Quality Assurance Manager

Quality Assurance Manager, Guinness Open Gate Brewery London

Location: Covent Garden, London

Permanent, full time

Closing date: June 1, 2025

This is an opportunity to become a member of the inaugural brewery team for Guinness Open Gate Brewery, London (GOGBL), a 15 HL experimental brewery and consumer experience that is currently under construction. Initially, this role will be focused on laboratory and brewery start-up. The QA Manager will work closely with lab equipment suppliers and technicians to install and calibrate our lab equipment, and to stock our lab with all the necessary supplies. This also includes working closely with Guinness global quality to ensure that quality methods are well understood and implemented, and writing SOPs for the London site. Also, as part of the brewery commissioning team, an extensive baseline set of microbiological and analytical tests will be conducted before settling into the regular sampling and testing cadence.
 

GOGBL is located on a historic brewing site in Covent Garden. The site features a 15 HL brewery and brand immersion experience, a covered courtyard beer garden, retail stores, event spaces, and two restaurants. We will constantly develop new and unique beers to fill our multiple rotating tap lines and create a unique brewery consumer experience that only Guinness could do. This role is part of the brewery team consisting of two Senior Brewers and three Brewers all reporting into the Head of Site Operations.

Purpose of Role:

On an ongoing basis, the QA manager will act as a beer quality and sensory specialist responsible for ensuring that beer produced at GOGBL is compliant with our Guinness quality standards. You will conduct all day-to-day quality processes and sensory operations working and scheduling seamlessly with the brewers. This includes sampling, testing, recording and interpreting results in chemical-analytical, microbiology and sensory subject matter areas. Also, working with outside parties to validate and maintain lab equipment function and calibration. As well, the role will be a brewery Food Safety and HACCP champion. This role will do its part to maintain the Guinness brand reputation through strict adherence to quality and goodness. As a member of the brewery team, you will be a visible face at GOGBL – part of creating an inclusive and vibrant experience for the team and customers alike.

Primary Focus Areas:

• Leading through safety across the brewery.
• Writing, and maintaining SOPs and job hazard assessments.
• Rigorous adherence to sampling schedules, micro/analytical methods, sensory methods, and record keeping – for beer and raw materials.
• Analytical testing for beer including but not limited to ABV/OG/PG/RDF, IBU, color, VDK, TA, pH, DO, CO2, N2.
• Reagent safety, preparation and certification for use.
• Microbiological testing for beer including but not limited to aseptic sampling, use of WLN, Raka-Ray, WLD, and YM + Cu medias, plating, incubation, and subsequent analysis and identification.
• Setting up sensory panel and panel record keeping for beer and raw materials.
• Conducting benchtop fermentation forcings.
• Participating in yeast health management as well as propagation.
• Participating in root cause problem solving and troubleshooting plans if quality issues arise.
• Maintaining a clean, orderly, safe laboratory implementing and upholding 5S standards.
• Maintaining and ordering lab stocks and supplies.
• Monitoring and scheduling equipment calibration and maintenance.
• Daily compliance to corporate and governmental Human Safety/Environmental/Food Safety/HACCP requirements.
• Collaborating on issues impacting Food Safety and Quality as part of the team making sure that any issues are addressed appropriately.

Key Outputs:

• Deliver product quality by conducting end-to-end, day-to-day analytical, microbiology and sensory programs, and following procedures to meet our specifications and standards.
• Champion for Beer Quality and Food Safety to ensure that our brewery is upholding Guinness standards and that we produce food safe products.
• Ensure the validity and calibration of our laboratory instruments and quality of our lab supplies through developing trusted relationships with vendors.
• Show leadership, in close collaboration with Senior Brewers, on oversight of any product holds or micro issues to ensure the proper processing and disposition.
• Be part of a close-knit, collaborative brewery team ready to support one another when needed.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Preferred 3+ years of relevant laboratory work experience.
• Certification in Brewing, Microbiology, Chemical engineering, or similar field.
• Experience in lab start-up and commissioning preferred.
• Demonstrated ability in quality-based testing, and strength in data evaluation.
• Working knowledge of a brewery, and sensory knowledge of beer defects, their identification, and sources preferred.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills and respect for procedure.
• Knowledge of HACCP and GMPs.
• Confident working independently and as part of a team.
• Strong communication, organization, and analytical skills with the ability to multi-task.
• Experience and comfort with Microsoft Suite including Excel and PowerPoint.

Physical demands and Work Environment:

In the brewery and the lab, you will be on your feet for long periods of time. You will be required to stand, walk and climb as well as crouch and kneel. You will be required to operate valves, move hoses and handle boxes and bags. You must be able to lift and/or move 25kg.

You will be working in and around the brewhouse, cellar, and packaging areas which will be hotter or colder than typical office environments. In the lab and the brewery, you may also be near noise, pressurized systems, hot liquids, airborne particles, chemicals and moving machinery.

Weekend and holiday work as required. Start times may vary.

Flexible Working Statement-

Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you’re supported to manage your wellbeing and balance your priorities from day one.

Diversity statement-

Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this. We embrace diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you’ll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You’ll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, mindsets, and more.

Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to the next level and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you.

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