Senior Manager Biocompatibility

About Convatec

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. Our solutions provide a range of benefits, from infection prevention and protection of at risk skin, to improved patient outcomes and reduced care costs. Convatec's revenues in 2024 were over $2 billion.

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 effectively 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

• Manage and develop the biocompatibility team - manage and allocate resources in line with project needs and priorities
• Identify training opportunities for the team towards continuous improvement
• Ensure seamless and proactive collaboration with the project teams
• Synthesise a development plan with each team member
• Ensure the team has up to date knowledge of biocompatibility standards, techniques and protocols
• Instil a positive working culture of collaboration in line with Convatec's values and leadership behaviors
• Deliver on biocompatibility for NPD, LCM and research projects
• Foster cross functional collaboration and teamwork 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 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, applying a creative approach to problem solving and detailed knowledge of ISO standard testing
• Identify, obtain stakeholder buy in and implement continuous process improvements and learning
• Demonstrate commitment to the Convatec values and lead a culture that implements these values alongside our high performance team principles
• Address roadblocks by assuming positive intentions of others and take accountability for finding solutions
• Support biological hazards risk analysis activities
• Analyse, interpret and draw conclusions from biocompatibility testing, including extractable and leachable chemical characterization and biological evaluations
• Deliver to company quality metrics (CAPA, NC, IA, etc.)

Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of 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 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

The position may involve travel around 25% of the time, mostly within Europe but overseas travel is expected. Most trips will include overnight travel.

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.