Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 432-HR84-25
- Employer
- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Colchester Hospital
- Town
- Colchester
- Salary
- £29,970 - £36,483 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 28/04/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Officer (Microbiology)
NHS AfC: Band 5
We are one of the largest NHS organisation in England. Our scale provides exciting opportunities for development, innovation, research, education and training.
Talk to us about our range of flexible working opportunities, apprenticeships and staff benefits
Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is at the heart of all we do; and it forms part of the ESNEFT’s core activities. The Trust operates and relies on everyone treating each other with dignity and respect, to receive equitable and fair treatment in the implementation of Policies, Procedures and in its Practices, to foster positive work relationships, and finally to act with integrity as a professional within ESNEFT as well as a representative of the NHS as a whole. The EDI Agenda reflects the Trust values such as Optimistic, Appreciative and Kind. In line with the NHS Long Term Plan, People Plan, People Promise and a Model Employer intrinsic in the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Agenda, we consistently strive to improve, to take the learning into Action for a better ESNEFT.
If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge then we are keen to hear from you.
Job overview
We are looking for a confident and enthusiastic QA/QC Officer (Microbiology) to join our Pharmacy Quality Assurance Department. You will be based at Colchester Hospital, however you will be required to work across at Ipswich Hospital.
You will be expected to support the Pharmacy Quality Assurance team in ensuring that the regulatory requirements and standards set by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are met for the Manufacturing Specials, Clinical Trials and Wholesale dealing licenses held by the Trust.
You will be a team player, joining an established department with a multi-disciplinary team. Our team have various professional scientific backgrounds, including different specialities therefore we have a wealth of experience to support your learning and development.
For this role you will need previous experience of Microbiology pharmaceutical GMP in NHS manufacturing unit or pharmaceutical industry as required by MHRA guidance for specials manufactures for batch release.
Main duties of the job
- Providing support to the Senior QA/QC Specialist, providing GMP support for all preparative and manufacturing activities and giving oversight to the QA/QC Assistant technical officers.
- Undertaking operational activities and technical projects within the microbiology quality control laboratory, inclusive of routine and non-routine testing.
- Support the Environmental Monitoring & Sterility Assurance programs across technical services.
Working for our organisation
We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.
We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.
We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.
Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.
We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.
If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.
Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Previous experience of Microbiology pharmaceutical GMP in NHS manufacturing unit or pharmaceutical industry as required by MHRA guidance for specials manufactures for batch release
- Demonstrated experience of multi- disciplinary working within Quality Assurance.
Desirable criteria
- Experience in a licensed pharmaceutical microbiological testing laboratory within Quality assurance
- Previous experience of Aseptic/sterile manufacturing
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree in Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent science degree/certificate
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of pharmaceutical microbiology laboratory testing requirements.
- Knowledge of cGMP/GLP and Quality Control principles
- Knowledge of laboratory and production facilities, ability to write update and review standard operating procedures.
- Understand the principles of ALCOA plus
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of legislation relating to the manufacture and distribution of human medicines
- Demonstrated knowledge of COSHH and Health and Safety at work.
- Quality Management systems
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Naomi James
- Job title
- Senior QA/QC Specialist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01206 745959
If you have problems applying, contact
- Address
-
Colchester General Hospital
- Telephone
- 07789651269
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