Quick overview
Job description
Position Title: Associate Vice President, Enterprise Laboratory Services
SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY
The Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Laboratory Services provides strategic, scientific, and operational leadership for the organization’s enterprise laboratory operations, including blood banking, donor testing, immunohematology reference laboratory services, component quality testing, infectious disease testing, molecular testing, and other assigned laboratory functions.
Reporting to the Chief Scientific Officer, this executive leader develops and executes a unified laboratory strategy that advances donor and patient safety, scientific excellence, regulatory compliance, service reliability, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth. The Assistant Vice President establishes consistent performance expectations, strengthens standardized laboratory practices, and ensures laboratory services effectively support blood collection, manufacturing, distribution, hospital customers, and patient care.
The position collaborates closely with Medical Affairs, Quality and Regulatory Affairs, Operations, Information Technology, Finance, Supply Chain, People and Culture, and executive leadership. The role provides enterprise administrative and operational oversight while partnering with the organization’s designated Medical Director, CLIA Laboratory Director, Technical Supervisor, and other individuals holding responsibilities established by applicable regulations.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Enterprise Strategy and Executive Leadership
Develop and execute an enterprise laboratory strategy aligned with the organization’s mission, scientific priorities, growth plans, customer commitments, and financial objectives.
Serve as a strategic advisor to the Chief Scientific Officer regarding scientific capabilities, laboratory capacity, regulatory risk, emerging technologies, capital requirements, and service-development opportunities.
Translate strategic and scientific priorities into measurable operating plans, budgets, workforce requirements, and performance expectations.
Establish a clear operating model that defines enterprise, functional, and site-level accountability.
Represent Laboratory Services on enterprise committees and in strategic planning, scientific review, business continuity, emergency response, and customer-service discussions.
Laboratory Operations
Provide executive oversight for blood banking and assigned laboratory operations, including donor infectious disease testing, immunohematology and compatibility testing, reference laboratory services, component quality control, molecular testing, product-release support, specimen management, and laboratory equipment and inventory.
Establish enterprise performance indicators, dashboards, and management-review processes for quality, accuracy, turnaround time, productivity, service reliability, and cost.
Lead capacity planning to support demand, growth, new testing platforms, service expansion, and emergency
operations.
Ensure effective escalation and response processes for critical results, testing disruptions, product-impacting events, and customer concerns.
Drive appropriate standardization of workflows, policies, procedures, equipment, reagents, platforms, and documentation.
Quality, Regulatory, and Compliance
Promote a culture in which quality, donor safety, patient safety, data integrity, and regulatory compliance are shared responsibilities.
Partner with Quality and Regulatory Affairs to maintain continuous readiness for inspections, assessments, accreditation activities, and regulatory submissions.
Ensure operations comply with applicable CLIA, FDA, AABB, OSHA, state, and organizational requirements.
Oversee timely investigation and resolution of deviations, nonconformances, proficiency-testing concerns, complaints, corrective and preventive actions, and audit findings.
Ensure new or modified testing systems, instruments, software, workflows, and facilities are appropriately evaluated, validated or verified, documented, approved, and implemented.
Monitor regulatory and scientific developments and assess their impact on laboratory strategy and operations.
Medical and Scientific Partnership
Collaborate with the Medical Director and designated Laboratory leadership on testing strategy, clinical appropriateness, technical performance, risk management, and complex laboratory matters.
Ensure appropriate medical and technical review of laboratory policies, validations, significant deviations, and donor- or patient-impacting events.
Evaluate and sponsor emerging methods, automation, robotics, molecular technologies, and data analytics that improve scientific quality, scalability, or service.
Support aligned research, publications, professional presentations, and educational activities.
Financial and Business Management
Develop and manage operating and capital budgets for enterprise laboratory services.
Monitor labor, supplies, reagents, service contracts, equipment, utilization, and other cost drivers.
Identify opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste, consolidate purchasing, standardize platforms, and optimize capacity without compromising quality or safety.
Develop business cases for capital investments, technology implementations, facility improvements, and new services.
Partner with Finance and Supply Chain on pricing, service agreements, insourcing and outsourcing decisions, and vendor negotiations.
Workforce and Culture
Build an inclusive, accountable, collaborative, and mission-centered laboratory leadership team.
Select, develop, coach, and retain laboratory directors, managers, supervisors, technical specialists, and other key talent.
Establish succession plans and career pathways for critical leadership and technical roles.
Partner with Finance and Supply Chain on pricing, service agreements, insourcing and outsourcing decisions, and vendor negotiations.
Ensure staffing models support workload, testing complexity, regulatory requirements, business continuity, and employee well-being.
Establish clear performance expectations and hold leaders accountable for results and leadership behaviors.
Technology, Data and Continuous Improvement
Provide executive sponsorship for laboratory information systems, middleware, automation, analytics, cybersecurity, and digital transformation initiatives.
Partner with Information Technology to maintain reliable, secure, validated, and integrated laboratory systems.
Ensure laboratory data are accurate, traceable, protected, and available for operational and quality decision-making.
Use Lean, Six Sigma, or other appropriate improvement methods to strengthen quality, workflow, employee experience, and financial performance.
Risk Management and Business Continuity
Maintain laboratory business-continuity and emergency-response capabilities for equipment failure, system downtime, supply shortages, utility disruptions, severe weather, staffing shortages, cybersecurity events, and demand fluctuations.
Partner with Supply Chain to mitigate risks involving critical reagents, consumables, equipment parts, and service support.
Escalate significant quality, operational, financial, workforce, and compliance risks to the Chief Scientific Officer and other appropriate leaders.
Participate in enterprise incident command and emergency-preparedness activities as assigned.
Leadership Scope and Decision Authority
Establish laboratory strategy, priorities, performance standards, and resource plans within assigned authority.
Approve enterprise operational policies and recommend capital expenditures, organizational changes, significant contracts, and new service offerings.
Make staffing and leadership decisions within approved budgets and organizational policies.
Suspend or restrict operations when an immediate quality, safety, compliance, or business-continuity risk exists.
Escalate matters requiring Medical Director, Laboratory Director, Quality, Legal, Compliance, Finance, or executive approval.
Preserve the independent authority of Quality and the responsibilities assigned by law or regulation to designated laboratory and medical leaders.
We need someone who has:
Education
Bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science, clinical laboratory science, biological science, chemistry, healthcare administration, business administration, or a related field
Master’s degree in healthcare administration, business administration, laboratory science, public health, or a related field strongly preferred.
Experience
Ten or more years of progressively responsible leadership experience in blood banking, transfusion medicine, donor testing, clinical laboratory services, biologics manufacturing, or a closely related environment.
Five or more years leading directors, senior managers, or multiple laboratory functions.
Demonstrated experience in complex, highly regulated laboratory operations, including budget and capital accountability.
Demonstrated success improving laboratory quality, turnaround time, productivity, customer service, or financial performance.
Experience leading organizational change, technology implementation, laboratory consolidation, service expansion, or comparable enterprise initiatives.
Experience interacting with regulatory agencies, accreditation organizations, hospital customers, and executive leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
Certification such as MLS(ASCP), SBB(ASCP), MT(ASCP), or another nationally recognized laboratory credential.
Experience within a blood center, large health system, reference laboratory, transfusion service, or multi-function laboratory organization.
Working knowledge of CLIA, FDA current good manufacturing practice requirements, AABB standards, quality systems, and applicable state requirements.
Experience with laboratory information systems, automation, data analytics, and enterprise technology implementations.
Lean, Six Sigma, project management, or change-management certification.
Regulatory Qualification Statement
This executive position does not automatically constitute appointment as the organization’s CLIA Laboratory Director, Medical Director, Technical Supervisor, or other regulated role. If the selected individual will also serve in a formally designated laboratory position, the individual must independently meet all education, training, experience, certification, licensure, and continuing-education requirements applicable to that designation and the complexity of testing performed.
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Comprehensive understanding of blood banking, laboratory operations, quality systems, and regulatory compliance.
Strong enterprise leadership, strategic planning, financial acumen, and organizational-change capabilities.
Ability to lead complex operations through both direct accountability and influence.
Ability to interpret scientific, quality, operational, workforce, and financial data.
Advanced problem-solving, risk-assessment, and decision-making skills.
Strong written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.
Ability to communicate complex scientific and regulatory issues to technical and nontechnical audiences.
Demonstrated ability to build partnerships across Medical Affairs, Quality, Operations, Finance, Technology, Supply Chain, and People and Culture.
Ability to lead effectively during operational disruptions and high-consequence events.
Commitment to ethical conduct, confidentiality, inclusion, employee development, donor safety, and patient safety.
Key Performance Indicators
Regulatory and accreditation outcomes; proficiency-testing performance.
Deviation trends, corrective-action effectiveness, and reportable-event performance.
Testing accuracy, turnaround time, repeat-testing rates, product-release performance, and customer service.
Equipment and system uptime; successful strategic and capital project implementation.
Cost per test, labor productivity, overtime, and budget performance.
Employee engagement, turnover, vacancy rates, succession readiness, and competency completion.
Standardization, continuous improvement, and emergency-preparedness effectiveness.
Working Conditions & Physical Demands:
Work Environment: Work is performed in office, laboratory, manufacturing, and blood-center environments at the organization’s designated primary work location.
Physical Requirements: Ability to work at a computer and participate in meetings for extended periods. Ability to move safely through laboratory, manufacturing, and operational environments at the assigned work location. Ability to review electronic and written records and communicate effectively in person and through virtual collaboration platforms. Ability to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
Travel: No routine travel is required. Occasional off-site attendance may be requested but is not an essential or recurring function of the position.
Schedule: The position may require entry into areas where blood, blood components, biological materials, chemicals, and other potential hazards are present. Must follow established safety procedures and use required personal protective equipment. May require evening, weekend, holiday, or on-call availability during significant laboratory, quality, technology, or operational events.
Who We Are:
Since 1975, Gulf Coast Blood has been one of the nation’s largest community blood centers, serving 170 hospitals across 26 counties. Headquartered in Houston, we support the world’s largest medical complex—the Texas Medical Center—while operating 18 donor centers and hosting more than 7,000 mobile blood drives each year. As an FDA-accredited nonprofit, we provide high-quality human cellular material for both scientific and therapeutic use.
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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER STATEMENT
Gulf Coast Blood is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants for positions are considered without regard to race/ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, military status, protected veteran status, disability status, genetic testing results, or any other basis or characteristic prohibited by applicable law, statute, regulation or Executive Order.