Product & Systems Supplier Quality Assurance Manager

Location: Flexible / Hybrid (travel across the supply chain as required)

About Life Scientific

Life Scientific is a global crop science company transforming the crop protection industry. Operating within a $250 billion market, we specialise in reverse-engineering and developing high-quality, off-patent crop protection products — bringing them to market efficiently through deep scientific expertise and a predominantly virtual, third-party manufacturing supply chain.

Our model combines innovation-led R&D with disciplined execution and strong commercial focus. As we scale globally, building modern, risk-based, agile quality systems is central to protecting customer trust and enabling sustainable growth.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a Product & System Quality Assurance Manager to play a pivotal leadership role within our R&D-driven, externally manufactured business model.

This is not a traditional “QA policing” role. Instead, this position exists to enable the business — partnering with R&D, Supply Chain, Regulatory, and Commercial leaders to ensure quality and compliance are owned where they matter most, supported by proportionate, science-led, risk-based frameworks.

You will design and embed agile, scalable quality systems that support product development, technology transfer, outsourced manufacturing, and commercial delivery — ensuring upstream decisions translate into reliable, safe, and consistent products for customers and end users.

Success requires systems thinking, influence without authority, and the ability to operate effectively across a predominantly virtual supply chain.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Frameworks & Virtual Supply Chain

• Design and implement risk-based QA frameworks aligned to a virtual manufacturing model

• Define proportionate quality expectations for external manufacturers, formulators, packers, and logistics partners

• Establish effective oversight and assurance models without duplicating in-house controls

• Develop practical, outcome-focused quality agreements aligned to product, process, and customer risk

R&D & Product Development Enablement

• Partner with R&D teams engaged in reverse engineering to embed quality and compliance from early development

• Ensure specifications, analytical methods, and control strategies support robust third-party manufacture and regulatory submission

• Support technology transfer and scale-up, bridging R&D intent with supply chain execution and customer expectations

• Enable SMEs to understand and fulfil their critical-to-business quality responsibilities

Risk-Based Assurance & Issue Management

• Identify and prioritise quality risks across products and outsourced processes using structured, science-based tools

• Focus assurance on Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs), Critical Process Parameters (CPPs), and high-risk suppliers

• Lead investigations into deviations, complaints, and third-party quality incidents

• Drive effective CAPA that strengthens systems and protects customer confidence

Cross-Functional Integration

• Ensure end-to-end alignment of quality, compliance, and customer requirements across R&D, Supply Chain, Regulatory, and Commercial

• Close interface gaps where customer or compliance risk may arise

• Support risk-based decision-making where trade-offs between speed, cost, quality, and customer impact are required

• Ensure systems and data meet global regulatory and lifecycle expectations

Continuous Improvement & Quality Maturity

• Build scalable QA capability as the organisation grows

• Remove or simplify controls that do not materially improve quality or customer outcomes

• Use supplier performance data, complaints, and trend analysis to drive continuous improvement

Key Stakeholders

R&D • Supply Chain & Procurement • Regulatory Affairs • Commercial & Portfolio • Customers & Distributors • External Manufacturers & Laboratories

What We’re Looking For

Essential

• Degree in Chemistry, Life Sciences, Process Engineering, or related discipline

• Significant QA experience in regulated industries (crop protection, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals)

• Experience operating within outsourced or virtual manufacturing models

• Strong supplier QA capability with a pragmatic, risk-based mindset

• Experience using quality data and complaint trends to drive measurable improvement

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and external partners without direct authority

Desirable

• Experience in reverse engineering or generic product development

• Practical application of Quality by Design (QbD) principles

• Familiarity with global crop protection regulatory frameworks

• Experience building quality systems in scaling or transforming organisations

• Hands-on use of risk-based tools (FMEA, CQA, CPP)

• Supplier audit and qualification experience

Leadership Profile

You bring:

• A quality-as-an-enabler mindset focused on business and customer outcomes

• Strong influencing capability across technical and commercial teams

• End-to-end systems thinking from development through to customer use

• Pragmatic judgement, applying regulatory expectations proportionately

• A builder’s mentality — comfortable designing and evolving systems as the business scales

• Calm, credible leadership under pressure

• Integrity and trust that creates confidence across the organisation and supply chain

Why This Role Is Different

This is not a certification-driven compliance role.

It is an opportunity to design and embed modern, agile, risk-based quality systems that enable a growing, innovation-led business to deliver high-quality, compliant products customers can trust — across a global, outsourced supply chain, at pace.