Lab Head Technical / Technical Manager (Food & Pharma Testing)

ISO/IEC 17025:2025 | Wide Scope | Audit-Facing Leadership Role

Location: India

Experience: Typically 1220+ years

Reporting to: Senior Management / CEO

Read This First (Mandatory)

This role requires:

- clear, confident spoken English for audit discussions, client interactions, and senior management reviews
- strong computer literacy for direct use of LIMS, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and digital quality systems

If you are not comfortable communicating in English during audits or depend on others for basic computer work, this role will not be suitable.

Role Summary

We are hiring an Overall Lab Head Technical / Technical Manager to own and defend the complete technical operations of Food and Pharmaceutical testing laboratories under ISO/IEC 17025:2025.

This is a high-accountability leadership role, requiring hands-on technical judgement, audit leadership, and strong communication with regulators, customers, and senior management.

Mandatory Experience (Non-Negotiable)

You must demonstrate most of the following:

- Leadership of Food and/or Pharma testing laboratories under ISO/IEC 17025 (latest version)
- Responsibility for wide scope coverage, such as:
- Food: pesticides, antibiotics, veterinary drugs, mycotoxins, contaminants, additives
- Pharma: impurities, nitrosamines, residual solvents, elemental impurities

- Direct ownership of:

- scope approval, maintenance, and expansion
- method validation oversight across multiple techniques
- technical risk assessment and corrective actions

- Audit-facing leadership during NABL and regulatory audits
- Ability to communicate technical positions clearly in English during audits and management reviews

Candidates limited to single-section leadership, non-audit roles, or documentation-only responsibilities are not suitable.

Acceptable Backgrounds

We will consider candidates from either:





Profile A Third-Party Testing Lab Leader (Preferred)

- Technical leadership in Food and/or Pharma testing labs
- Strong command over ISO/IEC 17025 interpretation and implementation
- Experience managing multi-section, multi-instrument laboratories

Profile B Strong Pharma Technical Leader (Selective)

- Senior technical role in Pharma analytical / QC environments
- Solid understanding of:
- method validation lifecycle
- data integrity and audit trails
- regulatory expectations (USFDA / EMA / CDSCO)

- Ability to transition into third-party, multi-client lab environments

Prior hands-on analytical background (LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, ICP-MS, HPLC) is a strong advantage

Pure research or manufacturing leadership profiles will not be considered

Key Responsibilities

- Act as final technical authority for Food & Pharma laboratories
- Lead and defend NABL audits and regulatory assessments
- Drive scope expansion and technical harmonization
- Review and approve:
- method validations and transfers
- deviations, investigations, and CAPA
- technical risk assessments

- Ensure data integrity culture across labs
- Present technical performance and risks to senior management
- Mentor section heads and senior analysts

Mandatory Skills & Competencies

- Strong spoken and written English communication
- Confident audit-facing discussion with assessors and clients
- High level of computer literacy, including:
- LIMS / QMS systems
- MS Excel (data analysis, trackers)
- MS Word & PowerPoint (technical reports, presentations)

- Ability to independently prepare and review technical documents

How We Screen

Shortlisted candidates will undergo:

- a technical leadership questionnaire
- a practical audit decision scenario
- structured discussions with senior management Role & responsibilities

f this opportunity interests you, kindly send your updated CV to [email protected] or WhatsApp it to (phone hidden). We look forward to hearing from you.

📌 Lab Head or Technical Manager Food and Pharma Testing (Barasat)
🏢 Edward Food Research And Analysis Centre
📍 Barasat