Lab Manager

Vanguard Renewables•Natick, MA

47m•Onsite

About The Position

Vanguard Renewables, based in Weston, Massachusetts, is a national leader in environmental services and the development of food and dairy waste-to-renewable energy projects. The Company builds, owns, and operates on-farm anaerobic digestion facilities and is continuing to scale through an extensive national expansion of its Farm Powered ® platform. It is committed to advancing decarbonization by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farms and food waste, generating renewable energy, and supporting regenerative agriculture on partner farms. Vanguard Renewables is a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock. The Lab Manager will support the commissioning and operation of Vanguard’s centralized laboratory, aimed at better understanding organic waste materials and optimizing the performance and output of the Company’s growing fleet of anaerobic digester facilities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, environmental science, or similar scientific field from an accredited college or university.
3-5 years of experience in an analytical laboratory setting.
Experience in laboratory testing of varied materials.
Ability to independently develop, own, and execute innovative projects in support of operational asset performance
Ability to report to centralized lab space, located within 30 minutes of the Weston, MA office.

Nice To Haves

Basic ability to plan and coordinate multiple projects at once.
Experience in commissioning new laboratory equipment
Experience in developing and modifying methods and techniques to establish best practices.
Excellent communication skills.
Experience with wastewater or anaerobic digestion and awareness of Vanguard’s mission in the context of global climate conditions
Ability to adapt to new situations quickly and work well in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Commissions the laboratory space and equipment in partnership with engineering and operations teams
Develops methods and best practices for analyzing a variety of food waste, digestate, and manure samples in line with requirements from engineering and operations teams.
Designs and executes research projects utilizing both bench-scale and pilot scale anaerobic respirometer systems for toxicity assessments and biomethane potential (BMP) analysis of various organic feedstocks and additives.
Supports optimized performance of operational anaerobic digester assets by designing experiments to improve gas yield, and reporting results to operations management.
Utilizes additional lab equipment and methods (benchtop spectrophotometer, sieves, Soxhlet extraction, etc.) to carry out basic analysis, including COD, Total Solids, TKN
Maintains a clean and organized lab space.
Troubleshoots and resolves equipment breakdowns.
Schedules/performs preventative maintenance on lab equipment.
Keeps laboratory supplies in stock by taking inventory and placing supply orders.
Records results and reports in an organized and efficient manner. Communicates findings clearly with stakeholders as a technical advisor.
Supports inter-department invoicing process through recordkeeping and inventory tracking.