Technical and Research Infrastructure Director

Job Description

The Technical and Research Infrastructure Director provides
strategic and operational leadership for the Virginia Tech
Micro-/Nanofabrication Cleanroom and Laboratory within the Bradley
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of
Engineering. This shared research and education facility supports
semiconductor devices, nanophotonics, microelectromechanical
systems, quantum technologies, advanced materials, biointerfaces,
and emerging devices.

Reporting to and working under the guidance of the Faculty
Director, the position translates approved scientific and
institutional priorities into implementable equipment, engineering,
instrumentation, process-support, data-acquisition, and facility
capabilities. The Director leads the facility's technical roadmap,
major equipment programs, infrastructure modernization, engineering
standards, configuration control, vendor technical relationships,
and integration of validated research capabilities into routine
shared-user operations.

The position supervises technical personnel, including the
Nanofabrication Process and Integration Engineer, and coordinates
activities across the Whittemore Hall Cleanroom, Electron-Beam
Lithography Laboratory, university service units, faculty
laboratories, equipment vendors, and approved user projects. The
Director also oversees facility budgets, cost-recovery and user-fee
structures, the laboratory information management and billing
platform, external partnerships, and eligible extramural
infrastructure-funding efforts.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree in engineering, physical science, applied

science, or a related field, or a bachelor's degree with
significant relevant professional experience.

• Professional experience in semiconductor fabrication,

microfabrication, nanofabrication, scientific instrumentation,
advanced manufacturing, or research infrastructure.

• Experience commissioning, integrating, modifying,

troubleshooting, or managing sophisticated equipment.

• Experience with vacuum systems, lithography, plasma processing,

thin-film deposition, instrumentation, controls, sensors,
networking, laboratory automation, or a comparable technical
area.

• Experience leading complex technical projects involving multiple

stakeholders.

• Experience with budget or resource-management

responsibilities.

• Experience developing technical specifications, procedures,

configuration records, or engineering documentation.

• Experience supervising, mentoring, or coordinating technical

personnel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in a relevant engineering or physical-science

discipline.

• Proven history of progressively responsible technical leadership

experience in a university cleanroom, shared-user facility,
semiconductor facility, national laboratory, or advanced industrial
research environment.

• Experience with advanced fabrication and characterization

technologies, such as electron-beam lithography, plasma etching,
atomic-layer deposition, chemical-vapor deposition, physical-vapor
deposition, or advanced metrology.

• Experience with equipment procurement, commissioning, acceptance

testing, vendor coordination, and lifecycle planning.

• Experience with laboratory automation, equipment connectivity,

data acquisition, industrial networking, or related technologies
using platforms such as Python, LabVIEW, programmable logic
controllers, OPC Unified Architecture, SECS/GEM, EPICS, or
SiLA.

• Experience with scientific-data systems, digital modeling,

machine learning, cyber-physical systems, or automated
laboratories.

• Experience with facility financial management, cost-recovery or

user-fee models, laboratory information management systems, or
laboratory billing platforms.

• Experience with cleanroom or laboratory planning, construction,

modernization, or expansion projects, including coordination with
architects and contractors.

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Restricted

Salary Information

$121,000–$131,000, Commensurate with Experience

Hours per week

40

Review Date

10/23/2026

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal
conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve),
Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a
hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be
leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution
that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the
world, Virginia Tech is an
inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and
creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse
enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and
professional students in eight
undergraduate colleges , a
school of medicine , a
veterinary medicine college,
Graduate School , and
Honors College . The university has a significant presence
across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C.
area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites
in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous
Extension offices and
research institutes . A leading global research institution,
Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research
annually.

Virginia Tech endorses and encourages participation in professional
development opportunities and university shared governance . These valuable
contributions to university shared governance provide important
representation and perspective, along with opportunities for unique
and impactful professional development.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or
applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including
pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic
information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation,
race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or
otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire
about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation
of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected
by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an
accommodation, please contact Cole Tankersley at cpt19@vt.edu
during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to
the event.