Head of Lab, APAC Center (Organoids & Cell Biology)

Head of Laboratory Operations (Organoids & Cell Biology)

Role Overview

This role will take full responsibility for the day-to-day operations and management of an Organoid and Cell Biology Laboratory within a regional innovation and research center. The position leads the execution and delivery of CRO service projects oversees internal R&D programs and technology platform development and guides the laboratory team through the full pipeline from technology development to clinical and industrial translation.

I. Key Responsibilities

1. Laboratory Operations & Management

• Oversee daily laboratory operations including equipment maintenance consumables procurement laboratory safety and compliance SOP development and execution and quality control system establishment.
• Manage end-to-end CRO service project delivery including requirement alignment experimental design execution data analysis reporting and client communication ensuring timely and high-quality outcomes.
• Recruit train and manage laboratory technical staff; allocate resources effectively to enhance team capabilities and operational efficiency.
• Establish and continuously optimize standardized operating procedures (SOPs) and quality management systems (e.g. ISO/GLP-aligned processes) to ensure data traceability and reproducibility.

2. Technology Platform Development & Optimization

• Develop and optimize automated organoid culture platforms integrating liquid handling systems high-content imaging and other automation solutions to support high-throughput and standardized workflows.
• Establish organoid-based platforms for drug screening efficacy evaluation and toxicity assessment supporting both external service programs and internal research initiatives.
• Develop advanced in vitro systems such as organoidmicrofluidic chips or multi-organ co-culture models to better replicate human physiological microenvironments.

3. Research & Translational Applications

• Develop organoid models for aging-related diseases (e.g. cardiac hepatic neural dermal) conduct high-throughput compound screening and perform pharmacological efficacy and toxicity assessments to establish predictive drug-response models.
• Drive precision medicine applications using organoid-based drug sensitivity testing fostering collaborations with pharmaceutical companies clinical institutions and regulatory or translational partners and contributing to the development of technical standards or best-practice guidelines.
• Collaborate with leading academic institutions and research leaders to apply for national or regional research funding and to publish high-impact scientific papers patents and technical white papers.

II. Qualifications & Requirements

1. Education & Experience

• PhD in Molecular Biology Cell Biology Developmental Biology Biomaterials Tissue Engineering Aging Biology or a related field.
• 510 years of relevant professional experience including 23 years of direct organoid-related experience with demonstrated leadership or project management responsibilities.

2. Core Technical Competencies

Organoid & Model Development

• Extensive experience developing and applying multiple organoid models including aging models drug efficacy/toxicity systems immune or multi-organ co-culture platforms and organ-on-chip technologies.
• Hands-on experience with both tumor-derived and normal tissue organoids (e.g. liver kidney brain heart intestinal).
• Strong expertise in iPSC/ESC culture expansion directed differentiation and reprogramming technologies.

Drug Evaluation & Toxicology

• Proven ability to design and validate organoid-based in vitro drug evaluation systems including drug sensitivity and efficacy assays.
• Experience in organ-specific toxicity assessments across major physiological systems (neurological hepatic cardiac renal respiratory gastrointestinal).

Automation & High-Throughput Screening

• Familiarity with automated liquid handling systems high-content imaging platforms and scalable organoid culture in 96-/384-well formats.
• Experience conducting high-throughput screening of large compound libraries (synthetic compounds natural products or complex libraries).

Leadership & Communication

• Strong small-team leadership experience with excellent communication coordination and project management skills.
• Ability to engage effectively with internal stakeholders and external partners including pharmaceutical companies CRO clients and academic collaborators.

III. Preferred Qualifications

• Research Excellence: First-author publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals; ability to independently design and lead multidisciplinary research projects.
• Aging Biology Expertise: Experience establishing aging-related organoid models; familiarity with cellular senescence markers telomere biology mitochondrial function analysis and aging intervention strategies.
• Clinical Translation: Experience with clinically oriented organoid drug sensitivity testing and correlating in vitro results with patient outcomes.
• PK/PD & Drug Development: Understanding of pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and modern biologic or complex drug development workflows.
• Advanced Technologies: Exposure to AI-assisted organoid image analysis machine learningbased drug prediction CRISPR gene editing live-cell imaging lineage tracing and laboratory automation systems.
• Language & Background: International education or research background preferred; proficiency in English required with additional Asian languages considered a plus.