Location: Ilorin, Kwara
Employment Type: Full-time
Description
- The Laboratory Manager will lead laboratory operations at the aquaculture facility, providing reliable water-quality, microbiology and pathology testing to support fish health, hatchery performance, research and biosecurity.
- The role is responsible for ensuring accurate and timely laboratory results, effective quality controls, safe laboratory practices, well-maintained equipment, proper sample management and actionable reporting to the Centre Lead.
Responsibilities
Laboratory Operations & Management:
- Plan, organise and supervise daily laboratory activities in line with operational priorities.
- Establish testing schedules, sample flows and turnaround-time standards.
- Maintain laboratory readiness, cleanliness, safety and effective use of laboratory space.
- Develop, implement and maintain SOPs for sampling, testing, reporting and equipment use.
- Prepare routine laboratory performance reports for the Centre Lead.
Water-Quality Monitoring:
- Develop and implement water-quality sampling and monitoring programmes for broodstock, hatchery and research systems.
- Coordinate testing and interpretation of relevant physical and chemical water-quality parameters.
- Monitor results for adverse trends and promptly communicate potential risks to relevant operational teams.
- Recommend corrective actions and follow up to verify their effectiveness.
- Maintain complete and traceable records of sampling locations, methods, results and follow-up actions.
Microbiology:
- Manage microbiological sampling and testing of water, fish, equipment and facility environments, as applicable.
- Ensure proper aseptic sampling, culture preparation, incubation, organism screening and safe disposal practices.
- Monitor microbial trends and escalate results that may indicate contamination or disease risks.
- Maintain traceable records of samples, media, reagents, controls and test results.
- Collaborate with veterinary and production teams during microbiological investigations.
Pathology & Diagnostic Support:
- Support pathology investigations through appropriate sample collection, preservation, microscopy and laboratory examination.
- Coordinate diagnostic testing for suspected disease, unexplained mortality and production underperformance.
- Ensure proper sample identification, chain of custody, storage and submission to external laboratories where required.
- Document laboratory findings clearly and provide timely results to the Veterinarian and Centre Lead.
- Maintain organised and traceable pathology specimens, images and reports.
Biosecurity:
- Translate facility biosecurity requirements into practical laboratory and sampling controls.
- Implement appropriate access, hygiene, disinfection, sample-handling and waste-management procedures.
- Prevent cross-contamination between samples, work areas, equipment and production units.
- Monitor compliance with laboratory biosecurity protocols and address identified gaps.
- Support biosecurity audits, outbreak investigations and corrective-action programmes.
Quality Assurance & Data Integrity:
- Implement internal quality-control checks to ensure the reliability of laboratory results.
- Maintain controlled test methods, worksheets, logs, registers and electronic records.
- Investigate unusual, inconsistent or out-of-specification results before release.
- Ensure laboratory data are accurate, complete, traceable and securely maintained.
- Coordinate proficiency testing or external verification where appropriate.
Equipment, Reagents & Inventory:
- Maintain an accurate inventory of laboratory equipment, consumables, media, reagents and reference materials.
- Ensure equipment is serviced, calibrated and verified according to approved schedules.
- Manage reagent preparation, labelling, storage, expiry monitoring and safe disposal.
- Identify and communicate requirements for equipment repair, replacement and replenishment in a timely manner.
- Maintain equipment history, calibration and maintenance records.
Team Leadership, Safety & Collaboration:
- Supervise, coach and develop laboratory technicians and assistants.
- Train relevant employees on sampling, sample submission, hygiene and basic laboratory requirements.
- Enforce laboratory safety, chemical handling, PPE and incident-reporting procedures.
- Collaborate closely with the Centre Lead, Veterinarian, broodstock, hatchery and research teams.
- Drive continuous improvement in testing methods, turnaround time, reporting and laboratory efficiency.
Requirements
Qualifications & Experience:
- Bachelor's Degree in Microbiology, Fisheries, Aquaculture, Biological Sciences, Laboratory Science, Biochemistry or a related discipline.
- Postgraduate qualification in Aquatic Animal Health, Microbiology, Pathology, Water Quality or a related field is an advantage.
- Minimum of 6 years' experience managing or supervising a laboratory within aquaculture, animal health, food, environmental or biological testing.
- Practical experience in water-quality analysis, microbiology, microscopy, sample management and laboratory quality control.
- Experience supporting fish-health diagnostics, pathology or hatchery operations is strongly preferred.
Salary
N300,000 - N600,000 monthly.
Application Closing Date
19th October, 2026.
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: recruitment@protenintl.com using ''Laboratory Technician Manager'' as the subject of the email.
Note: Only qualified candidates would be contacted.
