About Biomatter

Biomatter designs enzymes that never existed in nature - proteins that were, until recently, impossible to create. They're already at work in health, food, agriculture, and sustainable manufacturing: companies like BASF, Thermo Fisher, and Kirin build their products on enzymes we designed.

Behind this is our platform, which combines state-of-the-art AI with our own wet laboratory. Algorithms design new proteins, the lab builds and tests them, and every experiment makes the next design better. That's why our team spans software engineers, AI researchers, and scientists at the bench.

The role

Today, lab operations are spread across our scientists. It works, but it doesn't scale - and it takes scientific time away from science.

We're creating a dedicated Lab Manager role to own it properly. You'll run everything that keeps the lab working: procurement and stock, equipment upkeep and service, safety and compliance, and the practical side of getting new lab people set up. As the lab grows and automates, uptime and supply reliability become genuine constraints on how much data we can produce - which makes this role a direct contributor to output, not a support function.

This is a hands-on operations job, not a scientific one. We're looking for someone who takes real satisfaction in running things well and wants to build the operational backbone of a lab from a blank page.

What you'll own

Procurement, stock and budget

• Own the lab's inventory: consumables, reagents and chemicals. Set minimum-stock levels and reorder points so work never stops waiting for a delivery.

• Handle purchasing end to end - sourcing, purchase orders, checking invoices against what actually arrived, and logging goods in with correct storage.

• Manage vendor relationships: standing orders, bulk pricing, lead times, returns and supply problems.

• Track lab spend against budget, and flag upcoming costs based on what's coming in the project pipeline.

• Keep consumables standardised. In an automated lab, an equivalent-but-different plate or tip is not equivalent - part-number discipline matters.

Equipment and uptime

• Run preventive maintenance and calibration schedules for everyday equipment - pipettes, centrifuges, incubators, balances.

• Manage service contracts and warranties on major instruments, and coordinate engineers when something breaks.

• Treat instrument downtime as the priority it is: know what's critical, what the response times are, and what the fallback is.

• Manage booking and scheduling for shared, high-demand equipment.

Safety and compliance

• Be the day-to-day owner of lab safety and the point of contact for inspections and external safety services.

• Serve as the primary point of contact and operational owner for all GMO and toxic chemical compliance requirements and audits.

• Keep chemical inventory, safety data sheets and storage compatible and current under Lithuanian and EU rules.

• Coordinate chemical and biological waste handling and disposal with licensed contractors.

• Run regular walk-throughs - PPE, eye-wash and shower stations, storage, fume hoods - and fix what you find.

• Make sure safety induction and instruction records are in place for everyone working in the lab.

Lab admin and people

• Get new lab joiners operational: bench space, access, PPE, basic equipment training, lab rules.

• Write and maintain the everyday operational SOPs and safety instructions (not complex R&D protocols - those stay with the scientists).

• Manage a lab technician, and grow that team as the lab does.

Facilities and build-out

• Be the contact point for building matters - power, HVAC, water, works - that could affect experiments.

• Support the fit-out and support planned move into the new lab: equipment installation and qualification, vendor coordination, warehouse and storage setup.

What success looks like

• First 3 months: Inventory is visible and under control, reorder points are set, and scientists have stopped chasing orders and vendors.

• 6 months: Safety walk-throughs are routine, equipment booking works without friction, and we can see lab spend against budget. Lab operations run predictably enough that instrument downtime and stock-outs are rare and tracked, and we know what our consumables cost per experiment.

• 12 months: All critical recurring lab operation processes are covered by written up-to-date SOPs.

About you

What we need

• A life-sciences background (biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, chemistry or similar) with real hands-on lab experience - enough to understand reagents, equipment and hazards without needing them explained.

• You genuinely like operations work. Organising, ordering, tracking, tidying up messy processes and making them repeatable. This is the heart of the role.

• Experience running lab operations or procurement or QA/QC support in a research, biotech or pharma setting.

• Organised and dependable under a constant stream of small tasks, and good at closing loops without being chased.

• Comfortable dealing with suppliers, and willing to push on price, lead times and service.

• Solid working knowledge of lab safety and chemical handling.

• Lithuanian and English languages.

Nice to have

• Experience with an automated or high-throughput lab, and an eye for where consumables and uptime become bottlenecks.

• Experience with LIMS, inventory systems or ERP purchasing.

• Formal occupational safety training, or experience acting as a safety contact.

• Experience setting up a new lab or managing a lab move.

• Experience managing or mentoring a technician.

What we offer

• Salary: 3000-4500 EUR gross per month, depending on experience, plus private health insurance.

• A role you define. This is the first dedicated lab operations position at Biomatter - full freedom to set up the systems, and a real say in how the new lab is laid out as it's built around you.

• Working directly with our CSO and the scientific team, on a platform that has already put AI-designed enzymes into the hands of some of the largest companies in the world.