Senior Quality Manager

About Us

King’s Forensics is an academic grouping within the Department of Analytical, Forensic & Environmental Sciences (AFES), with unique resource from two laboratories accredited to UKAS Quality Standard (ISO 17025). The Drug Control Centre provides a service for UKAD (United Kingdom Anti-Doping); the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and individual professional sports bodies. The King’s Forensics Mass Spectrometry Services laboratory provides a cannabinoids/CBD testing service to Clinical Trials teams both within King’s and beyond and testing for clinical and forensics units across the country.

About The Role

The post holder works closely with the Head of the Drug Control Centre (Director of King’s Forensics) to manage quality assurance and ensure it is professional, well-executed and timely, complying with university policies, and UKAS (to ISO:IEC 17025/2017 quality standard) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) International Standard for Laboratories ISL, 2021).

The post holder will lead quality assurance for the Drug Control Centre, which is part of King’s Forensics within the Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences and based in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science. The post holder reports to the Head of the Drug Control Centre who has overall responsibility for the Centre’s work, including quality assurance and compliance. The post holder is responsible for:

• Maintaining their knowledge and thorough understanding of ISO/IEC 17025 requirements and experience in implementing and maintaining the quality standard within the Drug Control Centre and KF-MSS.
• Advising the Head of Drug Control Centre (Director of King’s Forensics), the Deputy Director (Drug Control Centre) on the quality requirements for maintaining accreditation to ISO17025 standards and WADA International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) and implications for changes to quality standards.
• Day-to-day oversight of ISO 17025 compliance, completing audits and process improvement, and maintaining validation records and risk log on behalf of Head of DCC.
• Investigating and reporting on the root causes of complex or systemic deviations from standard procedures, complaints or quality system failures using advanced analytical skills to identify appropriate corrective/ preventive actions for effective and sustainable improvement to the service across the Drug Control Centre and King’s Forensics Mass Spectrometry Services (KF-MSS).
• Working with the Head of the DCC to implement a strategic approach to quality assurance that ensures an effective internal audit programme using a risk-based approach enabling all specifications
  within ISO17025 and WADA ISL are covered.
• Leadership of the Quality Assurance team in the Drug Control Centre and King’s Forensics – Mass Spectrometry Services (KF-MSS): demonstrating oversight and ability to pay meticulous attention to detail so that compliance with ISO 17025 requirements is maintained.
• Working with laboratory-based staff, accreditation bodies, and other stakeholders to identify areas for improvement including effectiveness checking, assessment and evaluation of different quality processes, e.g., the effectiveness of the training.

This is a full time post, and you will be offered an indefinite contract .