Senior Manager Biocompatibility

About Convatec
Pioneering trusted medical solutions to improve the lives we touch: Convatec is a global medical products and technologies company, focused on solutions for the management of chronic conditions, with leading positions in Advanced Wound Care, Ostomy Care, Continence Care, and Infusion Care. With more than 10,000 colleagues, we provide our products and services in around 90 countries, united by a promise to be forever caring. Convatec’s revenues in 2024 were over $2 billion. The company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index (LSE:CTEC).

Convatec has announced a major milestone in our R&D journey and commitment to our vision of pioneering trusted medical solutions to improve the lives we touch. We have unveiled plans to relocate the majority of our UK-based research and development (R&D) activities from Deeside to Manchester from late 2027/early 2028, alongside a significant expansion of our facilities in Boston.

An exciting future in Manchester
The new, planned Manchester facility has the potential to be a major R&D hub in our global network which will initially function as the company’s global testing laboratories, with cutting-edge analytical R&D capabilities including quality control and materials, regulatory functions, and health innovation, positioning Convatec at the forefront of medical technology development.

Position Overview
The Senior Manager of Biocompatibility leads a team of biocompatibility specialists in delivering biological evaluations in line with ISO 10993 standards or the equivalent from regulated markets globally across our four categories (Ostomy Care, Infusion Care, Advanced Wound Care and Continence Care). The biocompatibility team supports New Product Development (NPD) and Lifecycle Management (LCM) projects, and consults on early-stage developments, as well. Biocompatibility is an integrated part of project teams and has a critical role in delivering timely and effective biological evaluations for new products and in evaluating changes to existing products. The team also partners closely with the Regulatory and Medical / Clinical teams. Fostering effective collaboration is a critical part of the role. The Senior Manager of Biocompatibility is responsible for coaching and developing the team to maintain up to date knowledge of global medical device standards and regulations as well as keep abreast of the state of the art within the field.

Key Responsibilities

• Manages and allocates resource in line with project needs and priorities
• Identifies training opportunities for the team towards continuous improvement
• Ensures seamless and proactive collaboration with the project teams
• Synthesises a development plan with each team member
• Ensure the team has up to date knowledge of biocompatibility standards, techniques and protocols
• Instills a positive working culture of collaboration in line with Convatec’s values and leadership behaviors
• Foster cross functional collaboration and team work between the biocompatibility team, the business units, project teams, regulatory and clinical teams
• Lead on accurate project planning and timely execution in partnership with project teams in order to keep biocompatibility activities visible and integrated into overall project plans
• Work closely with program/project cross-functional teams to provide biocompatibility deliverables in compliance with global regulatory requirements
• Evaluate and execute biocompatibility studies in support of programs dealing with our medical devices
• Creative approach to problem solving and detailed knowledge of approaching ISO standard testing
• Identify, obtain stakeholder buy in and implement continuous process improvements and learning
• Support biological hazards risk analysis activities
• Analyse, interpret, and draw conclusions from biocompatibility testing, including, but not limited to, extractable and leachable chemical characterization and biological evaluations
• Deliver to company quality metrics (CAPA, NC, IA, etc.)

Skills & Experience

• 10+ years experience in biocompatibility assessments for NPDs and LCMs in territories including Europe and USA
• Experience with complex FDA submissions and dealing with FDA queries and feedback is essential
• 10+ years’ industrial experience in the field of Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, or Biotechnology with expertise in biocompatibility, toxicology, related principles and industry standards

Qualifications/Education

• BSc or higher degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Biomedical Engineering, Bioengineering, Biology (Biological Sciences), Molecular Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or Toxicology; advanced degree (MS or PhD) in these fields preferred

Team: 6 Direct Reports
Travel Requirements: Position may involve travel around 25% of the time, mostly within Europe but overseas travel is expected.
Working Conditions: Remote working from home with presence in the office on a weekly or monthly basis driven by business requirements.
Special Factors: May need to support global discussions in different time zones.

Equal opportunities: Convatec provides equal employment opportunities for all current employees and applicants for employment. This policy means that no one will be discriminated against because of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, nationality, citizenship, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, genetic predisposing characteristics or any other basis prohibited by law.