Sr Operator

Required Skills & Experience

Demonstrated experience operating equipment in laboratory, process, manufacturing, pilot plant, or other controlled technical environments. Strong commitment to safety, procedural compliance, and disciplined operations. Ability to follow written instructions, recognize operational boundaries, and exercise sound judgment. Hands-on troubleshooting aptitude with the ability to identify and communicate equipment or process concerns. Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to work effectively with engineers, technicians, and maintenance personnel. Ability to learn new processes, complete required qualifications, and adapt to changing operational environments.

Nice to Have Skills & Experience

Experience supporting R&D, pilot-scale, startup, or rapidly evolving operational environments. Experience mentoring operators, supporting qualifications, or contributing to procedure improvements. Background in nuclear, chemical processing, advanced manufacturing, laboratory, defense, or other highly regulated industries. Technical education, apprenticeship, military technical training, or equivalent hands-on experience.

Job Description

The Senior Operator supports hands-on research and development laboratory operations at KDL and WML, working closely with engineering and operations teams to safely execute authorized work and maintain reliable, repeatable operating practices. This individual will operate laboratory and process equipment, monitor for abnormal conditions, maintain accurate operating records, support troubleshooting efforts with engineering and maintenance teams, and provide feedback on procedures and work instructions. The role also supports operator training, qualification efforts, and continuous improvement initiatives while ensuring all activities are performed in accordance with established safety, quality, and operational requirements. The ideal candidate brings strong equipment aptitude, sound safety judgment, and experience operating in laboratory, pilot plant, manufacturing, or other controlled technical environments. This is on-site 5 days a week and looking for salary from 50-65k.

Ideal Candidate Profile includes:

Safe judgment under pressure. Can explain a time they stopped or escalated work, how they assessed the concern and what happened next. Hands-on equipment aptitude. Separates observations from assumptions, communicates a useful problem description and stays within authorized troubleshooting. Disciplined execution. Gives concrete examples of following controlled instructions, maintaining accurate records and handing off unfinished work. Ability to make work repeatable. Helps engineers translate approved intent into clear operator-facing instructions and identifies gaps through the review process. Peer development. Has helped another operator learn safely, checked understanding and given specific feedback without bypassing qualification requirements. Ownership through change. Can describe a startup, new work area or changed process where they learned quickly, closed actions and kept the team informed.