, coaching, and constructive feedback to laboratory users.
• Strong attention to safety, quality, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Fluent in English.

IMEC and its affiliates will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. IMEC will consider unsolicited referrals and/or resumes submitted by vendors such as search firms, staffing agencies, professional recruiters, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies (hereafter “Agency”) to have been referred by the Agency free of charge. IMEC will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have a prior written agreement with IMEC, validated by its HR department, in place regarding a specific job opening and allowing to submit resumes.