Director Lab Operations - Americas

UL Solutions • Northbrook, IL

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director Lab Operations – Americas leads integrated laboratory operations across the United States and Latin America, delivering efficient, high-quality service that meets internal and external customer needs. The role is accountable for cost, productivity, quality, safety, and customer and employee satisfaction. It collaborates with segments, Customer Operating Units (COUs), and regional leadership on forecasting, prioritization, capacity, and capability planning to maintain stable operations and optimal utilization.

The Director implements productivity improvements; oversees operating plans, laboratory footprint, goals, and budgets; and ensures compliance with quality and accreditation standards. The position leads workload balancing and operational consistency across regional labs, plans future laboratory capabilities, promotes automation and Lean Sigma practices, and manages laboratory resources and investments. It also develops managers and team members, supports employee engagement, maintains stakeholder relationships, and provides board updates upon request. The position reports to the VP Lab Operations and directly manages reports based on span-of-control requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• At least 10 years of professional experience, including 5 or more 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 behavior to drive change.
• Adaptability to rapidly changing priorities.
• Strong analytical mindset.
• Ability to drive standardization and reduce variation in technical environments.
• Leadership skills, including motivating teams and managing performance and development.
• Business acumen, including understanding industry trends, policies, and competition and aligning strategies with market needs.
• Global growth mindset, including aligning enterprise-wide initiatives with local needs and using perspectives from global teams.
• Analytical and problem-solving ability, including applying rigorous logic and methods to complex problems.
• Project management ability, including planning laboratory operations, resource allocation, and budgeting.
• Communication and collaboration skills to build credible cross-functional relationships and communicate with stakeholders.
• Change-management ability, including driving change through communication, active listening, and strategic thinking.
• Integrity, trustworthiness, reliability, and ethical behavior.

Nice To Haves

• MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

• Execute operational strategy for workload balancing and project completion using resources across regional laboratories.
• Develop plans for future laboratory footprint and capabilities in collaboration with Strategic Development, Project Management, and other stakeholders.
• Align laboratory goals with COUs to deliver an excellent customer experience.
• Ensure optimal utilization of laboratory people, equipment, and space to meet or exceed customer expectations.
• Collaborate with TIC and regional leadership on future strategies and ensure Lab Operations can support them.
• Lead operational consistency and implement best practices for high performance and compliance.
• Drive adoption and use of automation tools, including Labware and Magnesis, across laboratory levels.
• Partner with Quality & Business Support, Process Excellence & Transformation, Innovation & Technology, and Business Alignment to improve laboratory quality and operations.
• Maintain organizational relationships that support execution, throughput, and operational success.
• Promote a high-performance environment and manage the performance and development of managers and team members.
• Drive employee engagement and satisfaction across regional laboratory operations.
• 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 laboratory services.
• Keep laboratory operations within approved budgets while maintaining service excellence.
• Improve return on investment in laboratory equipment and infrastructure.
• Optimize laboratory footprint to reduce overhead and increase asset utilization.
• Maintain laboratory quality compliance and accreditations, and drive ongoing improvements.
• Promote an integrated Lean Sigma culture of continuous improvement.
• Partner with EHS and local teams to achieve high safety-standard compliance.
• Develop and coach team members through training, career counseling, feedback, and guidance.
• Provide updates to the board upon request.
• Build relationships and credibility with internal and external stakeholders.
• Perform other duties as directed.

Benefits

• Annual bonus compensation with a target payout of 30% of base salary.
• 30% RSU grant.
• Health benefits including medical, dental, and vision, commensurate with the standard rewards offered in each location or country.
• Wellness benefits, including mental and financial health benefits.
• Retirement savings (401K), commensurate with the standard rewards offered in each location or country.
• Paid time off for full-time employees, including 20 vacation days, 12 holidays (including 3 floating holidays), and 72 hours of sick time off.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director