Employee Spotlight
Christopher Gonzalez is a facilities area manager in the Facilities Division at Berkeley Lab, overseeing and supporting the buildings where ATAP employees work. Gonzalez brings more than a decade of experience managing facilities across research, clinical, and academic environments within the University of California system. He joined the Lab in January 2024, after working at the University of California, San Francisco, where he collaborated with a team of facilities managers and project coordinators to maintain research and clinical spaces. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has made the Bay Area his home after growing up in Los Angeles.
Please tell us about the Berkeley Lab Facilities Area Management and your role within it.
As a facilities area manager, I serve as the primary point of contact between the Facilities Division and our customers, responsible for communicating, coordinating, and managing all facilities and infrastructure-related issues and risks across my assigned buildings and regional area. I oversee 30 structures, including critical laboratory spaces and administrative buildings, each with its own unique needs and challenges.
My work spans all aspects of the facilities management program, from day-to-day operations and work order management to strategic planning, building-system risk management, and facilities project management. A significant part of my role involves clear communication with customers and stakeholders—managing expectations, addressing systemic issues, and developing and maintaining service-level agreements to ensure consistent, high-quality service.
What do you most like about your role, and what are your day-to-day challenges?
What I enjoy most about my role is the sense of contribution—knowing that the work we do in Facilities helps keep science moving forward, one repair at a time. I have the privilege of working alongside brilliant people, both within the Facilities team and across the broader scientific community. That collaboration makes the work deeply rewarding.
The challenges, however, are real. Many of the Lab’s buildings are older and were not originally designed to meet today’s research demands. Aging infrastructure means repairs are a constant part of the job, and keeping pace with the needs of a dynamic research environment while maintaining high service quality requires careful prioritization and creative problem-solving. My goal is to continue delivering reliable, responsive service so our science partners can stay focused on their work.
What advice would you give to other people in roles like yours?
The most important lesson I have learned in this role is that people are everything. The relationships and partnerships I have built—both within Facilities and across the Lab—make it possible to get things done. Approaching challenges through constructive dialogue and collaborative problem-solving consistently leads to better outcomes than tackling issues alone. I would encourage anyone in a similar role to invest in those relationships early and often, because a strong network of trusted partners ultimately drives success in facilities management.
For more information on ATAP News articles, contact caw@lbl.gov.
