Local Operations Manager

Join our Team

About the Team

You will join Ericsson’s BNEW RCE LO Lab Site Operations Asia team. We manage R&D labs in Beijing, Chengdu and Yokohama, serving thousands of internal users from BNEW, BCSS and local market areas.

R&D is establishing a new lab in Yokohama, and RCE LO will deliver:

• Lab facility infrastructure services
• Day‑to‑day operations
• Hardware installation services

These services will support both R&D and NSI lab users. As IT Operations Manager for Yokohama Lab, you will lead local lab service delivery and ensure that local lab needs are understood and met.

Role Purpose

The IT Operations Manager (Lab Operations Manager) for Yokohama Lab is responsible for:

• Leading the local lab operations team and acting as the users’ primary site interface for Lab Operations (LO)
• Ensuring safe, secure, efficient and cost‑effective lab and facility infrastructure
• Securing high‑quality delivery of lab services to internal users
• Managing local operational KPIs, resources and costs, and driving continuous improvement

This is a hands‑on leadership role, combining operational excellence, stakeholder management and basic lab infrastructure understanding.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the local interface for Lab Operations for Yokohama Lab users, representing LO towards R&D, NSI and other stakeholders
• Monitor and manage service backlog; coordinate and drive service delivery in line with priorities, with strong focus on quality and safety
• Secure facility and lab infrastructure to meet user requirements (power, cooling, racks, network, physical security and other basic lab facilities)
• Oversee and coordinate hardware installation services and lab changes for R&D and NSI users
• Monitor and communicate delivery status to stakeholders; ensure user satisfaction through proactive follow‑up and issue resolution
• Suggest and implement continuous improvements to lab processes and services; act on flow impediments and secure on‑time delivery
• Manage and follow up operational KPIs related to lab performance, safety, quality, utilization, lead‑times and user experience
• Consult line managers and stakeholders on local site finance forecast and spending; support budgeting and cost follow‑up for lab operations
• Coordinate resources, work planning and workload balancing across the local team; ensure clear ownership and accountability for tasks
• Ensure compliance with Ericsson safety, security and operational governance in the lab environment
• Identify and highlight risks to lab operations and service delivery; propose mitigations and drive actions
• Collaborate closely with R&D, NSI, Facility, Sourcing and suppliers to secure efficient end‑to‑end delivery
• Contribute to documentation of local procedures, standards and guidelines for Yokohama Lab operations

Essential Skills and Experience (Must‑Have)

• Proven leadership experience, ideally in an operations, facility or IT/lab environment
• Demonstrated ability in resource management and building an engaged, collaborative team culture
• Strong safety and security mindset, with experience applying safety practices in technical or lab environments
• Solid stakeholder management and influencing skills; able to build trust and drive alignment across functions
• Track record of operational excellence and execution, including managing backlogs and end‑to‑end service delivery
• Experience managing operational KPIs and using data to drive improvement and decision‑making
• High level of accountability and ownership, with the ability to take decisions and follow through
• Basic knowledge of lab or data center infrastructure (facility, power, cooling, networking, racks) and related finance/cost concepts
• Good communication skills, able to work effectively with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Fluent in English; Japanese language skills are a strong advantage for local stakeholder interaction

Preferred Background

• Data center, lab or R&D working experience is highly preferred
• Experience in team leadership, user support, cost and resource management is recognized and valued
• Experience in a global, matrix organization and working with cross‑functional teams

Skills That Can Be Learned on the Job

• Lab‑specific technologies and platforms used in Ericsson R&D and NSI environments
• Ericsson internal processes, governance frameworks and tools related to lab operations
• Project management methods and ways of working
• Digital and data analytics tools used for KPI follow‑up, reporting and continuous improvement

Personal Attributes

The person in this role will naturally enjoy:

• Working closely with users as their local site interface, listening to needs and translating them into concrete actions
• Monitoring backlog and coordinating service delivery with clear priorities and strong quality focus
• Securing facility infrastructure so that users can rely on a safe, robust and efficient lab environment
• Consulting line managers on local finance forecast and spending and making well‑grounded recommendations
• Monitoring and communicating delivery status, closing the loop and ensuring user satisfaction
• Suggesting continuous improvements to processes and services, acting on flow impediments and highlighting risks early