QC Manager
Lancashire
Permanent opportunity
We are working with a global leader in the food and pharmaceutical sector, a trusted brand dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of product integrity and consumer safety.
Operating from their on-site laboratory facility in Lancashire, they are looking for a QC Manager. This role is a key leadership position, taking responsibility for the analytical testing and approval of everything from raw materials and packaging to complex medicinal intermediates and finished batches.
What you’ll do:
As the QC Manager, you will lead and develop a team of nine laboratory professionals (including Technologists and Chemists). You will be the technical authority on-site, ensuring all testing meets the rigorous requirements of both food safety and pharmaceutical regulations.
You will be the bridge between laboratory data and product release, ensuring all batches are compliant, safe, and ready for the market. Responsibilities will be in the following areas:
- Team Leadership: Managerial control over all direct reports, including work allocation, training, and performance development within a high-spec laboratory.
- Testing & Analysis: Oversight of incoming raw materials, intermediates, and finished products using validated test methods in line with ISO, Food Safety, and cGLP standards.
- Compliance & Auditing: Acting as the process owner for quality standards including cGMP (MHRA), FDA, BRC, and FSSC22000. You will participate in external audits and manage any resulting CAPAs.
- Stability & Validation: Ensuring robust stability testing protocols are in place to confirm product shelf-life and overseeing analytical method validation and equipment qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ).
- Release Authority: Approving BRS and finished goods packing batches and performing the final checks on pharmaceutical batches prior to external QP certification.
- Continuous Improvement: Promoting efficiency within the QC cost centre, managing the departmental budget, and using root cause analysis (5 Whys, Six Sigma) to streamline processes.
Your background:
We are looking for a technically-minded leader with a strong foundation in laboratory management. Educated to BSc level in Chemistry, Food Science, Microbiology, or a related field, you will have a deep understanding of working within a regulated manufacturing environment.
- A demonstrable record in a Quality Management or Senior QC role, preferably within the food or pharmaceutical industry.
- In-depth knowledge of global quality standards such as cGMP (MHRA), ISO9001:2015, and BRC/HACCP.
- Experience in stability testing protocols and the interpretation of complex analytical data.
- Proficiency in ERP systems (SAP/Oracle) and data analysis tools for producing high-level quality reports.
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate a multidisciplinary team under pressure.
This is a weekday hours Monday to Friday role that offers an environment with significant investment in professional growth and departmental resources. Our client provides a stable, long-term career path within a close knit, innovative culture at their facility in Lancashire.
On this occasion, LiCa Scientific is acting as an employment agency.