Group Leader- Med Device Chemistry

The Group Leader for the Medical Device Chemistry group is responsible for providing day-to-day leadership, technical oversight, and operational management for a team of scientists providing analytical chemistry services. This role is accountable for the timely execution of client projects, maintaining high scientific and quality standards, developing personnel, and driving operational efficiency within the laboratory.

As part of a rapidly growing department, the Group Leader will play a critical role in building the foundation for sustainable, scalable growth. This includes developing team capabilities and technical expertise, strengthening operational processes, implementing effective resource planning strategies, and ensuring laboratory capacity evolves in alignment with business demand. The successful candidate will be expected to balance the execution of current workloads with the strategic development of people, processes, and infrastructure needed to enable long-term success as the business continues to expand.

The ideal candidate combines strong analytical chemistry expertise with proven leadership capabilities, excellent organizational skills, and a passion for developing people and improving laboratory operations.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & People Management

• Lead, mentor, coach, and develop a team of chemists, with a focus on providing scientific leadership that strengthens the analytical expertise of the department.
• Assist in establishing performance expectations.  Conduct performance reviews and provide ongoing coaching.
• Support recruiting, onboarding, training, and retention of laboratory personnel.
• Promote a collaborative, accountable, and customer-focused work environment.

Laboratory Operations

• Coordinate daily laboratory activities and manage staffing allocation to ensure projects are completed efficiently and on schedule.
• Monitor laboratory capacity and priorities to meet client and business commitments.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance productivity, quality, and turnaround times.

Technical Knowledge & Oversight

• Serve as a technical subject matter expert for the chemistry group, providing expert guidance and scientific leadership on analytical chemistry principles, testing strategies, data interpretation, and laboratory best practices.
• Evaluate new, unique, and technically challenging project requests to determine laboratory fit, technical feasibility, resource requirements, analytical approach and execution strategy.
• Lead the technical assessment, implementation, and onboarding of new testing capabilities, methodologies, and service offerings to support business growth and evolving client needs.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex laboratory, method, instrumentation, and data quality issues, utilizing strong scientific judgment.
• Support method establishment, development, and validation while ensuring technical rigor and regulatory compliance.
• Review and approve analytical data, reports, and technical documentation.
• Assist with the interpretation of complex analytical data and effectively communicate scientific findings, recommendations, and risks to internal stakeholders and clients.

Quality & Compliance

• Ensure laboratory activities comply with all applicable quality and compliance requirements (e.g., GMP, GLP, ISO)
• Support laboratory audits, investigations, deviations, and CAPA actions.
• Ensure adherence to laboratory safety procedures and requirements.

Client Excellence & Commercial Support

• Ensure client satisfaction by supporting customer interactions, technical discussions, and project planning activities.
• Partner with business development on technical proposals and project feasibility assessments.
• Work closely with laboratory leadership to assess future technical needs, instrumentation requirements, and capability expansion opportunities.
• Assist with departmental budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning initiatives.