Laboratory Supervisor

Job Description

Location: Wallingford, Oxfordshire, on-site
Full-time | 37.5 hours per week

This is an exciting opportunity to join Fugro’s Geotechnical Laboratory in Wallingford as a Laboratory Supervisor within our Advanced Triaxial Team.

You will supervise the safe, efficient and quality-focused delivery of advanced soil testing programmes, helping to produce reliable geotechnical data for major infrastructure, energy and environmental projects. Working with sophisticated laboratory equipment and testing processes, you will play an important role in ensuring that complex testing is completed accurately, efficiently and in accordance with relevant standards, client specifications and Fugro procedures.

Reporting to the Team Lead – Advanced Triaxial, you will supervise and support a team of laboratory technicians, coordinate workloads and resources, and help maintain consistently high standards of safety, quality and data integrity. Alongside your supervisory responsibilities, you will remain practically involved in laboratory testing, data processing and the continuous improvement of methods and processes.

The position may also provide occasional opportunities to support offshore or field-based site investigations in the UK and internationally. The attached job description identifies this as a potential element of the role rather than its primary focus.

Your role and responsibilities

• Lead the safe and efficient day-to-day operation of the Advanced Triaxial laboratory area, ensuring testing programmes are delivered within agreed timescales, budgets and quality requirements.
• Coordinate advanced soil testing activities, including the preparation, scheduling, performance and tracking of laboratory tests in accordance with standard operating procedures, relevant industry standards and client specifications.
• Perform and oversee complex and varied geotechnical laboratory tests, ensuring that equipment, samples and test materials are prepared and used correctly.
• Supervise, coach and support laboratory technicians, setting clear expectations, identifying training needs and helping colleagues develop their technical capabilities.
• Review workloads, priorities and resource requirements to ensure effective use of laboratory personnel, equipment, materials and consumables.
• Accurately record, process, review and report test data, maintaining high standards of data integrity, traceability and quality assurance.
• Monitor operational performance and laboratory KPIs, identifying potential delays or quality issues and implementing recovery or improvement plans when required.
• Work closely with engineers, technical specialists and colleagues across the wider business to ensure testing programmes meet project and client requirements.
• Act as the primary operational contact for the laboratory area, providing updates to management and escalating technical, operational or safety risks appropriately.
• Contribute to the continual improvement of laboratory methods, working practices, quality systems and service delivery.
• Champion a strong safety-first culture by supporting risk assessments, leading toolbox talks and safety moments and ensuring compliance with Fugro’s QHSE policies and procedures.
• Support investigations into incidents, near misses and non-conformances, ensuring that appropriate corrective actions are implemented.
• Help maintain a clean, organised and well-equipped laboratory environment, including oversight of equipment, consumables and inventory.

What you’ll need to thrive in this role

• Experience working in a geotechnical laboratory, materials testing environment or another regulated technical setting.
• Practical experience of geotechnical soil testing, ideally including advanced or specialist laboratory testing techniques.
• Previous experience supervising, coordinating, mentoring or training colleagues in a laboratory, technical or operational environment.
• A strong understanding of laboratory health and safety requirements, risk assessments and safe systems of work.
• The ability to organise people, equipment and testing schedules while balancing changing project priorities and delivery deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and a methodical approach to sample preparation, testing, data recording and result checking.
• Confidence in recording, processing and reporting technical information in both electronic and written formats.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with laboratory colleagues, engineers, technical specialists and other internal stakeholders.
• Good numeracy, literacy and IT skills, including competence using Microsoft Excel and Microsoft 365.
• A collaborative approach, with the confidence to take ownership of work and support the development of junior team members.

About Us

Who we are 
Do you want to join our Geo-data revolution? Fugro’s global reach and unique know-how will put the world at your fingertips. Our love of exploration and technical expertise help us to provide our clients with invaluable insights. We source and make sense of the most relevant Geo-data for their needs, so they can design, build and operate their assets more safely, sustainably and efficiently. But we’re always looking for new talent to take the next step with us. For bright minds who enjoy meaningful work and want to push our pioneering spirit further. For individuals who can take the initiative but work well within a team. 

What we offer 

Fugro provides a positive work environment as well as projects that will satisfy the most curious minds. We also offer great opportunities to stretch and develop yourself. By giving you the freedom to grow faster, we think you’ll be able to do what you do best, better. Which should help us to find fresh ways to get to know the earth better. We encourage you to be yourself at Fugro. So, bring your energy and enthusiasm, your keen eye and can-do attitude. But bring your questions and opinions too. Because to be the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, we need the strength in depth that comes from a diverse, driven team. 

 
Our view on diversity, equity and inclusion 

At Fugro, our people are our superpower. Their variety of viewpoints, experiences, knowledge and talents give us collective strength. Distinctive beliefs and diverse backgrounds are therefore welcome, but discrimination, harassment, inappropriate behaviour and unfair treatment are not. Everybody is to be well-supported and treated fairly. And everyone must be valued and have their voice heard. Crucially, we believe that getting this right brings a sense of belonging, of safety and acceptance, that makes us feel more connected to Fugro’s purpose ‘together we create a safe and liveable world’ – and to each other. 

Benefits of joining our team

• Extensive career & training opportunities both nationally and internationally.
• Contributory pension scheme
• Private medical insurance
• Health cash plan
• Group life assurance
• Group income protection
• Electric car scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Discounts platform
• The Fugro Card (pre-paid virtual visa card, which earns cash back automatically when money is spent at any participating retailers)
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Long service awards
• Fugro values awards
• Employee referral bonus scheme

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Disclaimer for recruitment agencies:

Fugro does not accept any unsolicited applications from recruitment agencies. Acquisition to Fugro Recruitment or any Fugro employee is not appreciated.