Lab Operations Director, Genomics at Feanix in Scotts Valley, CA

About the role

Feanix is hiring a Director of Lab Operations to lead our genomics lab in Scotts Valley, California, and scale it into a high-throughput production operation that keeps pace with our commercial growth.

This is a senior leadership role. You’ll own the lab’s strategy and results end to end: throughput, quality, turnaround time, cost per sample, capacity planning, budget, staffing and the management team. You’ll set the 12–24 month plan that keeps lab capacity ahead of demand as we expand into new products and species. You’ll also stay close enough to the work to diagnose problems and step in when it matters.

We’re looking for a scientifically credible leader with a production mindset. You understand the science, but you measure success by whether samples move through the lab accurately, efficiently, on time and at the right cost. You build systems and teams that perform without you in the room, and you’re a trusted partner to the executive team on what the lab can deliver and what it needs to get there.

This role is in person in Scotts Valley, CA, Monday to Friday.

What you’ll own

Lab strategy and capacity planning

• Own the lab’s operating strategy and multi-year capacity plan, tied to commercial forecasts, new product lines and expansion into new species.
• Own the lab budget, including operating costs, capital expenditures, reagent spend and cost per sample. Drive unit costs down as volume grows.
• Plan when and how to add capacity: equipment, automation, headcount, shifts, space, and future sites if needed.
• Give leadership and the board clear visibility into lab capacity, throughput, quality, constraints, risks and upcoming investment needs.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Science and Farm Ops so lab capabilities match what we sell and what we plan to launch.

Production and operational excellence

• Make sure production, quality and turnaround-time targets are met consistently as volume grows.
• Set up production planning, scheduling and operating rhythms that run reliably without day-to-day intervention from you.
• Define and own operational KPIs, including throughput, turnaround time, failure and rework rates, equipment uptime and utilization, cost per sample, and quality metrics.
• Find and remove the bottlenecks that limit scale, and drive improvements in throughput, reliability and efficiency.
• Manage key vendor and supplier relationships, including Illumina and other sequencing, reagent and equipment partners. Negotiate pricing, service agreements and supply continuity.

Quality systems

• Build a quality culture where accuracy, consistency and reproducibility are non-negotiable.
• Own the quality management system: SOPs, QC checkpoints, documentation, deviation management and corrective and preventive action (CAPA).
• Make sure failures are investigated systematically and root causes are fixed, not handled as one-offs.
• Get the lab ready for any certifications, audits or compliance standards that commercial growth may require.
• Use data to balance speed, cost, throughput and quality as the operation scales.

Sequencing and technology roadmap

• Oversee high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) operations, with an emphasis on Illumina and other short-read technologies.
• Own the lab technology roadmap: evaluate and implement new sequencing platforms, automation, a LIMS (lab information management system) and equipment that improve scale, cost or quality.
• Partner with R&D and science teams on a disciplined process for moving new methods into stable, validated production workflows.
• Coordinate shared equipment and lab time with the research team, and set clear working norms between R&D and production.

Organizational leadership

• Build and lead the lab organization, including hiring and developing lab managers and supervisors who run day-to-day operations.
• Design the lab’s org structure, roles, career paths and staffing model (full-time and contingent) as volume grows.
• Set clear expectations and accountability for quality, output and execution at every level.
• Create a culture that’s energetic, collaborative and fun, while keeping a high bar for performance.
• Develop leaders in the lab so it scales beyond any one person, including you.

What we’re looking for

Required qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in molecular biology, genomics, genetics, biotechnology, biochemistry or a related field.
• 10+ years of laboratory experience, including 5+ years leading lab operations and 2+ years managing managers or supervisors.
• A track record of scaling a startup, early-stage or fast-growing commercial lab into a reliable, high-throughput production operation.
• Direct accountability for lab production, throughput, quality and cost, not only research or assay development.
• Experience owning a lab budget, including operating and capital planning, vendor negotiations and cost-per-sample improvement.
• Deep expertise in Illumina and short-read NGS technologies and their sample-prep and sequencing workflows.
• Experience building quality systems, SOPs, QC processes and production metrics from the ground up.
• Experience forecasting capacity and planning staffing, equipment and reagents against commercial demand.
• Strong root-cause analysis skills and a systems-level approach to fixing recurring problems.
• Clear written and verbal communication, and the judgment to report status, risks and tradeoffs to executives.
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving startup where processes and infrastructure are still being built.

Nice to have

• Experience scaling high-throughput genomics, molecular diagnostics or sequencing operations, ideally in agricultural or animal genomics.
• Experience leading automation programs and LIMS implementations.
• Experience with lab accreditation, certification or regulatory audits.
• Experience standing up a new lab site or significantly expanding an existing one.
• Experience transferring methods from R&D into commercial production at scale.

Who will thrive here

You’re scientifically credible but operationally driven. You see the lab as a production system and a strategic asset for the company, not a collection of experiments.

You think in quarters and years, not just shifts. You can see where demand is heading, plan the people, equipment and processes needed to meet it, and make the case to leadership with data.

You’re competitive about performance and like setting ambitious goals and hitting them. When something breaks, your instinct is to understand why, fix the underlying system and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

You build leaders, not just teams. You bring energy and humor while holding a serious standard for execution.

What success looks like

First 6 months

• The lab has clear production, quality, turnaround-time and cost targets and consistently meets them.
• QC processes catch issues early, and failures are investigated and fixed systematically.
• Leadership has clear, regular visibility into capacity, throughput, quality, cost and upcoming needs.
• You’ve assessed the lab team and started building the management layer needed to scale.

First 12 months

• A 12–24 month capacity and investment plan is approved and on track, tied to commercial forecasts and new product lines.
• Lab capacity scales predictably with demand, and cost per sample is improving.
• Lab managers and supervisors run day-to-day operations with clear ownership and accountability.
• SOPs and quality systems are documented, followed, measured and continuously improved.
• The lab team works with a strong sense of ownership, urgency and pride.