Operational Quality (OQ) Manager

GSK; Barnard Castle; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading biopharma company in Barnard Castle is seeking an Operational Quality Manager. The role involves managing a team responsible for ensuring compliance with GMP standards, enhancing quality processes, and fostering a proactive quality culture. Ideal candidates will have strong experience in operational quality roles in highly-regulated environments and excellent communication skills. This includes ensuring adherence to local housekeeping standards and participating in Quality Oversight processes. The position demands resilience and a commitment to continuous improvement in patient safety and product quality.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in operational quality role at a highly-regulated manufacturing site.
• Experience in a sterile manufacturing environment is an advantage.
• Effective written and verbal communication is essential.

Responsibilities

• Manage team ensuring GMP processes adherence.
• Perform spot-checks across GMP areas.
• Review trends from Quality Oversight process.
• Partner with area management for Quality Oversight support.
• Ensure current Quality Oversight risk assessment.
• Maintain facilities to local housekeeping standards.
• Foster a culture of quality through coaching.

Skills

Team management

GMP compliance

Quality oversight

Continuous improvement mindset

Communication skills

Education

Degree in a relevant Scientific, Technical or Engineering discipline

Job description

The Quality function promotes quality and compliance through the product life-cycle within the wider manufacturing and production operations at GSK Barnard Castle Manufacturing Site. The Quality function at GSK plays a critical role in ensuring our products meet the highest standards of safety, efficacy, and compliance. As part of this team you will uphold our commitment to delivering high-quality medicines and vaccines, and healthcare products to patients and consumers around the world.

Job Purpose

Reporting into the site’s Operational Quality Lead, the Operational Quality Manager manages a team with responsibility for ensuring (across the Barnard Castle site) adherence to GMP standards and procedures through independent oversight of processes via Quality Oversight. The wider remit of the role is to improve the effectiveness of quality in preventing, identifying and addressing quality issues by encouraging a proactive quality culture (including continuous improvement). The role maintains presence and is accountable for key quality-related decision‑making and/or quality escalations, as well as ensuring the frequency and detail of quality oversight process reflects the risk and potential impact of the different processes being overseen.

Direct Reports

As a team‑manager you will have approximately 4 direct reports.

Key Responsibilities

• Management of a team responsible for ensuring GMP processes and operational personnel adhere to local or area specific procedures, minimising risk of non‑compliance and always maintaining inspection readiness.

• Perform spot‑checks of activities across GMP areas (including but not limited to production, Warehouse, Utilities and laboratory areas) to ensure compliance with quality standards.

• Review trends from the Quality Oversight process to ensure timely completion of identified actions and implementation of changes to oversight frequency or methods.

• Partnering with area management to ensure Quality Oversight process is supported by department owners.

• Keep the Quality Oversight risk assessment current based on identified trends and process changes.

• Ensure adherence to frequency of oversight mandated in the Quality oversight schedule.

• Check that facilities are being maintained in line with local housekeeping standards and any deviation from the standards are escalated with associated actions addressed (within a timely manner).

• Role model the GPS standards, participating through tiered accountability meetings (for example, production change over meetings).

• Foster the Quality Starts With Me (QSWM) culture by providing coaching to employees on the importance of following procedures, doing the right thing and explaining the impact non‑compliance can have on product quality and patient safety.

Shift Pattern

Please note that this role operates on a 24/7 shift pattern (4 days on & 4 days off). The shift includes night and weekend work.

About You

As this role is multi‑faceted and includes liaising with a wide variety of on‑site production and operations teams, you will be a self‑motivated person who has strong experience of working in an operational quality role at a complex highly‑regulated manufacturing site. You should have people‑management experience. You will be resilient and calm under pressure, with strong people skills and a proven ability to influence people to achieve objectives and drive performance. You will have a strong continuous improvement mindset. Effective written and verbal communication and excellent interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to organise and prioritise workload are considered essential skills.

Please note that experience of working in a sterile manufacturing environment (in a Quality Assurance, Manufacturing or Technical role) would be a distinct advantage.

About Barnard Castle

GSK Barnard Castle is a key secondary manufacturing site. We have invested heavily in Industry 4.0 state‑of‑the‑art bespoke equipment to support sustained new product introductions and volume increases. As a key supplier of some of GSK’s blockbuster products the site contributes revenues of ~$2 bn annually.

Closing Date

Monday 5th of January 2026 (COB).

Basic Qualifications

• Degree in a relevant Scientific, Technical or Engineering discipline (or equivalent experience, ideally gained working in a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility or similar highly‑regulated industry).

• Relevant Operational Quality (OQ) experience.

• Team management experience.

• Knowledge of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) requirements.

• Knowledge and application of Quality Management Systems (QMS).

What we value

We welcome people who bring curiosity, humility and a practical approach. We are committed to inclusion and to creating a supportive environment where everyone can grow. If you enjoy solving real problems, delivering measurable results, and helping teams succeed, we encourage you to apply. If you would like to learn more about our company‑wide benefits and life at GSK we would suggest looking at the webpage Life at GSK | GSK.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

Equal Opportunity Employer

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Contact for adjustments

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at [e-mail] where you can also request a call. Please note that if your enquiry does not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a Recruitment FAQ guide. Where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive.

For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/.