Group Leader - Quality Control

Lonza; Slough; On-site; Confidential; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Dynamic working culture

Inclusive workplace

Benefits package

Job summary

Lonza in Slough seeks an experienced Group Leader to head a QC team delivering customer product stability studies. You will combine scientific leadership with operational management to ensure testing and regulatory standards are met on site.

This role requires coaching, resource planning, and risk-based decision-making to drive continuous improvement across QC operations and to support customer commitments and audits.

Qualifications

• BSc or equivalent in a scientific subject (preferred).
• People leadership or mentoring experience in a lab/quality setting.
• Experience within Quality in a cGMP-regulated environment.
• Strong scientific and technical problem-solving skills.
• Excellent planning and organisational abilities to manage resources and deadlines.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management to influence across functions.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing QC team, creating an engaging environment that supports performance, career development, retention and succession planning.
• Own resource and workload planning, prioritising people and activities to deliver testing and customer commitments on time.
• Provide scientific and technical leadership, guiding troubleshooting and risk-based decisions when information is limited.
• Drive continuous improvement across QC operations to enhance quality, efficiency and compliance.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders, aligning customer and business requirements with laboratory execution.
• Lead departmental and cross-site strategic projects to shape QC's future direction.
• Champion quality, regulatory and safety compliance and support audits.

Skills

People leadership

Quality (cGMP)

Laboratory science

Problem-solving

Planning & organisation

Stakeholder management

Education

BSc or equivalent

Job description

Job Title: Group Leader

Location: Slough

The role:

Are you an experienced scientific leader who enjoys developing people, solving complex problems and delivering for customers? We are looking for a Scientific Team Leader to lead a talented team responsible for delivering customer product stability studies within our Analytical Services function.

This role offers the opportunity to combine scientific expertise with people leadership and operational management, ensuring work is delivered safely, efficiently and in compliance with cGMP requirements. You will coach and develop your team, manage resources and priorities, influence key stakeholders, drive continuous improvement and contribute to wider departmental and cross-site strategic initiatives.

This is a fully site‑based role. Working together in person supports close, real‑time collaboration and the technical precision needed to manufacture medicines to the highest quality and safety standards.

What you will get:

• An agile career and dynamic working culture
• An inclusive and ethical workplace
• Compensation programs that recognize high performance
• A variety of benefits dependant on role and location
• The full list of our global benefits can be also found on https://www.lonza.com/careers/benefits

What you will do:

• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing QC team, creating an engaging environment that supports performance, career development, retention and succession planning.
• Own resource and workload planning, effectively prioritising people and activities to ensure testing and customer commitments are delivered on time.
• Provide scientific and technical leadership, supporting the team in troubleshooting complex issues and making confident, risk-based decisions where information may be limited or ambiguous.
• Drive continuous improvement across QC operations, identifying and implementing opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, compliance and ways of working.
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, influencing priorities and aligning customer and business requirements with effective laboratory execution.
• Lead and contribute to departmental and cross-site strategic projects, helping shape improvements and the future direction of the QC function.
• Champion quality, regulatory and safety compliance within the laboratory, supporting customer and regulatory audits and ensuring the team maintains the highest standards of cGMP performance.

What we are looking for:

• BSc or equivalent experience in a scientific subject is preferred, reflecting your strong foundational knowledge.
• People leadership or mentoring experience, with the ability to coach, develop and motivate scientific team members within a laboratory or quality environment.
• Experience within Quality within a cGMP-regulated environment.
• Strong scientific and technical problem-solving skills, with the confidence to make sound, risk-based decisions when managing complex laboratory challenges.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills, with experience managing resources, competing priorities and operational deadlines to ensure successful delivery.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across functions, build effective relationships and confidently represent QC with senior stakeholders and customers.

About Lonza

At Lonza, our people are our greatest strength. With 30+ sites across five continents, our globally connected teams work together every day to manufacture the medicines of tomorrow. Our core values of Collaboration, Accountability, Excellence, Passion and Integrity reflect who we are and how we work together. Everyone's ideas, big or small, have the potential to improve millions of lives, and that's the kind of work we want you to be part of.

Innovation thrives when people from all backgrounds bring their unique perspectives to the table. At Lonza, we value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you're ready to help turn our customers' breakthrough ideas into viable therapies, we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Ready to shape the future of life sciences?