# Senior Staff Lab Manager

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** Dallas, TX
**Role:** Hardware Engineering
**Salary:** $170k – $250k/yr
**Experience:** 10+ years
**Skills:** lab infrastructure design, hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, Networking, power distribution, instrumentation, asset management, Python, MATLAB, c/c++, Systems Engineering, laboratory automation, Infrastructure As Code
**Posted:** 2026-07-14

> Lead the design, architecture, operations, and modernization of complex engineering laboratories supporting hardware/software integration, HIL/SIL testing, and multidisciplinary teams. Requires 10+ years lab experience, 5+ years leadership, and deep knowledge of infrastructure, networking, and systems engineering.

## Job Description

## Lab Strategy & Infrastructure
- Own the overall vision, architecture, and roadmap for engineering laboratory infrastructure.
- Design, build, and commission new laboratory spaces to support evolving engineering programs.
- Define standards for laboratory layout, power distribution, networking, cooling, safety, security, and scalability.
- Develop long-term modernization plans to ensure laboratory capabilities remain aligned with engineering needs.
- Evaluate and implement new technologies, tools, and automation to improve laboratory efficiency and reliability.

## Lab Operations
- Own day-to-day laboratory operations across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Develop scheduling processes that maximize lab utilization while minimizing conflicts and downtime.
- Plan and coordinate preventative maintenance, calibration, repairs, and equipment lifecycle management.
- Manage laboratory uptime, availability, and operational readiness.
- Establish operational metrics, KPIs, and reporting for lab performance.

## Engineering Systems & Integration
- Support complex hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), integration, and validation environments.
- Develop laboratory standards for networking, compute infrastructure, storage, instrumentation, and data acquisition.
- Partner with engineering teams to architect robust development and test environments.
- Ensure laboratories support rapid system integration and reproducible testing.

## Leadership
- Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team of lab engineers, infrastructure engineers, and technicians.
- Recruit, mentor, and grow high-performing technical staff.
- Prioritize work across multiple concurrent engineering programs.
- Establish standard operating procedures, documentation, and best practices.
- Foster a culture of safety, ownership, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.

## Collaboration
- Work closely with Hardware, Electrical, Mechanical, Software, Systems, Manufacturing, and Test Engineering organizations.
- Partner with IT, Facilities, Security, and EH&S teams to deliver reliable and secure laboratory environments.
- Manage vendor relationships for laboratory equipment, infrastructure, and service providers.

## Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
- 10+ years of experience supporting complex engineering laboratories or technical infrastructure.
- 5+ years of technical leadership or people management experience.
- Demonstrated experience designing and building engineering labs from concept through deployment.
- Strong understanding of laboratory infrastructure, including power distribution, network architecture, server and storage systems, instrumentation, environmental controls, and safety systems.
- Experience managing equipment lifecycle, maintenance, calibration, upgrades, and modernization.
- Experience supporting multidisciplinary engineering organizations.
- Laboratory infrastructure design and architecture.
- System-level engineering and integration.
- Networking (Ethernet, VLANs, managed switches, routing).
- Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-loop (SIL) systems.
- Asset management and inventory systems.

## Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting robotics, aerospace, defense, automotive, or autonomous systems development.
- Experience with secure laboratory environments and classified or regulated development environments.
- Knowledge of systems engineering processes and system architecture.
- Experience implementing laboratory automation and infrastructure-as-code practices.
- Familiarity with cloud-connected engineering workflows and hybrid infrastructure.
- Programming and scripting experience: Python, MATLAB, C/C++.


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