How to apply:
Email me answers to the below questions at [email protected]
1. Name one specific thing you built, fixed, or figured out on your own in the last two years that nobody assigned you to do. Give us the exact problem, what you actually did step by step, and one thing that went wrong along the way.
2. Tell us about a mistake you made where nobody else noticed it until you brought it up yourself. What was it, and what did you do in the next 24 hours.
3. You have 80 samples to process by end of day. Halfway through, you realize you may have mislabeled two samples from an hour ago, but you’re not sure which two. Walk us through exactly what you do next.
4. What's a strength you have that puts you in the top 90% and a reason we should hire you? Professionally or personally.
About Us
Light Labs is building the modern lab testing platform — faster, cheaper, and built for transparency. We help brands test for purity, safety, and accuracy, then turn that data into a competitive edge. Our lab is fully integrated with software that streamlines everything from sample intake to result sharing, so brands can not only meet regulatory requirements, but also show their customers what’s in their product — and what’s not.
Role Overview
We’re hiring a Sample Intake Specialist to manage the critical first step of our testing process within Light Labs. This role is the gateway to our laboratory: you’ll be responsible for receiving samples, verifying their information, and getting them ready for handoff to our prep and testing teams. You’ll manage the intake workflow with a focus on strong accuracy and speed, ensuring that every sample is properly logged, labeled, and organized.
You’ll also serve as a key point of communication, keeping internal teams informed about sample status and ensuring that our intake areas remain organized and compliant with lab procedures. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment and possesses exceptional organizational skills. You care deeply about accuracy, communicate clearly, and want to ensure that our lab operations start off on the right foot every single day.
This is a full time, in person role based in Ann Arbor. It comes with top decile pay and a high impact seat at the table.
Responsibilities
- Receive, log, label, and organize incoming samples efficiently and accurately.
- Verify sample information and chain of custody details to ensure all documentation is complete and correct.
- Prepare and stage samples for seamless handoff to the prep and testing teams.
- Manage the daily intake workflow, balancing the need for speed with an uncompromising commitment to accuracy.
- Communicate clearly and proactively with internal teams regarding sample status, missing information, or intake delays.
- Maintain the cleanliness, organization, and compliance of all sample intake areas in accordance with lab procedures.
- Identify opportunities to streamline the intake process and work with lab leadership to implement improvements.
- Ensure all intake activities adhere to established safety and quality protocols.
Qualifications
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Previous experience in a laboratory, clinical, or high-volume receiving environment is preferred.
- Proven ability to manage intake and logistics workflows with accuracy and speed.
- Exceptional attention to detail, particularly when verifying sample information and chain of custody details.
- Strong organizational skills and the ability to keep workspaces clean and compliant.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly relay sample status and issues to internal teams.
- Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
- Basic computer skills and familiarity with laboratory information management systems (LIMS) or similar database software is a plus.
- Comfortable in a fast paced, startup environment with shifting priorities and high standards.
Benefits and Compensation
- Top decile salary
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Paid time off and holidays
- A “promote from within” approach with numerous career growth opportunities
Who We Are
Light Labs is building the modern platform for lab testing, starting with consumer goods brands. We help companies test more cheaply, quickly, and enable them to use lab results to automate regulatory compliance and grow revenue.
We believe consumers deserve to know the purity and accuracy of every product that affects their families’ health. Improving our food system starts with increasing transparency and creating a more informed customer. Not only are we building a lab that makes testing faster, cheaper, and easier, but also the infrastructure that allows brands to:
- Market and highlight their lab results by making it easy to push lab data directly to product display pages. Here, brands will highlight what’s in their product (active ingredients + they meet their claims) and what’s not in their product (heavy metals, environmental toxins, PFAs, etc)
- Automatically comply with regulations like Prop 65, CA AB 899, Amazon testing requirements, etc.
By integrating the full experience – from testing to the data sharing with customers – we’re building a more efficient and streamlined process. Brands can now differentiate themselves and become the no-brainer choice in their category through testing and great transparency.
We’re a team of experienced founders that have raised $12M from top VCs (8VC and Valor), with top CPG founders and strategics also coming into the round. Whether you’re lab tech, engineer, sales, marketing, or customer support, you’ll have a seat at the table as we work to increase transparency in the food system.
Our Mission
Almost everything people consume is becoming increasingly toxic (and bereft of nutrition) which leads to massive health dysfunction while simultaneously destroying our planet. No one knows about it because you can’t see, taste, smell, or quantify the problem:
- Cinnamon Apple Puree pouches, marketed for children and labeled as preservative-free, kosher, and gluten-free, contained lead levels 200 times greater than the FDA’s proposed guidelines
- Over 1300 chemicals are banned in cosmetics in the EU, while only 11 are in the United States
- The US also allows thousands of food additives which are banned in other countries
- A study of 168 baby foods revealed that 95% contained at least one heavy metal (arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium), with a quarter containing all four
- Seven out eight samples of kale contained ‘disturbing’ levels of PFAs, with organic kale containing higher levels of the toxic compounds
Today, even if consumer brands or manufacturers wanted to test for purity of their products, the experience is slow, cumbersome, expensive, and nearly impossible to interpret or share the lab results unless you have a PhD in the area you’re testing for.
Because there is no feedback loop or standardized transparency that brands offer, there is no consumer pressure on change of practices and sourcing. If people knew what was in their food, they’d be shocked. They would shop differently.
Our mission is to bring this transparency to the food system. Allow customers to buy products and brands that are free of toxic ingredients. Transparency is the first step in creating demand for cleaner products, and ultimately a cleaner supply chain.
Values We’re Looking For
First Principles
- We’re looking for team members who can deal with ambiguity, deconstruct problems, and build the optimal solution.
- Question every requirement → Delete any part or process you can → Simplify and optimize → Accelerate cycle time → Automate.
Standard of Excellence:
- High standards are contagious. A+ talent attracts A+ talent.
- There’s a glut of mediocrity in the world. We’re chasing after the products and people that strive for excellence.
Bias for Action:
- Take initiative, make decisions quickly, and have a willingness to experiment and learn from failures
- Customer expectations are not static. They rise over time, which means we have to continuously improve every single day
Low Ego:
- Coachability; it’s not about being right, it’s about getting to the right answer.
- Reacts calmly to criticism or negative feedback, and has a “feedback is an opportunity for information and improvement” mindset
- Respectfully challenges decisions when you disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable. Once a decision is made, even if you still disagree, commit wholly and move forward
Pay: $45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person