Technical Facilities Manager

Technical Facilities Manager

Location: West Edinburgh, Scotland (on-site) · Type: Full-time, permanent · Level: Senior

About the Company
Cnuic Technologies is an Edinburgh deep-tech company building next-generation optical systems for precision manufacturing and nanoscale engineering, backed by substantial venture capital and UK innovation agency grants. Our facility houses multiple cleanrooms and laser labs where we deposit, pattern, etch and characterise nanoscale optical structures. We are a small team tackling difficult hardware problems, and our infrastructure is as critical to our success as the engineering. If you want to build and run a world-class technical facility from the ground up, this is the place.

About the Role
This senior, hands-on role keeps our building, cleanrooms and laser labs running safely, reliably and to specification. You will own building services and the cleanroom environment, support our process tools and their utilities, and ensure gases, chemicals and high-power lasers are handled safely and the site meets UK health and safety requirements. As we grow, you will lead new cleanroom bays and labs from requirements to safe operation, working closely with the Office Manager and Quality team.

About You

• Comfortable owning a complex, live technical facility and making sound decisions without a detailed brief.
• Uncompromising on safety, yet pragmatic about keeping research and production moving.
• Able to explain technical, safety and cost trade-offs to engineers, contractors, landlords and leadership.
• Organised and proactive: you plan maintenance ahead, keep clear records and spot risks early.
• At home in a fast-paced start-up where priorities shift as we scale.
  
  

Key Requirements

Building Services & Plant

• Hands-on operation and maintenance of technical building services: HVAC and AHUs, heating, chillers, plumbing and drainage, ventilation and extract, electrical distribution.
• Running a PPM programme, managing reactive repairs and holding contractors to clear service levels.
• Working knowledge of BMS, alarms and environmental monitoring; able to diagnose faults and minimise downtime.
• Managing statutory inspections and compliance: pressure systems, lifting equipment, fire systems, water hygiene (Legionella) and LEV.
  
  

Cleanroom & Process Support

• Strong knowledge of ISO 14644-1 and maintaining, monitoring and requalifying classified areas: air-change rates, HEPA/ULPA filtration, pressure cascades, temperature and humidity, particle counting.
• Defining and enforcing protocols: gowning, materials and equipment entry, cleaning and contamination control.
• Supporting process and metrology tools such as thin-film deposition (sputtering, evaporation, ALD, PECVD), dry and wet etch, chemical cleaning, lithography and characterisation (SEM, AFM, ellipsometry), and their utilities: vacuum, process cooling water, DI water, compressed dry air, exhaust and abatement.
• Coordinating tool installations, service visits and moves with vendors and engineers, ensuring safe hook-ups to specification.
  
  

Process Gases & Chemical Safety

• Managing gas infrastructure for inert, oxidising and flammable gases (argon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen) and speciality etch gases where required: cylinder storage, gas cabinets, regulators, purge panels, distribution and point-of-use connections.
• Owning leak prevention and detection: routine leak testing, flammable, toxic and oxygen depletion/enrichment monitoring, interlocks, emergency shut-offs and alarm response.
• Sound knowledge of COSHH and DSEAR: hazardous area assessment, chemical storage and segregation, fume cupboards and wet benches, spill response and hazardous waste disposal.
  
  

Laser Laboratory Safety

• Understanding of laser classifications and BS EN 60825-1 (and associated guidance) as applied to lab design and operation.
• Maintaining laser-controlled areas (interlocks, warning signs and lights, beam enclosures, eyewear, access control) alongside the Laser Safety Officer or Laser Protection Adviser.
  
  

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Leading site-wide H&S: risk assessments, safe systems of work, permits to work, lock-out/tag-out, contractor control, fire safety, first aid and emergency planning.
• Ensuring safe workplaces across offices, labs and cleanrooms, including DSE assessments, ergonomics and PUWER.
• Running inductions and training, investigating incidents and near-misses, and driving corrective actions and continuous improvement.
• NEBOSH General Certificate or IOSH Managing Safely expected; NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent a strong plus.
  
  

Quality & Operations

• Supporting the Quality team with environmental monitoring records, calibration and maintenance logs, change control and audit readiness (e.g. ISO 9001).
• Working with the Office Manager on building access and security, deliveries and stores, consumables, suppliers and facility budgets.
  
  

Facility Scaling & Projects

• Delivering facility projects from user requirements through design review, contractor management, commissioning and validation.
• Proposing extensions with clear business cases covering capacity, cost, timeline and risk.
• Confident liaising with stakeholders, landlords, architects, M&E consultants, contractors and regulators; working knowledge of CDM 2015.
  
  

Experience & Qualifications

• Typically 7+ years in facilities, engineering or operations management in cleanroom, semiconductor, photonics, life sciences or other high-spec lab environments.
• Degree or HND/HNC in building services, mechanical, electrical, chemical or related engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
  
  

Benefits & Compensation

• Competitive senior-level salary.
• Equity: ability to participate in company ESOP
• Comprehensive life assurance, EAP and related benefits.
• Office: a modern workspace in West Edinburgh with space for focused work, collaboration and recharging.