Manager of Scientific Operations

Osmo•Elizabeth, NJ

26d

About The Position

Osmo is digitizing the chemical world to improve our lives and the health of our planet. We built the first AI platform capable of predicting olfactory perception from molecular structure, and we are now scaling into a new type of fragrance house. Our bottleneck is no longer just the "Digital Brain"—it is the physical throughput of our laboratory. Reporting directly to the COO, you will be the architect of our Scientific Operations. You own the "Atoms-to-Bits" pipeline. Your mission is to apply first-principles thinking to R&D, transforming a bespoke laboratory into a high-velocity data factory. You are responsible for scaling sensory panels, liquid handling, and sample prep to levels that keep pace with our machine learning models. If there is a physical sample in the building, you own the system that moves it. Ownership Outcomes: The First 12 Months Success in this role is defined by volume, velocity, and operational uptime: Scale the Sensory Engine: Find creative, non-traditional ways to get more samples to more noses. You will be judged on your ability to 10x the number of annual sensory annotations without sacrificing data integrity. Industrialize Sample Prep: Transform our sample preparation from a manual bench process into a high-throughput operation. You will own the workflow for getting R&D samples into solvents and application bases (EtOH, laundry, candles) at scale. Bridge R&D to Production: Closely collaborate with the manufacturing team to ensure seamless transition of discoveries, implementing industrial best practices and leveraging automation to synchronize lab-scale breakthroughs with factory-scale output. Deploy Next-Gen Lab Automation: Own the roadmap for liquid handling and robotics. You will identify and implement the automation hardware necessary to remove human bottlenecks from the R&D loop. Establish Operational Excellence: Build the "Osmo Way" for scientific R&D. Apply first-principles thinking to lab logistics, safety (EHS), and resource allocation to ensure 100% reliability in our data pipeline. Build an Elite Ops Org: Recruit and lead a lean team of Lab Managers and Technicians who prioritize "shipped data" and "operational uptime" as their primary metrics.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in lab operations, advanced manufacturing, or biotech scaling. You have built high-throughput systems where software meets the physical world.
You have a deep understanding of liquid handling, robotics, and the software that drives them.
You look at the goal (e.g., 100k annotations) and build the most efficient system to get there.
You are comfortable using Python or SQL to monitor lab performance and throughput metrics.
You know how to build repeatable processes, manage budgets, and lead a high-stakes team.

Responsibilities

Design and manage the end-to-end logistics of every molecule—from synthesis and dilution to paneling and stability testing.
Act as the primary stakeholder for lab robotics and liquid handling systems. You ensure our hardware stack is future-proofed for the next level of scale.
Apply first-principles thinking to solve for lab space, equipment utilization, and consumable supply chains. You treat the lab like a high-performance manufacturing plant.
Rapidly operationalize the testing protocols for new categories (e.g., transitioning the lab to handle high-volume laundry or candle testing).
Partner with the CTO, ML, and Software teams to ensure the physical lab's output is perfectly structured for digital ingestion. You own the "throughput" part of the AI feedback loop.
Develop the operational infrastructure (recruitment, logistics, digital capture) to scale human sensory panels globally.