Quality Lab Manager

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.

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.

Key Responsibilities

• 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 experience coaching and developing supervisors and technical teams.
• Excellent analytical, organisational and problem-solving skills, with a high level of attention to detail.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across multiple departments.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with experience driving process optimisation, change management or quality system enhancements.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and quality management systems.

Desirable

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Microbiology, Chemical Engineering or another relevant scientific discipline.
• Experience with laboratory automation, digital quality systems or LIMS.
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma or other continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience working within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

What We Offer

• Employment Type: This role is offered full-time, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.
• Location: Tropic HQ is a short walk from Beddington Lane Tram stop, with direct links to East Croydon and Wimbledon.
• Onsite Working: Enjoy a blend of office and lab work.
• Salary: £50,000
• Benefits: Hybrid working, up to 33 days’ holiday. Enhanced family leave, Private Medical Insurance, Medicash plan, life insurance (All available after a qualifying period). EAP through the Wisdom App, generous product allowance and 50% discount for family and friends, access to retailer discounts, Cycle to Work and Electric Car schemes, free breakfast bar, dog-friendly HQ with a chill zone and pool table, on-site parking, regular social events, and plenty of well-being treats throughout the year.
• Start Date: Immediate

About Tropic

Susie, our Founder and CEO, started Tropic Skincare as a teenager, selling homemade body scrubs at Greenwich Market to help her mum pay the bills. She sold out on her first day, and the incredible response made her realise she had started something quite special.

We still sell that iconic body scrub, and it sits alongside an extensive range of award-winning skincare and beauty products that have made us one of the UK’s fastest-growing beauty businesses. Our brand is certified vegan, cruelty-free and CarbonNeutral®, and our infinite purpose is to create a healthier, greener, more empowered world. And that’s where you come in!

We’re looking for creative and ambitious people who share our vision and get excited about beauty that’s both innovative and sustainable. If you’re passionate about skincare and have a genuine desire to empower communities across the globe, you could be a great fit.

Tropic's Commitment to Equal Opportunities

Our team is as diverse as it is talented because at Tropic, we go the extra mile to cultivate a culture of respect and belonging. We value every candidate, respect protected characteristics and never discriminate. We also provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities at every stage of the hiring process, so if this is something you need, please let our recruitment team know at the earliest opportunity!

Ultimately, the most important thing for us is hiring the best person for the job, so we focus on skills, experience, and qualifications to ensure our process is fair and that our candidates always have a great experience with Tropic.

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