Senior Manager, Facilities
About Us
Position Title: Senior Manager, Facilities (Associate Director-level candidates welcome to apply)
Department: Facilities
Reports To: Executive Director, Real Estate & Facilities
Job Overview
Kardigan is seeking a strategic, hands-on Senior Manager of Office Management to lead our site operations in Princeton, NJ and support potential expansion into Chicago. This is a leadership position requiring strategic ownership of facilities and workplace experience across locations, reporting directly to the head of Real Estate and Facilities. This role is critical to our rapid growth as a bi-coastal biotechnology company and will be responsible for ensuring each site operates efficiently, safely, and in alignment with our company culture and scientific goals.
This leader will develop and manage office infrastructure, vendor relationships, administrative staff, space planning, operational budgets, and employee experience programs across locations, with a focus on building scalable systems to support ongoing growth.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Princeton Site Leadership (Primary Responsibility)
- Oversee day-to-day operations of the Princeton office, ensuring a safe, productive, and professional work environment.
- Manage office facilities, security, administrative services, reception, catering, and supplies.
- Partner with IT, EH&S, HR, and scientific leadership to support cross-functional needs.
- Lead office planning and logistics, including expansions and renovations.
- Act as primary liaison to the Executive Committee on Princeton site operations, culture initiatives, and space planning.
- Perform or coordinate hands-on facilities tasks typical of an office environment, including overseeing HVAC, lighting, plumbing, and basic furniture adjustments; managing vendor response to maintenance tickets; supporting office moves and workstation set-up; and troubleshooting day-to-day operational issues.
Multi-Site Coordination
- Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) and scalable processes across sites.
- Travel periodically to South San Francisco and, as needed, to new locations such as Chicago to ensure alignment and operational readiness.
- Collaborate with Finance and Legal teams on vendor contracts, insurance, compliance, and budgeting issues across offices.
- Order and manage general office supplies and snacks with alignment of sites in mind.
- Strategic Planning and Culture
- Lead office space strategy, including utilization analysis, growth modeling, site selection input, and relocation planning.
- Own operational budgeting for site services and facilities planning in partnership with Finance.
- Ensure offices reflect company values and support a high-performing, inclusive culture.
- Coordinate onsite events, town halls, and employee engagement initiatives.
Qualifications and Preferred Skills
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or certification in business, operations, or facilities management a plus.
- 5-7 years of progressive experience in office, site, or facilities management, ideally in a high-growth biotech or life sciences environment.
- Demonstrated experience managing multi-site operations or overseeing remote teams.
- Strong project management skills and experience with vendor negotiations and facilities build-outs.
- Excellent leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills.
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity and scaling operations in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
- Willingness to travel (~5–15%).
- Biotech or life sciences industry exposure, especially early-stage or fast-growing companies preferred.
- Familiarity with lab-adjacent office environments or hybrid lab/office operations preferred.
- Experience with workplace technologies (e.g., Microsoft 365, OfficeSpace, Teams, Zoom, etc.) preferred.
Apply for this job
*
indicates a required field