QC Team Leader Raw Materials and Sampling

Job Introduction

QC Team Leader – Raw Materials & Sampling
Day shift, Mon-Fri, 0800-1630
9 Day fortnight, every other Friday off
Competitive salary + Benefits
£45,000 per annum

Your next adventure
If you’re passionate about quality, love leading a team, and enjoy being right at the heart of a fast‑moving manufacturing environment, this could be the perfect next step for you. Reporting to our QC Manager, you’ll play a key role in making sure every raw material and packaging component that enters our site meets the highest standards — keeping our production lines running smoothly and our products safe, compliant and ready for customers.

A little about us
Dechra is a growing, global specialist in veterinary pharmaceuticals. Our expertise is in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of high-quality products exclusively for veterinarians worldwide. It’s a great time to join our modern Skipton facility, and further investment for the Skipton site means that we’re in an exciting period of positive change for the business.

Here at Dechra, our values are embedded within our culture and thrive within our family of almost 2000 colleagues globally. From manufacturing to marketing, (D)edication, (E)njoyment, (C)ourage, (H)onesty, (R)elationships and (A)mbition are at the heart of our everyday operations and the way we do business.

What you’ll be doing
In this varied and rewarding role, you’ll lead our Raw Materials & Sampling team, making sure all sampling, testing and reporting is completed accurately, on time and in full. You’ll help keep production flowing by ensuring materials are available when needed, and you’ll work closely with manufacturing, packaging and third‑party laboratories to keep everything aligned.

You’ll take ownership of the sampling booth and equipment, support investigations and deviations, and make sure your team is fully trained and confident in their work. You’ll also play an active part in our safety culture — carrying out inspections, supporting CAPA activity and helping us maintain a safe, well‑run laboratory environment.

As a key communicator, you’ll chair Tier 1 meetings, escalate issues when needed, and help drive continuous improvement across the department. Your leadership will help us deliver Right First-Time results, meet our KPIs and maintain strong compliance with GMP and regulatory standards.

What success looks like

Smooth, timely sampling and testing with no delays to production
Strong Right First Time performance and adherence to schedules
Confident, well‑trained team members who feel supported and empowered
Effective issue resolution and clear communication across departments
Positive audit outcomes and robust GMP compliance

What you’ll bring
We’re looking for someone enthusiastic, committed and ready to lead by example. You’ll thrive in a regulated environment and enjoy using your expertise to guide others. You’ll bring:

Essential:

Experience leading analytical or testing teams in GMP, pharmaceutical, food, automotive, aeronautical or similar regulated environments
Strong hands‑on experience with raw material testing (wet chemistry, chromatography, spectroscopy)
A degree in a relevant scientific discipline
Great problem‑solving skills, strong communication and the ability to manage workload effectively

Desirable:

Experience with continuous improvement
Confidence influencing others and driving positive change

Why you’ll love it here
We provide veterinary professionals with the tools to support the welfare of animals worldwide. A true career with real purpose, that’s something you can proudly shout about.

We work across a 9-day fortnight at our Skipton site. This means every second Friday will be your day off, allowing for those longer weekends so you can spend more time with family and friends, offering a great work-life balance.

We also care deeply about our employees, you’ll have full access to our Employee Assistance programme (EAP) which ensures you have confidential emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support 24/7 365. This ensures that you are well-equipped to deal with life’s many challenges. In addition to this, we also offer:

Healthcare Cash plan (covers the cost of dental, prescriptions, therapies)
Headspace App (positive mental wellbeing app, up to 5 users per account)
Discounted Gym Membership
Cycle to work scheme
Discount on pet food
Free fruit on Mondays
Free on-site parking (including free electric charging)
22.5 days annual leave + Bank Holidays
Option to buy a week’s holiday each year
8% Employer pension contribution

What’s next?
We’ll take care of you from here on. Firstly, thank you for taking the time to express interest in this opportunity and Dechra. If you’re interested, please apply in the first instance.

We take pride in ensuring you have a positive experience with Dechra and the recruitment process. Our team are friendly and approachable. We won’t ghost you…..we’ll always provide updates and feedback regardless of the outcome, even if the update is, “there’s no update”.

What’s the interview process?
Typically, you’ll receive an initial phone call from the recruitment team to understand more about you and your current work situation. Most of our roles have a two-stage interview process (MS Teams and a face-to-face interview). We may ask you to complete a personality questionnaire ahead of time so that we can learn a little more about you before the interview.

Our interview style is conversational and friendly. In addition to this, we always look for competency-based, structured answers to our questions, so feel free to prepare ahead of the interview.

For further information on your application, reach out to recruituk@dechra.com

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