Lab Director - Cannabis Testing

Viridian Staffing•Little Rock, AR

2d•$85,000 - $105,000

About The Position

Viridian Staffing's (www.viridianstaffing.com) Client is looking for an experienced Laboratory Director for an Analytical Cannabis Testing Laboratory in Little Rock, Arkansas. Founded in 2013, Viridian Staffing (www.viridianstaffing.com) is the premier staffing, recruiting, and HR consulting firm solely dedicated to organizations in and supporting the commercial, medical, and industrial cannabis / hemp industry. In this role, you will oversee day-to-day analytical laboratory operations in a high-throughput commercial testing environment serving licensed cannabis operators. The laboratory is an established ISO/IEC 17025 accredited facility with a strong market presence and an experienced team already in place, allowing you to focus on leadership, quality oversight, customer support, and continuous improvement rather than building processes from scratch. You will supervise laboratory staff across sample preparation and data review functions while ensuring defensible data and consistent turnaround times for approximately 1,500 samples per month. You will provide final data review and release for regulated testing and ensure compliance with ISO/IEC 17025 quality systems, including audits, documentation control, deviation management, and CAPA processes. Using your hands-on analytical chemistry expertise, you will oversee calibration, qualification, validation, and maintenance of instrumentation including LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, ICP-MS, and HPLC platforms. You will also support LIMS/QMS administration and collaborate with operations leadership to maintain throughput efficiency and data integrity. This role requires a strong customer-service mindset, and you will serve as a technical resource to clients, responding quickly to inquiries and resolving technical issues. You will work closely with onsite leadership and operations management while mentoring an established technical team and fostering a collaborative, hands-on culture where leaders actively assist staff when needed.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, or related life science field (advanced degrees welcomed but not required)
Experience working in an analytical testing laboratory
Hands-on operation and maintenance experience with: LC-MS/MS GC-MS ICP-MS HPLC
Experience with method validation and laboratory troubleshooting
Working knowledge of ISO/IEC 17025 quality systems and audits
Experience supervising laboratory or technical staff
Exceptional communication and customer service skills/Ability to explain complex scientific results

Nice To Haves

Cannabis, hemp, pharmaceutical, environmental, or regulated testing laboratory experience
ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation audits (internal or external)
Experience with Shimadzu instrumentation platforms
Experience with laboratory informatics systems (LIMS/QMS; QBench a plus)
Statistical analysis, data trending, and KPI reporting
Laboratory automation, throughput optimization, or capacity planning

Responsibilities

Direct oversight of daily laboratory analytical operations and sample throughput
Final data review and release of regulated analytical testing results
ISO/IEC 17025 Quality Management System oversight and compliance
Internal and external audit preparation and accreditation maintenance
Instrument calibration, qualification, validation, and maintenance
Method validation and technical troubleshooting (LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, ICP-MS, HPLC)
LIMS and QMS administration (commercial laboratory environment)
Continuous improvement of turnaround times and operational efficiency
Staff supervision, coaching, scheduling, and performance management
Customer technical support and issue resolution
Collaboration with operations leadership to ensure defensible data and regulatory compliance