Lab Operations - Director

Overview

Lead the strategy, planning and execution of Qualcomm's lab infrastructure and operations across multiple engineering labs, ensuring lab readiness, capacity, safety compliance and operational excellence to support product development and validation. Oversees a team of lab engineers and technicians.

What you'll do

• Define and execute lab infrastructure strategy across multiple engineering labs.
• Own power, cooling, space and capacity planning to support current and future product roadmaps.
• Conduct feasibility studies, site assessments and trade-off analyses for lab expansion, upgrades and new builds.
• Develop demand forecasts, capacity models and utilization plans to optimize infrastructure investments.
• Lead day-to-day operations of engineering labs supporting validation and product development.
• Own capital and expense planning, purchasing, warranty, calibration, inventory shipment, import, EC components and bonding with a clear, auditable process across all labs.
• Ensure lab readiness, uptime, equipment availability and operational excellence.
• Manage lab deployments, reconfigurations, scaling activities and infrastructure modernization initiatives.
• Partner with engineering teams to ensure infrastructure, equipment and resources are available ahead of key milestones.
• Drive efficient lab workflows, layouts and utilization improvements.
• Lead and develop teams of lab engineers, technicians and outsourced resources.
• Drive workforce planning, capability development and operational accountability.
• Own execution of capital and operational plans, budgets, procurement and resource allocation.
• Ensure successful execution of roadmap-driven growth, consolidation and transformation initiatives.
• Serve as the accountable leader for lab ESD, EHS, physical security and compliance programs.
• Maintain audit-ready processes, documentation and infrastructure records.
• Drive compliance with safety, security and regulatory requirements across all lab environments.
• Protect physical and intellectual assets through effective governance and control mechanisms.
• Lead risk assessments, corrective actions and continuous compliance improvements.
• Partner with Engineering, Facilities, IT, Networking, EHS, Procurement, Finance and external suppliers to deliver lab solutions.
• Influence decisions through technical expertise, business cases and executive-level communication.
• Drive collaboration across global teams to establish best practices and scalable operating models.
• Serve as the primary escalation and decision point for infrastructure, capacity, readiness and operational challenges.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of relevant operations experience, OR High School Diploma or equivalent and 12+ years of relevant operations experience with 2+ of those years involving leadership experience.
• Completed advanced degrees in a relevant field may be substituted for up to two years (Master's = one year, Doctorate = two years) of work experience.
• Bachelor's or Associate degree in Electronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 15+ years of experience in engineering support, silicon or hardware lab operations, lab infrastructure deployment and laboratory management.
• Proven experience leading large-scale engineering labs supporting silicon bring-up, validation and product development activities.
• Strong knowledge of lab infrastructure, including power, cooling, networking, test equipment, RF systems and operational processes.

Nice to have

• Bachelor's degree in engineering with hands-on experience managing and supporting R&D labs for large-scale engineering, validation and silicon development programs within the semiconductor, networking, telecommunications or high-tech industries.

Details

• Location: Chennai, Tamil Nādu, India.