What does a microbiology laboratory manager do?
A Microbiology Laboratory Manager is a leader who is in charge of the overall operations of a facility. Microbiology laboratory managers focus on the consistent implementation of the facility's procedures, business practices, and policies for employees. The manager's train lab assistants in facility procedures are complete regulatory reports. They coordinate with the microbiologists in checking or reviewing data to ensure timely data closeout and reporting. This job's necessary skills include people management, technical analysis, operations management, quality control/assurance, and project management.
Microbiology laboratory manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real microbiology laboratory manager resumes:
- Set up forensic DNA laboratory, train laboratory technicians in advance molecular techniques, and manage day-to-day activities of forensic DNA laboratory
- Assist with client and regulatory quality GMP audits.
- Purchase and implement new non-viable particle counters to support ISO certification.
- Perform GMP audits of suppliers, ensuring that they meet internal expectations for quality.
- Determine triglycerides in vegetable oil and polyphenols in olive oil by (HPLC).
- Create purchase orders and place orders with vendors for all production aspects of the microbiological and chemistry operations.
- Train lab assistants in procedures of the lab and complete required EPA, DNR and OSHA regulatory reports.
- Determine fatty acid composition, cis and trans isomer, cholesterol through TLC chromatography by gas chromatograph (GC).
- Determine sucrose in honey by (HPLC).Determine triglycerides in vegetable oil with AOCS official method by (HPLC).
- Design and certify laboratory following FDA standards.
- Provide daily guidance for FDA validation protocols and microbiological work activities.
- Investigate out-of-specification triggering corrective actions and/or preventive action (CAPA).
- Design chemistry laboratory protocols for students that highlight chemical analysis of organic molecules and cellular base identification techniques.
- Implement rapid result microbiology testing in collaboration with infection control practitioners to identify hospital acquire infections and reduce length of stay.
- Coordinate vendor selection for API suppliers; review specifications and conduct site visits.
Microbiology laboratory manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Microbiology Laboratory Managers are proficient in QC, FDA, and Microbiology Lab. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Problem-solving skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Microbiology Laboratory Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- QC, 7%
Manage a staff of eight, including Lead Microbiologist, QC microbiologists and laboratory technicians.
- FDA, 6%
Designed and certified laboratory following FDA standards.
- Microbiology Lab, 5%
Manage Microbiology Specialist and Microbiology Laboratory Technician to include training, performance evaluations and compensation recommendations.
- Environmental Monitoring, 5%
Initiated LIMS implementation project to move from a paper based environmental monitoring program to a paperless program.
- Laboratory Operations, 5%
Maintained the budget for laboratory operations.
- Test Methods, 5%
Improved, validated and executed clinical microbiological test methods.
Common skills that a microbiology laboratory manager uses to do their job include "qc," "fda," and "microbiology lab." You can find details on the most important microbiology laboratory manager responsibilities below.
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a microbiology laboratory manager to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what microbiology laboratory managers do because "natural sciences managers must be able to communicate clearly with a variety of audiences, such as scientists, policymakers, and the public." Additionally, a microbiology laboratory manager resume shows how microbiology laboratory managers use communication skills: "assisted the director of quality control with communications between usda and plant administration.4. "
Problem-solving skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling microbiology laboratory manager duties is problem-solving skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "natural sciences managers use scientific observation and analysis to find answers to complex technical questions." According to a microbiology laboratory manager resume, here's how microbiology laboratory managers can utilize problem-solving skills in their job responsibilities: "prepared and analyzed process control samples using an icp-oes spectrometer combined with microwave assisted acid dissolution. "
Time-management skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of microbiology laboratory managers is time-management skills. This skill is critical to many everyday microbiology laboratory manager duties, as "natural sciences managers must be able to perform multiple administrative, supervisory, and technical tasks while ensuring that projects remain on schedule." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "scheduled daily lab operations (testing of rm/fg/stab) with appropriate resources to meet tight production deadlines. "
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what microbiology laboratory managers do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to microbiology laboratory manager responsibilities because "natural sciences managers lead research teams and therefore need to work well with others in order to reach common goals." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical microbiology laboratory manager tasks: "cited for excellence in interpersonal communications, teamwork, customer service, flexibility and reliability. "
Leadership skills. Another crucial skill for a microbiology laboratory manager to carry out their responsibilities is "leadership skills." A big part of what microbiology laboratory managers relies on this skill, since "natural sciences managers must be able to organize, direct, and motivate others." How this skill relates to microbiology laboratory manager duties can be seen in an example from a microbiology laboratory manager resume snippet: "provided leadership, guidance, and coaching to direct reports to achieve business, operational and quality objectives and safety goals. "
The three companies that hire the most microbiology laboratory managers are:
- Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings3 microbiology laboratory managers jobs
- Abbott2 microbiology laboratory managers jobs
- LifePoint Health2 microbiology laboratory managers jobs
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Compare different microbiology laboratory managers
Microbiology laboratory manager vs. Water team leader
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, microbiology laboratory manager responsibilities require skills like "qc," "fda," "microbiology lab," and "laboratory operations." Meanwhile a typical water team leader has skills in areas such as "gis," "water quality," "safety policies," and "water treatment plant." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Water team leaders tend to reach lower levels of education than microbiology laboratory managers. In fact, water team leaders are 14.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Microbiology laboratory manager vs. Natural science curator
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that microbiology laboratory manager responsibilities requires skills like "qc," "fda," "microbiology lab," and "environmental monitoring." But a natural science curator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "natural sciences," "csu," "organic chemistry," and "k-12."
Natural science curators earn lower levels of education than microbiology laboratory managers in general. They're 6.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Microbiology laboratory manager vs. Health sciences manager
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from microbiology laboratory manager resumes include skills like "qc," "fda," "microbiology lab," and "environmental monitoring," whereas a health sciences manager is more likely to list skills in "business development," "lifecycle management," "grants management," and "research projects. "
Health sciences managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to microbiology laboratory managers. Specifically, they're 9.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 7.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Microbiology laboratory manager vs. Senior scientist, project manager
Types of microbiology laboratory manager
Updated January 8, 2025
