Specialty: TCLP

Valerie Slaven is a Director of Laboratory Operations at Pace® responsible for developing a strategic vision while providing operational support at both local and corporate levels. Slaven’s career is driven by a passion for optimizing laboratory processes and contributing to the overarching success of the organization she serves.

Slaven began her career at Pace® by running total suspended solids in wet chemistry for PDC Laboratories, Inc., which was later acquired by Pace®. Her passion for the work led to rapid and comprehensive learning and immersion in other methods in wet chemistry and eventually metals, VOA and SVOA as well as analysis of samples and team management in each department. She even started a large new laboratory with a new team under considerable pressure.

Looking to continue expanding her impact, Slaven took on a Quality Assurance (QA) Manager role and later Technical Director. During her time in QA, she served as the chair of the Chemistry Expert Committee within TNI. Following her time in QA, she started her journey in operational management. Slaven remains rooted in QA, though she can sometimes be found helping out in the lab and currently serves on the Board of Directors for TNI.

Slaven’s love of operational leadership comes from both the challenge it creates and her passion to develop staff. She tends to focus on creating a culture of continuous improvement, one that recognizes that success is born from learning and actively embraces the opportunities created by mistakes, which allows energy to be channeled towards improvement and growth for future success.