| We are seeking candidates for a newly created position at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, UMN called Facility Operations Manager. This position is responsible for care/maintenance of the special University facility and oversight of the day-to day-operations of SAFL. The position will report to the Associate Director of Engineering, will supervise more than three full time staff members and be responsible for developing and implementing a program/policy/processes to provide a safe, efficient, and supportive environment for faculty and staff.
(65%) SAFL is a multidisciplinary fluid mechanics research and education laboratory located on the Mississippi River focusing on environmental fluid mechanics. The laboratory space includes dozens of specialized research assets including tanks, channel, flumes, chemistry labs, and modeling space. The facility infrastructure is also unique with controllable water inlets and outlets connected to the Mississippi River. This position will be responsible to manage all of these research assets ensuring that they are functioning, maintained, and renovated (if necessary). In addition, the position will be responsible for developing periodic communication with university facilities groups and other local stakeholders.
• Non-research facilities include offices, heating and cooling, parking, snow removal, and relationships with our neighbors, Xcel Energy. University Facility Management is responsible for the facility however this position interacts with FM and handle small non-research facility issues as best as possible. We also advocate for the facility and hold the long-term memory of how the facility operates.
• Research facilities include various flumes, tanks, and wind tunnel at SAFL; the fabrication and metal shops; chemistry and bio labs; outdoor streamlab; outdoor storage; and satellite research facilities at UMore park (e.g. Eolos wind research field station and hydraulic modeling warehouse).
• The position will be responsible for identifying, advising and leading any needed renovation efforts involving major SAFL facilities such as the Quonset hut, parking lot resurfacing, primary water intake and outlet renovation and/or historic limestone walls. Work will be coordinated through appropriate University facility groups such as CPPM and Real Estate offices. This also includes managing several property/facility lease agreements associated with UMore Park and SAFL Quonset hut and parking lots and ensuring laboratory budgets are established to support use of lease space and providing maintenance and upkeep as appropriate.
(15%) Supervision of 3 or more staff. This includes identifying and developing skillsets within the staff to meet needs of SAFL research; assigning projects and task to members of the staff; providing ongoing informal feedback and assessment to the staff; conducting annual reviews of staff; developing career planning for staff development and retention.
(10%) Oversight of lab safety program including hazardous material handling, laser safety, open water safety, vehicle usage and general laboratory tools and fabrication training. Responsible for reviewing current safety programs and updating as necessary to align with policy.
(10%) Communication and collaboration with faculty members to understand research needs and, as appropriate, support plans to align available research space/facilities with the evolving needs of faculty and their collaborators. The position will identify opportunities to open up space in the lab and update facilities (e.g. old flume demolition or renovations to existing facilities.) |
