Provectus Algae uses Precision Photosynthesis® to accelerate nature in a proprietary biomanufacturing platform. Combining AI-driven strain selection with precision-controlled cultivation, we discover and produce high-value compounds from algae, one of the least explored and most promising sources of novel biology on Earth. Through Proteus Ag Pty Ltd we now manufacture and supply Surf’nTurf®, our methane-inhibiting feed supplement for livestock.
Position summary
The Quality Manager takes ownership of two quality systems that are young but already in motion. Our stockfeed operation will have completed its first FeedSafe® audit, and our laboratory will have its ISO/IEC 17025 application lodged with NATA. Your first job is to carry that application through assessment to accreditation. Your second is to turn both systems from documented into genuinely embedded, and to run one quality management system across the laboratory, production and the office.
This is an ownership and improvement role rather than a greenfield build. The groundwork is laid, but the systems are new and the team is small, so you will be on the production floor and in the laboratory as much as in the document system. You will hold product release authority, report directly to the Managing Director, and sit independently of production and sales. Would also suit someone who is keen to make that next step up in their career.
Key accountabilities & responsibilities
The role spans two certification systems that are rarely held by the same person. We expect you to be strong in one and willing to learn the other. Training and external specialist support are funded for whichever is new to you.
- Carry our ISO/IEC 17025 application through NATA assessment to accreditation: respond to assessor requests, prepare the laboratory and its people, host the assessment and close out findings.
- Hold and mature FeedSafe® certification and the HACCP plan for the stockfeed operation, and prepare for and host each annual audit.
- Close the gap between documented and done. Both systems are new, so expect to improve procedures that do not yet fit how the site actually works, and to build the habits and records that make them stick.
- Own document, record and change control across the laboratory, production and office.
- Run the internal audit, nonconformance and corrective action cycle through to verified closure.
- Hold product release and rejection authority, and approve specifications, batch records and certificates of analysis.
- Own supplier approval, raw material acceptance and finished product testing against specification.
- Own traceability, customer complaints and recall readiness, including an annual mock recall.
- Own training, competency and signatory authorisations for quality-critical tasks.
- Maintain day-to-day GMP discipline on site, including hygiene, calibration, maintenance, pest control and the segregation of chemicals not for incorporation into feed.
- Chair management review and report quality performance to the executive and Board.
- Follow and enforce our WHS procedures, stop unsafe work, and report and investigate incidents and near misses.
Essential skills & experience
- 7 or more years in quality management in a regulated environment such as food, feed, veterinary chemicals, pharmaceuticals or a testing laboratory, including time as the person accountable for the system
- You have taken ownership of a quality management system and improved it, rather than only keeping an existing one ticking over.
- You have prepared for and hosted third-party audits or accreditation assessments and closed out the findings. The scheme matters less to us than the experience of defending a system to an assessor, and you will face one in your first months.
- Practical command of the core disciplines: document and record control, internal audit, CAPA and root cause, change control, specifications, nonconformance and product release.
- Confident dealing with certification bodies and external assessors, and with the paperwork that goes with it.
- Tertiary qualification in chemistry, science or a related technical discipline.
- Comfortable in a scale-up: pragmatic, hands-on, and able to decide with incomplete information.
Desirable / advantageous
- ISO/IEC 17025 and NATA experience, particularly taking a laboratory through an initial accreditation.
- FeedSafe®, HACCP, GMP or another feed or food safety scheme.
- Lead Auditor certification (ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 22000 or HACCP).
- GLP or broader GxP experience, or LIMS and eQMS implementation.
What we offer
- A clear first win. The NATA application is already lodged and accreditation is within reach.
- Two young systems to make your own, with the groundwork done and the interesting part still ahead.
- Real authority. Release sits with you and quality is independent of production and sales.
- A quality system that actually matters. Our product is novel, our customers audit us, and the evidence has to hold.
- A small, technically strong team where good ideas move quickly.
- Regular team events and social activities during work hours.
- Based in Noosa, Queensland, with occasional travel to customer and supplier sites.
