The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) invites applications for a Lab Manager position. This position serves the Applied Engineering (AppE), Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) departments, and Engineering Fundamentals (EF) Program by developing and supporting the experiential learning labs. This position is primarily responsible for overseeing and maintaining the experiential laboratories, working with instructional faculty on enhancing student educational experiences through new laboratory exercises and/or courses, managing inventory of laboratory supplies and equipment maintenance, and is the primary responsible party to develop, support, and enforce safety compliance in AppE, MAE, and EF laboratory spaces. Safety compliance includes providing guidance to faculty and interface with university organizations on safety, training, OSHA requirements, etc., ensuring compliance with proper safety procedures, protocols, and record keeping requirements, and ensuring proper disposal of laboratory materials and hazardous waste while working with Environmental Health and Safety.

The anticipated start date is September 1, 2026.

Required Qualifications

• Education and Experience:
  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant technical field and two years of relevant technical experience
  • Candidates with an associate degree in a relevant technical field and five (5) or more years of directly related technical experience may also be considered.
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
  • Technical knowledge of laboratory facilities and service providers (both internal and external to UT)
  • Well-developed knowledge regarding safe and secure use of machinery and manufacturing processes.
  • The skills to troubleshoot various technical issues that may arise in the labs.
  • The ability and expertise to provide assistance and training to students and faculty with lab safety and OSHA requirements
  • Effective written and oral communication skills.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Master's degree in a relevant technical field

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

  • The skills to work with diverse and large groups of faculty and students and
    vendors.

  • Ability to communicate technical information to individuals without the same knowledge.

  • Ability to manage and train people effectively, including undergraduate assistants.

  • Knowledge of UT policies and procedures.

Work Location

• Location: Knoxville

• Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

• UT market range: MR12
• Anticipated hiring range: $68,000 - $73,000
• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments. To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before July 31, 2026.

• Resume

• Cover Letter

About The College

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success, including adding over 30 new faculty to the college over 4 years as part of ambitious hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. New facilities include the state-of-the art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building now under construction that will house UTK’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF).

TCE currently has 203 tenure/tenure track and 79 non-tenure track faculty in its nine academic departments and offers 11 undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD/DE degree programs. Affiliated with TCE and located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the UT Space Institute is a hub of aerospace and defense research. The college is also home to eight research centers and three interdisciplinary institutes. With approximately 4,300 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students, the college sits 29th among public universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings. Faculty in the college have won 29 early career awards (NSF, DOE, DARPA, AFOSR, and ARO) since 2016. In FY24, the college had annual research expenditures of $113.6M.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Creatively and independently resolve technical problems in a timely and cost-effective manner. Prepare contingency plans for scheduled and unscheduled utility outages or other operational upsets. Establish and maintain good working relationships with critical university providers such as EHS and Facilities Services.

• Design and specify facility changes and monitor work progress. Develop and ensure implementation of lab/facility procedures and processes related to safety and operations. Responsible for assuring equipment requirements are met (such as movement, installation, maintenance, calibrations, and commissioning/decommissioning) by working with UT organizations (for example, Facility Services). Coordinate space/equipment/tool use and resolving any conflicts due to over-subscription.

• Responsible for equipment specification, selection, purchasing, maintenance, calibration and repair in accordance with UT policy. Coordinate installation, inspection, and repair of equipment for use in instructional labs. Move equipment or coordinate with Facility Services to have it safely moved between labs.

• Train faculty, staff, visitors, and other personnel on instrumentation and equipment. Provide support to faculty and students with instructional experiments. Troubleshoot and diagnose scientific instrumentation and equipment.

• Consult with instructors on projects using specialized equipment or laboratory techniques. Contribute to long-range planning for future operational needs and strategies to implement. Collaborate with instructors and make technical and operational recommendations.

• Leads and/or support design and implementation of experiential learning experiments and courses.

Safety & Compliance:

• Provide guidance to faculty and interface with university organizations on safety, training, OSHA requirements, etc., Plan and implement safety programs including various training programs for faculty, staff and students, and enforcement of rules and procedures. Help create, review, and assure laboratory standard operating procedures (SOPs)

• Responsible for annual inventory records for multiple materials (machines, equipment, etc.). Ensure compliance with proper safety procedures, protocols, and record keeping requirements. Ensure proper disposal of laboratory materials and hazardous waste while working with Environmental Health and Safety.

• Analyze and interpret instructional plans, identifies areas of concern, and recognizes and resolves problems pertaining to experimental setups in both the design and operational phases.

• Provides consultative and collaborative contributions to research and instruction design and methods.

• Engages in emergency preparedness planning and strategic planning for the laboratory and other UT stakeholders.