What Does a Laboratory Manager Do?
For scientists, students, and the safety office, laboratory managers ensure the smooth running of a lab's staff, budget and equipment. The job can be busy and, at times, political, since bench space, money and instrument time are often in short supply. Duties vary depending on whether the lab does university research, hospital testing or industrial quality control.
Also known as: Laboratory Supervisor, Chemical Instrumentation Manager
Laboratory Manager Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a laboratory manager include:
- Hire, schedule and evaluate lab technicians, research staff and student workers.
- Prepare the annual lab budget and approve purchases of supplies and capital equipment.
- Write and update standard operating procedures, then check that staff follow them.
- Lead safety inspections and correct findings before campus or regulatory audits.
- Negotiate service contracts and vendor pricing for the lab's major instruments.
- Allocate bench space, freezer space and instrument time among research groups.
- Review data quality, calibration records and sample custody files for testing work.
- Report spending, output and staffing needs to department heads or directors.
- Plan lab renovations and equipment moves with facilities and safety staff.
- Mentor supervisors and senior technicians on training, discipline and project planning.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a laboratory manager, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- A bachelor's or higher degree in a natural science
- Supervising and developing technical staff
- Budgeting and purchasing in Excel and the organization's finance system
- Chemical hygiene, biosafety and waste rules
- Quality systems and accreditation standards for testing labs
- Instrument know-how, from HPLC to mass spectrometry
- Negotiating with vendors and service engineers
- Fairness in settling disputes over space and equipment
Education and Training
BLS lists a bachelor's degree plus five years or more of related work experience as the typical route into natural sciences management. Most lab managers move up from technician or research staff posts, but some start out by running a shared instrument facility and taking on its budget. A master's or doctorate often helps in research-heavy settings.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Natural Sciences Managers), the middle half of earners made $119,430 to $221,540 a year, and the median was $167,220.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Natural Sciences Managers.
BLS projects employment of natural sciences managers to grow about 8 percent from 2025 to 2035. About 9,200 openings a year are expected across that group, which also takes in research directors at drug and chemical companies. That mix pushes the group's pay well above what most university lab managers earn, so read the figures here as a guide to industry pay more than campus pay.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Natural sciences managers.