About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 109,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Abbott serves the Irish market with a diverse range of healthcare products including diagnostics, medical devices and nutritionals products. In Ireland, Abbott employs over 5,000 people across nine sites. We have six manufacturing facilities located in Clonmel, Cootehill, Donegal, Longford and Sligo and a third-party manufacturing management operation in Sligo. Abbott has commercial, support operations and shared services in Dublin and Galway. We have been operating in Ireland since 1946.

Abbott Ireland Nutrition Division Cootehill Cavan

Abbott Nutrition produces a range of infant formulae in all pack sizes under the brand name “Similac”. To complement the range of “Similac” infant formulae, the facility also manufactures a range of follow on formulae under the brand name of “Gain”. The essential ingredient is liquid skim milk and this is combined with carbohydrate, vegetable oils, vitamins and minerals. The product is blended, pasteurised, dried and packaged at the site and once packaged, is distributed to Europe, South East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Canada.

Established in 1975, Abbott Nutrition in Ireland is the largest powder manufacturing facility for the production of infant formulae within the Abbott Corporation worldwide. Approximately 1,000 dairy farms in Ireland and Northern Ireland supply quality milk to the Cootehill facility which processes 500,000 litres per day. This secure supply together with Ireland’s reputation as a green, clean environment is of significant strategic importance to Abbott Nutrition.

Primary Function of the Role:

• Follow all Environmental, Health and Safety Rules and Regulations in the plant.
• Report any current or potential hazards to your manager immediately.
• The Microbiology Laboratory Coordinator must always wear the correct Personal Protective Equipment (P.P.E.) for the work they are carrying out. This will protect from biological hazards and general laboratory hazards. Appropriate controls such as fume hood and ventilation must be taken where required. Consult the appropriate SOP when required.
• This function has the responsibility for reviewing all SOP’s for any job task he/she may carry out and ensure he/she fully understands and adheres to the SOP.
• He/she will be responsible for developing, reviewing and delivering the Plant cGMP Hygiene & Food Safety Training.
• This role may support the plant auditing programme especially in the area of cGMP and micro control. He/She will contribute to the plant HACCP team providing clear and valuable contribution with regard to Microbiology and appropriate controls needed.
• The function will carry out general Laboratory Co-Ordinator duties ensuring adherence to GLP and aseptic techniques.
• Assist other departments in identification of products and processes that may help overall hygiene improvements.
• The Co-ordinator will ensure all laboratory equipment is calibrated and serviced as required.
• Coordination of in-process and final product micro analysis.
• Coordination of micro analysis for incoming ingredients.
• He/she will be responsible for preparing and reporting metrics to the plant and trending results.
• The Co-Ordinator is also responsible for monitoring Exception reports and ensuring root cause analysis is identified.
• This list of responsibilities may change depending on plant needs and employees are expected to be adaptable and flexible where this need arises.
• This function will cover the Plant Microbiologist duties as the need arises.

Major Responsibilities

• The Microbiology Laboratory Co-ordinator will ensure all testing associated with Batch Release & Microbiological Analysis is carried out and analysed to ensure product manufactured is a safe and high-quality product.

Education Required

• Degree level education or equivalent, three years manufacturing experience in a quality assurance function within a regulated environment, excellent interpersonal and computer skills and the ability to work as an effective member of a high-performance team. Degree in Science, Food Science, Microbiology or Engineering discipline.

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of compliance and quality standards.
• Very good understanding of the Microbiology Laboratory requirements.
• Strong people management & teamwork skills.
• Very good interpersonal skills

Accountability / Scope

• Batch testing is critical to overall quality of the product. Incorrect results could potentially lead to a rejected batch or distressed inventory.