About this role
Job summary
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.
Job Title: Lead Quality Assurance Officer
Contract Type: Permanent
Main duties of the job
This is an exciting opportunity to join our Pharmacy Quality Assurance team as a Lead Quality Assurance Officer. We are looking for someone who is passionate about quality, compliance, and continuous improvement. Thrives in a fast-paced, highly regulated environment where your expertise directly contributes to patient safety and service excellence.
In this key role, you will help ensure that the Quality Management System (QMS) supporting our pharmacy aseptic services remains effective, compliant, and continuously improving. Your work will play a vital role in maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety, and efficacy for medicines supplied to patients, while supporting compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), licensing requirements, and accreditation standards.
About us
As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated 'Good' by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.
We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.
Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 30% lower than London and 17 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.
We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.
Job description Job responsibilities
In this role you will act as a designated Releasing Officer, you will hold a key responsibility within the aseptic service, undertaking the final quality assurance review and release of compounded products for use. Using your knowledge of GMP, aseptic processing, environmental monitoring, validation, and quality systems, you will assess production documentation and quality data to ensure products meet all required standards before release. You will make critical decisions relating to product quality, investigate and escalate concerns where necessary, and work closely with production and the wider pharmacy team to ensure medicines are supplied safely, effectively and in a timely manner. This highly accountable role places you at the forefront of safeguarding patient safety and maintaining regulatory compliance across the service.
We are looking for a motivated and organised individual with experience of Quality Assurance and GMP environments with excellent communication skills. You will be confident managing competing priorities, investigating quality issues, developing staff, and building effective working relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
This role offers the chance to further develop your leadership and specialist quality assurance skills within a supportive and progressive team dedicated to delivering outstanding patient care. Participation in weekend, bank holiday, and on-call rotas will be required as part of the service.
If you are committed to quality excellence and want to play a pivotal role in supporting safe, high-quality aseptic services, we would love to hear from you.
Person Specification
Qualifications, knowledge and experience Essential
Undergraduate degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology, Biomedical Sciences (or equivalent level of experience of GMP Quality Assurance / Quality Control.) OR Registered Pharmacy Technician in UK by GPhC OR Registered Science Technician (Apprenticeship Standard - Level 3 Diploma in the Principles of Aseptic Pharmaceuticals Processing) in UK by the Science Council Experience in supervising teams and ensuring high standards of performance and workflow Ability to work under accurately under pressure to meet deadlines while maintaining required standards. Experience in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in relation to the production of sterile medicines Experience of developing and implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and policies Demonstrates times when able to work effectively under pressure Ability to use a range of information technology programmes effectively including Microsoft office programmes Good organisational skills and effective time management with the ability to prioritise workload appropriately Ability to use initiative, but know their own limitations and professional boundaries Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team Strong accurate communication skills in English, both verbally and in writing. Maintaining continuous professional development requirements or training portfolio Work weekends, late nights and bank holidays as per rota Cover flexible working hours according to rota
Desirable
Detailed knowledge of Quality Assurance and Quality Management Systems including relevant experience of audits, validation requirements, investigations, including microbiological, deviations and complaints and change management Experience in preparing and presenting at meetings.
Skills and competencies Essential
Ability to learn and assimilate information quickly Analytical thinking Attention to detail Change management Collaborative approach Communication Logical thinking Organisational skills Time management Problem solving Prioritisation Risk management Self-motivated General IT skills
Trust Values Essential
Patients First Always Improving Working Together
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust
Address Southampton General Hospital
Tremona Road
Southampton
SO16 6YD
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.uhs.nhs.uk/home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)