Substrate Bio
Lab Operations Manager
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About Substrate
Substrate is the critical infrastructure layer between AI and biology. AI for biology has a data problem, not a compute problem: biological foundation models can predict but cannot experiment, and the large-scale, high-quality data they need does not exist. We are building the lab that generates it, with quality and provenance built in. We are not a CRO and we are not a cloud lab.
The company was founded by Mostafa ElSayed, co-founder and CEO; Oli Hoy, who leads the lab buildout and operations; Alexey Morgunov, who leads science and intelligence software; and Anna Huyghues-Despointes, who leads partnerships and go-to-market.
The role
You will run the day-to-day operations of our lab in London, and be the person the scientists come to when something is missing, broken, late or lost. The day-one work is what you would expect: consumables and stock, goods in and cold chain, equipment servicing and calibration, suppliers and purchasing, waste streams and safety records.
Three parts go beyond a standard lab operations job. The first is provenance. Every experiment we sell carries a record of what went into it, down to the lot of the consumable used and the conditions material was held in. If a lot number is not captured, the data point is worth less, and that record runs through you.
The second is that the systems are not written yet. Inventory, goods in, asset registers and ordering exist in no form that will survive the next year. You define what the lab has to capture and work with the science and software teams to make sure it does.
The third is that sample handling and stock control here get automated, and you help specify the system that does it. Every sample, plate, reagent and consumable lot carries a barcode, scanned at each point it is handled, so the record is created by the work rather than reconstructed afterwards. The same scan draws stock down, which turns reordering from a weekly count into something the system flags before anyone is short. Our software team is building that layer now and the requirements have to come from the lab floor: what gets a barcode, where the scan points sit, and what happens when a label will not read. Some find that energising; some find it outside their lane. Worth knowing which one you are.
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Your first 90 days
First 30 days
- Take ownership of goods in: every delivery received, booked in, stored correctly and recorded.
- Map how material moves through the lab and build the first accurate picture of what we hold. That map is the input to a fully barcoded scheme and system.
Days 30 to 60
- Put a working inventory and reorder system in place, with minimum levels set from real consumption rather than guesses, and own the purchasing loop.
- Agree the barcode and labelling scheme with the software team, and get equipment records in one place.
Days 60 to 90
- Run the lab as a routine that does not depend on being asked, with the barcoded system live across one workflow, goods-in to bench to stock draw-down, feeding our provenance record.
Who you are
You have run the physical side of a lab where being out of stock stops the work: biotech, pharma, a university or institute lab, or a manufacturing or diagnostics operation built around one. Lab consumables and the rhythm of a working lab are already familiar to you, you have handled real volume and real inventory, and you know the difference between a system that works on paper and one that works at eight on a Monday morning. We are not asking for a particular speciality, but you should arrive able to run the lab rather than learn what one needs.
Must have:
- Two or more years running a lab or comparable physical operation, hands-on and accountable for the result.
- Practical stock control: goods in, inventory records, reorder points, stock counts that reconcile.
- Buying from suppliers: raising orders, comparing quotes, managing lead times.
- Hands-on with a barcoded or scanned stock system, including what goes wrong when people skip the scan.
- Lab environment experience: cold storage, hazardous waste, containment, controlled materials.
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Nice to have:
- Health and safety training such as IOSH.
- Developed or co-developed a barcode system for autonomous workflows in labs, including working with software development teams to implement it.
How we work and who you will work with
This role is on site five days a week at 20 Triton Street in London, because the lab is a physical place and the work is in it. The wider founding team is distributed across London, New York and Europe. You will report to Simon Varzandeh, a member of our scientific staff working on protein characterisation and one of the lab's heaviest users, and work alongside the protein science and functional genomics teams, the engineers building the tracking and stock system with you, and operations on facilities, health and safety and purchasing. You will be the first person here whose whole job is focused on the lab floor.
We work in the open and each person owns their area. UK benefits are 30 days of annual leave plus public holidays, a pension with a 10% employer contribution, and top-tier Bupa private health cover.
Our process and how to apply
Four stages: a short screening call; a conversation about how you work, before anything technical; a practical exercise from our lab setup, sent separately, then a discussion of what you did and why; then references.
We are sharing this role through our network first. Send a note and your CV to simon@substratebio.ai, and if you are not sure whether you are a fit, send it anyway.
Substrate is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background.
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