Product & System Quality Assurance Manager
Location:
Flexible / Hybrid (travel across the supply chain as required) (Dublin, France)
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Product & System Quality Assurance Manager to play a pivotal leadership role in an R&D-driven, reverse-engineering crop protection business operating with a predominantly virtual, third-party manufacturing supply chain.
This is not a traditional QA policing role.
Instead, this role exists to enable the business — partnering with functional leaders and subject-matter experts across R&D, Supply Chain, Regulatory and Commercial teams to ensure quality and compliance are owned where they matter most, supported by clear, proportionate, risk-based frameworks.
You will be accountable for building agile, scalable quality assurance systems that support product development, external manufacture and commercial delivery — without unnecessary bureaucracy. Success requires strong cross-functional leadership, influence without authority, and systems thinking, particularly in an environment where manufacturing execution largely sits outside the organisation.
What You'll Do
Quality Frameworks & Virtual Supply Chain
* Design and implement risk-based quality assurance frameworks suited to a virtual manufacturing model
* Define proportionate quality expectations for external manufacturers, formulators, packers and logistics partners
* Establish effective oversight and assurance models without replicating in-house manufacturing controls
* Develop and maintain practical, outcome-focused quality agreements aligned to product and process risk
R&D and Product Development Enablement
* Partner with R&D teams engaged in reverse engineering to embed quality and compliance from early development
* Enable R&D SMEs to understand and fulfil their critical-to-business quality and compliance responsibilities
* Ensure specifications, analytical methods and control strategies support reliable third-party manufacture and regulatory submissions
* Support technology transfer and scale-up activities, acting as a bridge between R&D intent and supply chain execution
Risk-Based Assurance & Issue Management
* Identify and prioritise quality risks across products and outsourced processes using structured, science-based approaches
* Focus assurance on critical quality attributes (CQAs), critical process parameters (CPPs), and high-risk suppliers
* Lead investigations into deviations, complaints and quality incidents involving third parties
* Drive effective CAPA that strengthens systems and prevents recurrence
Cross-Functional Integration
* Work across R&D, Supply Chain, Regulatory and Commercial teams to ensure end-to-end alignment of quality and compliance requirements
* Proactively identify and close gaps at organisational interfaces
* Enable risk-based decision-making where trade-offs between speed, cost and quality are required
* Support Regulatory Affairs by ensuring quality systems and data meet global registration and lifecycle expectations
Continuous Improvement & Quality Maturity
* Provide the overarching QA framework that enables each function to meet its critical-to-business compliance obligations
* Build quality capability and maturity as the organisation scales
* Simplify or remove processes and controls that do not materially improve quality or compliance
* Use data and supplier performance trends to drive continuous improvement
Key Stakeholders
* R&D and Product Development
* Supply Chain, Procurement and Operations
* Regulatory Affairs
* Commercial and Portfolio Management
* External manufacturers, laboratories and logistics partners
What We're Looking For
Essential
* Degree in Chemistry, Life Sciences, Process Engineering or a related technical discipline
* Significant QA experience in regulated environments such as crop protection, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals or fine chemicals
* Experience working with outsourced or virtual manufacturing models, including product development and technology transfer
* Strong supplier quality assurance capability with a pragmatic, risk-based mindset
* Experience using quality data and performance indicators to drive 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 growing or transforming organisations
* Hands-on use of risk-based tools (e.g. FMEA, CQA, CPP)
* Supplier audit and qualification experience
Leadership Profile
You are someone who brings:
* A quality-as-an-enabler mindset — focused on outcomes, not bureaucracy
* The ability to influence without authority, earning credibility with technical and commercial teams
* Systems thinking, seeing end-to-end risk across functions and partners
* Pragmatic judgement, applying regulatory expectations proportionately
* A builder's mindset, comfortable creating and evolving systems as the business grows
* Calm, credible leadership under pressure
* Integrity and trust, creating confidence and psychological safety across the organisation and supply chain
Why This Role Is Different
This is not a traditional compliance or certification-driven QA role.
It is an opportunity to design and embed modern, agile quality systems that enable a growing, innovation-led business to deliver high-quality, compliant products through a global, outsourced supply chain — at pace.