Head of Quality / Senior Quality Manager - Pharmaceutical

Head of Quality / Senior Quality Manager | Pharmaceutical | Manchester

Salary: ~£60,000pa

Are you an experienced Quality leader looking for your next challenge within a growing pharmaceutical business?

I’m currently working with a well-established pharmaceutical organisation to appoint a Head of Quality / Senior Quality Manager to take ownership of the Quality function and play a key role within the site leadership team.

This is a genuinely broad Quality leadership position, suited to someone who combines strong GMP knowledge with proven people leadership and the ability to operate strategically while remaining close to the day-to-day operation.

The role

You’ll have overall responsibility for the Quality function across QA and QC, leading a team of around 15 people and ensuring the site continues to operate to the highest GMP and regulatory standards.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Leading, developing and motivating the QA & QC teams
• Setting and delivering the site’s Quality strategy
• Maintaining and continuously improving the QMS
• Ensuring ongoing GMP and regulatory compliance
• Acting as a key point of contact for internal and external Quality matters
• Leading and hosting MHRA, customer and other regulatory inspections/audits
• Overseeing deviations, investigations, CAPA and quality risk management
• Managing audits, supplier/subcontractor audits and self-inspection programmes
• Overseeing validation activities and Quality documentation
• Working closely with Operations and the wider leadership team
• Driving continuous improvement across Quality and wider site operations
• Ensuring the department delivers against agreed KPIs, objectives and budgets

The role also has a strong people-development focus, with responsibility for coaching, mentoring, performance management and developing the capability of the wider Quality team.

What we’re looking for

✅ Strong pharmaceutical GMP experience

✅ Proven experience leading and developing Quality teams

✅ Experience across QA and/or QC with the ability to lead both functions

✅ Strong QMS knowledge

✅ Experience hosting/supporting regulatory and customer audits

✅ Strong understanding of GMP compliance and regulatory requirements

✅ Excellent people management and communication skills

✅ Strong decision-making and problem-solving ability

✅ Experience with validation and quality systems

A scientific degree, ideally within pharmaceutical science or chemistry, is preferred. Experience with pharmaceutical product release would also be advantageous.

This could be an excellent next step for an experienced:

Head of Quality | Quality Director | Senior Quality Manager | QA Manager - who is ready to take broader ownership of a Quality function and have genuine influence at site leadership level.