Laboratory Manager - Temporary

Nutreco; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday per year

8 UK bank holidays

Site-based role with ownership

Job summary

Trouw Nutrition GB, a Nutreco company, is seeking a Lab Manager in Ashbourne to lead a commercial laboratory during an 18-month fixed-term period. You’ll drive quality, safety and reliability of analytical testing, while ensuring KPI delivery and continuous improvement across activities.

The role requires senior laboratory leadership, strong analytical chemistry background, and experience with accredited ISO 9001/17025 systems. Occasional travel and site-based ownership are involved.

Qualifications

• 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 across multi-step, complex processes.
• Strong technical background in analytical chemistry.
• Experience in accredited systems ISO 9001 / ISO 17025.
• Commercial, strategic and continuous improvement mindset with ability to introduce new methods and technologies.
• Knowledge of agriculture sector and feed industry is advantageous.
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the laboratory team, ensuring high‑quality analytical testing.
• Coordinate daily lab operations, plan workloads and ensure KPI achievement.
• Ensure compliance with quality/accreditation standards and maintain SOPs.
• Drive optimisation and continuous improvement of processes and techniques.
• Support development, validation and introduction of new analytical methods.
• Develop strategic plans to optimise laboratory customer service and resources.
• Support the LIMS project and align with the global lab network.
• Manage relationships with external labs, suppliers, customers and stakeholders.

Job description

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

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:

• 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