Laboratory Manager

Trouw Nutrition; Ashbourne CP; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A global animal nutrition leader is seeking a Lab Manager to lead a laboratory team and ensure the quality and reliability of services. This temporary 18-month position involves overseeing operations, managing external relationships, and driving continuous improvement initiatives. The ideal candidate will have relevant experience in a commercial laboratory setting and a strong background in analytical chemistry. With a focus on leadership and strategic development, this role is pivotal for operational excellence during a defined transition period.

Benefits

Pension scheme

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Opportunities for growth within a global organization

Qualifications

• 5 years' experience for Bachelor's or 3 years' for Master's
• Experience in a commercial laboratory environment.
• Familiarity with ISO 9001 / ISO 17025 standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the laboratory team for high-quality testing.
• Coordinate daily laboratory operations and KPI achievement.
• Ensure compliance with quality and accreditation standards.

Skills

Leadership skills

Analytical chemistry expertise

Team management

Communication skills

Strategic mindset

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in relevant field

Job description

Job Description

Why join us

Get ready to own your path as a Lab Manager at Trouw Nutrition GB, a Nutreco company. As global leaders in animal nutrition, our shared purpose of Feeding the Future drives innovation, collaboration, and meaningful impact.

In this temporary leadership role (18 months), you will play a key role in ensuring the quality, safety, and reliability of our laboratory services, supporting customers and internal stakeholders while maintaining operational excellence. This position provides an opportunity to lead a commercial laboratory during a defined transition period, while contributing to continuous improvement and strategic development in a supportive, knowledge-driven environment.

What you’ll do

In this role, you will lead and develop our laboratory team, ensuring high-quality analytical testing that supports customers, production, quality assurance, and continuous improvement.

• Lead, coach, and develop the laboratory team to build a learning-focused, high-performance culture, providing leadership continuity during the fixed-term period.
• Coordinate and oversee daily laboratory operations, planning workloads and ensuring accurate KPI achievement and timely reporting of results to internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with applicable quality and accreditation standards, as well as internal procedures, including the maintenance of SOPs and documentation.
• Drive optimisation and continuous improvement of laboratory processes, workflows, and analytical techniques.
• Support the development, validation, and introduction of new analytical methods and techniques.
• Develop and apply strategic plans to optimise laboratory customer service, aligned to customer portfolio needs, sample volumes, and available resources, identifying gaps and prioritising services that deliver the highest value.
• Support the dedicated LIMS project, ensuring alignment with laboratory needs and contributing to the successful implementation of the new system on site.
• Manage relationships with external laboratories, suppliers, customers, internal stakeholders, and Nutreco’s global laboratory network.

Who we’re looking for

• Bachelor’s degree with 5 years’ relevant experience, or Master’s degree with 3 years’ relevant experience
• Experience within a commercial laboratory environment.
• Experience managing or coordinating teams working across multi-step, complex work processes.
• Strong technical background in analytical chemistry.
• Experience working within accredited systems (ISO 9001 / ISO 17025).
• A commercial, strategic, and continuous improvement mindset, with the ability to introduce new methods, technologies, and improvement initiatives.
• Knowledge of the agriculture sector and feed industry is an advantage.
• Strong communication skills, with a clear focus on people engagement and cross-functional collaboration.

Not ticking every box? We hire for potential and mindset. If this mission excites you, we want to hear from you!

Location & Practicalities

• Location: Ashbourne
• Work model: 100% on-site
• Employment type: Full-time
• Contract type: Fixed-term (18 months – temporary cover)
• Travel: Occasional, as required

What you’ll receive

As part of Trouw Nutrition, you’ll be a member of the wider SHV family, a global group of companies known for long-term vision, stability, and investment in people.

In addition, you’ll receive:

• Pension scheme
• 25 days of holiday per calendar year based on full-time working hours, plus 8 UK bank holidays.
• A stable, site-based role with strong operational ownership
• Opportunities to grow within a global organisation

How and why to find out more

We offer a role with real impact, where your leadership and laboratory expertise will directly support operational stability, quality, and continuous improvement during a defined transition period. If you’re ready to take ownership and play a key role in Feeding the Future, we’d love to hear from you. We aim to review applications promptly and will get back to you as soon as possible. For more information, please contact Luisa Ligabo at [e-mail]

Please note that this is a fixed-term role (18 months), and internal candidates may be considered via secondment

Applications will be accepted until 16 February

Our organisation:

Trouw Nutrition is the global leader in innovative feed