Quality Lab Manager

Posted 07 Aug 2026

About the Role

As our Quality Lab Manager, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring the highest standards of quality, compliance and scientific excellence across Tropic's Quality Laboratory. Reporting to the Head of Quality, you'll provide operational oversight of laboratory activities, ensuring testing, quality systems and laboratory processes support the safe and timely release of products while maintaining full compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Tropic's quality standards.

This role bridges senior leadership and day-to-day laboratory operations, providing technical expertise, driving continuous improvement and supporting the development of our laboratory teams. You'll work closely with Production, Manufacturing, R&D and Quality teams to ensure robust quality management systems, effective investigations and a culture of operational excellence.

• Oversee the day-to-day operation of the Quality Laboratory, ensuring testing, product release activities and reporting are completed in line with business priorities and agreed service levels.
• Provide leadership and technical oversight to the Quality Lab Supervisor and wider laboratory team, ensuring effective workload planning, coaching and performance management.
• Act as the primary technical escalation point for complex Out of Specification (OOS), Out of Trend (OOT), non-conformances and process deviations arising from laboratory or production activities.
• Lead complex root cause investigations and ensure timely implementation and effectiveness of Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPAs).
• Manage laboratory capacity, analytical throughput and resource planning to support manufacturing schedules and business demand.
• Oversee laboratory documentation, including Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), work instructions and analytical methods, ensuring they remain accurate, compliant and continuously improved.
• Manage stability programmes, analytical data trending and quality metrics, using insights to identify risks and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure the laboratory remains audit-ready at all times, acting as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) during internal audits and external inspections, including ISO 22716 and ISO 9001 audits.
• Review and approve equipment qualification, method validation and cleaning validation activities across the laboratory and GMP facility.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance laboratory efficiency, including process optimisation, automation, digital systems and quality management improvements.
• Maintain the laboratory training matrix, ensuring all team members remain competent, compliant and appropriately trained for their roles.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Manufacturing, R&D and Production to resolve quality issues and support successful product delivery.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for an experienced quality professional who combines strong scientific knowledge with excellent leadership and problem-solving skills. You'll be passionate about maintaining high standards, developing people and continuously improving laboratory operations.

You’ll bring:

• At least 5 years' experience in a Quality Laboratory environment within cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals or FMCG, with progressive leadership experience.
• Strong working knowledge of ISO 22716:2007 (Cosmetics GMP) and ISO 9001:2015 quality management systems.
• Demonstrable experience leading quality investigations, root cause analysis (RCA) and CAPA management.
• Proven experience managing laboratory operations, resource planning and quality systems.
• Experience preparing for and supporting internal and external quality audits.
• Strong leadership skills, with…