Director Lab Operations - Americas

UL Solutions•Northbrook, IL

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director Lab Operations – Americas leads and drives integrated laboratories across United States and Latin America to deliver excellent and efficient service, meeting internal and external customer needs and expectations. The role focuses on achieving goals for cost, productivity, quality, safety, and customer/employee satisfaction. This position collaborates with segments, Customer Operating Units (COUs), and regional leadership on forecasting, prioritization, and planning for capacity and capability, ensuring stability and optimal utilization of regional lab operations. The Director is responsible for implementing productivity improvements, overseeing operating plans, lab footprint, goals, and budgets, and ensuring compliance with quality and accreditation standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; MBA preferred.
Minimum 10 years of professional experience, with 5+ years in a senior leadership role.
Experience working with diverse, global teams.
Experience managing and delivering impactful communications to internal and external stakeholders.
Strong interpersonal and influencing skills.
Strong collaboration and communication skills.
Ability to inspire, motivate, and influence behaviors to drive change.
Demonstrated adaptability to rapidly changing priorities.
Strong analytical mindset.
Ability to drive standardization and reduce variation in technical environments.
Leadership: Motivate and inspire teams to achieve common goals; manage performance and development.
Business Acumen: Understand industry trends, policies, and competition; align strategies with market needs.
Global Growth Mindset: Align enterprise-wide initiatives with local needs; leverage global team perspectives.
Analytical & Problem Solving: Use rigorous logic and methods to solve complex problems; drive standardization.
Project Management: Develop and implement plans for lab operations, including resource allocation and budgeting.
Communication & Collaboration: Build credible relationships across functions; communicate effectively with stakeholders.
Change Management: Drive change through strong communication, active listening, and strategic thinking.
Integrity & Trust: Demonstrate honesty, reliability, and ethical behavior.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

Execute operational strategy for workload balancing and project completion using resources across regional labs.
Develop and implement plans for future lab footprint and capabilities in collaboration with Strategic Development, Project Management, and other stakeholders.
Align laboratory goals with COUs to drive excellent customer experience.
Ensure optimal utilization of laboratory assets (people, equipment, space) to meet/exceed customer expectations.
Collaborate with TIC and regional leadership to support future strategies and ensure Lab Operations can deliver accordingly.
Lead operational consistency and best practice implementation for high performance and compliance.
Drive adoption of automation tools (Labware, Magnesis) and ensure their utilization at all lab levels.
Partner with Quality & Business Support, Process Excellence & Transformation, Innovation & Technology, and Business Alignment to improve lab quality and operations.
Maintain strong relationships across the organization to achieve high execution, throughput, and operational success.
Promote a high-performance environment and culture, managing performance and development of managers and team members.
Drive employee engagement and satisfaction throughout laboratory operations in the region.
Implement Lean Sigma initiatives to eliminate waste and improve cost-effectiveness.
Reduce operational costs annually through process efficiencies and resource utilization.
Support COUs in achieving revenue targets through timely, high-quality lab services.
Maintain lab operations within approved budget limits while ensuring service excellence.
Improve ROI on lab equipment and infrastructure investments.
Optimize lab footprint to reduce overhead and increase asset utilization.
Ensure ongoing quality compliance and improvements, maintaining lab accreditations.
Drive an integrated Lean Sigma culture for continuous improvement.
Partner with EHS and local teams to drive the highest level of safety standard compliance.
Develop and coach team members, provide training, career counseling, feedback, and guidance.
Provide updates to the board upon request.
Build relationships and credibility with internal and external stakeholders.
Report to VP Lab Operations.
Directly manages reports based on span of control requirements.
Performs other duties as directed.