Working in the stability team.

This was a short term contract to cover sick leave in the testing laboratory.

I worked here on a temporary contract in a very busy and fast paced environment. I was primarily involved in uHPLC testing of finished products in the QC lab. In addition, I also performed some physical testing and KF on samples.

Product testing and development of aerosols, customer sample requests and generation of MSDS using Lycos software.

I worked in the powder mixing laboratory assisting in reformulating renders, cements, tile adhesives, grouts and various building materials as part of the technical department. I was also involved in general laboratory maintenance. I additionally worked on a project to reformulate current product to increase its applicability to the current market by altering the length of time which it takes to set, this was following customer feedback that longer setting times would be useful. I also reformulated colour products with new standard colours. I liaised regularly with factory personnel and with the warehouse operatives in order to maintain security of supply of raw materials to use in the laboratory.

I was in charge of the stability and validation teams, my role involved routine day to day running of these teams with 2 direct reports and 2 indirect reports. Much of my work was writing reports and generating protocols to enable ICH complaint studies to be started and maintained. I kept various tracking systems up to date to ensure that the work was produced in a timely fashion. I also interacted with HR with regard to staff appraisals and other staff related issues (e.g. sickness etc.). I also conducted interviews with potential new starters. I liaised with customers in other sections throughout Smith & Nephew to ensure work is provided on time in full.

While on a temporary contract working for Xiros, I regularly and efficiently used a manual injection Dionex to perform Ion Chromatography system for determining residual material in fibrous samples. I had sole responsibility for troubleshooting of this system. I also conducted physical testing on these fibres, the testing included linear density measurement and fibre thickness testing. Also, I wrote protocols for analytical usage in the laboratory.

Whilst in this position, I was employed to perform raw materials testing on samples as they were logged into the laboratories. This included competently conducting comprehensive wet chemistry-based tests, including UV, AA and FTIR, Karl Fischer, together with particle size and dry sieve analysis, colour, density and titration testing. In order to do this, I utilised both manual and automatic processes to yield the best results. These raw materials were received from different suppliers and it was my role to confirm each item was fit for use by Unilever in manufactured products. Another facet of this role was to proficiently draft in-depth raw material and process data reports for each test undertaken and accurately document all processes and final result findings. Furthermore, I liaised with external suppliers to obtain SPC data, heavy metals information and CofAs to ensure each report was comprehensively compiled to meet Unilever’s standards.

I worked for the above company on a temporary contract within the stability section. The vast proportion of the work involved HPLC using Dionex and Agilent systems but there was also limited use of GC and also some wet chemistry testing.

I worked as an analyst in a small, Clinical research organisation (CRO). My job entailed testing samples and processing them so that they end up in a form in which they can be run on the accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) to count radioactive Carbon atoms. Xceleron’s main analytical technique is known as microdosing, using miniscule quantities of radiolabelled drug samples to obtain early PK (Pharmacokinetic) data without having to resort to full therapeutic doses and possible side effects of a clinical trial and the resultant costs. This is termed in the industry as Phase 0. Many of the samples were generated by fraction collecting on HPLCs and I have many years of experience with Agilent systems, more recently with the 1200 models. I also used an LSC counter, a CHN analyser and a sample oxidiser while in this position. I also produced reports for clients based upon the data that I had generated.

During my time at this firm, I managed a team of 3 personnel; competently reviewing work and organising schedules and ensuring the team worked seamlessly to optimise productivity. I directed the implementation of numerous new testing methods and initiated a number of new reporting forms to boost efficiency within the team. I also composed reports and protocols regularly to enable an increased number of products within the stability sector. I delivered informative and engaging training to new team members, ensuring everyone was fully conversant with the requirements of the role and can exercise complete proficiency within the laboratory. Lastly, if work schedules were tight for other streams within QC, my team and I provided assistance to other QC teams and reviewed their work, if this was required.

My job here was on a temporary contract in the QA Raw Materials section, testing materials as they arrived in the lab. Specific tasks included standard analytical techniques such as UV, AAS (using a Graphite furnace), Karl Fischer titrations, TLC, FTIR and Colour and Clarity testing, all performed from the USP or the EP.

My role here was within the QC / Analytical laboratory, initially as part of the Powders team but latterly in the Solutions team. Work in both teams involved routine testing of the samples provided. It also included many other routine wet chemistry tests of a generic type, for example, testing against specification for anomalies, E.P. Acidity / Alkalinity, and Assays.

This job involved the setting up a validated system to contain laboratory data on the LIMS system, which required a high level of computer literacy. This fed into the HP ChemLIMS system for use at Glaxowelcome (now GSK).

I was employed as a Laboratory Technician at Cortecs, in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Group. My achievements included performing In-process physical testing of materials in accordance with B.P., U.S.P. and Ph.Eur. Standards, including dissolutions, disintegrations, tablet coating, tablet filling and physical testing on coated and uncoated tablets.