Associate Director Laboratory Services

Charles River Laboratories; Dublin; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Charles River Laboratories is seeking an Associate Director to lead the Services Laboratory at CRL Dublin. You will drive strategic leadership, operational management and regulatory compliance across three brands, ensuring high-quality, timely testing while maintaining customer satisfaction and safety.

You will collaborate with Quality, Sales and site leadership to deliver testing programs in line with GMP and contractual commitments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in microbiology, pharmaceutical sciences or related discipline.
• Lean or Operational excellence experience – Green Belt preferred.
• Experience in GMP-regulated pharmaceutical/biotech labs.

Responsibilities

• Oversee strategic leadership and operations of the Dublin testing facilities.
• Ensure ISO 9001/17025, GMP, and data integrity compliance.
• Lead quality investigations, CAPAs, and regulatory inspections readiness.
• Develop and implement plans aligned with business growth and customer needs.
• Manage budgets, resources and safety sustainability within the lab.
• Drive talent development and succession planning across teams.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Leadership

Communication

Change leadership

Talent development

Decision making

Stakeholder management

Operational excellence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in microbiology or pharmaceutical sciences

Lean or Operational excellence – Green Belt preferred

Job description

For nearly 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

Job Overview

The Associate Director, Services Laboratory is responsible for the strategic leadership, operational management, and regulatory compliance of the testing facilities at CRL Dublin.

The Associate Director leads the laboratory operations and serves as a key interface between customer care, Quality, sales and site leadership to ensure successful execution of testing programs in accordance with GMP requirements and contractual commitments.

The role ensures delivery of high-quality, compliant, and timely laboratory services while maintaining customer satisfaction, operational excellence, employee development, and regulatory readiness.

Job Description

Laboratory Leadership & Operations

• Oversee day-to-day laboratory operations across the 3 key Brands – Accugenix, Celsis and Endosafe. This includes but is not limited to:

• Accugenix (AGX) Lab -quick turnaround microbial identification testing
• Celsis Lab -feasibility, method development and validation studies
• Endosafe lab -contract Endotoxin testing
• QC lab – QC release of product to customer
• Provide leadership and direction for laboratory operations, ensuring safe, compliant, and efficient execution of testing activities.
• Develop and implement strategic plans aligned with business objectives, growth targets, and customer requirements.
• Ensure laboratory resources, equipment, and staffing levels support current and future business demands.
• Ensure Best in Class Laboratory techniques are incorporated through collaboration with other Microbial Solutions sites globally.
• Drive operational excellence initiatives focused on quality, safety, productivity, turnaround times, and customer service.

Quality & Compliance Leadership

• Ensure full compliance with ISO 9001, ISO 17025, GMP, GDocP, Data Integrity, and applicable global regulatory requirements.
• Maintain a continuous state of inspection readiness for customer audits and regulatory inspections.
• Partner with Quality Assurance to investigate deviations, OOS, CAPAs.
• Ensure all laboratory procedures, methods, specifications, and systems remain current and compliant.
• Lead preparation for regulatory inspections and customer audits.
• Serve as a primary laboratory representative during inspections.
• Champion a strong quality culture throughout the laboratory organisation.

People Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop laboratory team.
• Build and sustain a high-performing organisation through talent development, succession planning, and employee engagement.
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability measures.
• Promote a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation.

Financial & Resource Management

• Manage laboratory budgets, capital expenditure plans, and operational costs.
• Drive efficiencies while maintaining compliance and service quality.

Safety & Sustainability

• Foster a culture of safety and sustainability by ensuring laboratory activities are conducted in compliance with EHS requirements.

Qualifications And Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in microbiology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or related scientific discipline required.
• Qualification or experience in Lean or Operational excellence – Green belt level preferred.

Experience

• Well established track record of experience in a GMP-regulated pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CRO, CDMO, or contract testing laboratory environment.
• Demonstable level of progressive leadership experience managing different types of laboratory teams and operations.
• Demonstrated experience supporting customer audits and regulatory inspections (HPRA).
• Strong understanding of Microbial testing, laboratory quality systems, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven ability to lead cross functional teams and manage multiple priorities.

Competencies

• Strategic thinking and business acumen
• Customer focus
• Change leadership
• Talent development and coaching
• Decision making and problem solving
• Stakeholder management
• Operational excellence & Continuous improvement mindset
• Effective communication and influencing skills
• Build and maintain effective working relationships across functions, sites and global teams

Summary

This is an excellent career progression opportunity for a mid-career Laboratory Management professional, with strong experience in Microbiology and managing a range of different Laboratory Operations, to join a global CRO in a senior Site Leadership role.

The role offers an exciting remuneration and benefits package together with long term career growth opportunities within a dynamic environment.

About Microbial Solutions

Our Microbial Solutions business group has a comprehensive portfolio of endotoxin testing, microbial detection and microbial identification products and services is unlike any other, and has been purposefully designed to meet the complex and ever-changing needs of the industry. We help clients to ensure product safety and quality with easy-to-use yet robust testing solutions that satisfy regulatory requirements, support critical decision making and improve operational efficiencies.

About Charles River

Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to the principle of diversity and inclusion and work daily in this direction.