What you will be doing:

• Lead and oversee the day-to-day operations of the laboratory, ensuring efficient workflows, appropriate resource allocation, timely processing, and uninterrupted service delivery across all laboratory sections.
• Oversee front-office and patient-facing laboratory operations, including registration, billing coordination, patient reception, sample collection coordination, queue management, communication of requirements, and resolution of operational issues, ensuring a seamless patient journey from registration through to result delivery.
• Drive patient experience and service excellence, ensuring that patients and customers receive professional, courteous, efficient, and timely service. Monitor patient feedback, complaints, compliments, and service indicators, and implement improvement initiatives where required.
• Monitor and improve laboratory turnaround times (TAT) across pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical processes, identifying bottlenecks and ensuring agreed TAT targets are consistently achieved.
• Maintain and continuously improve the Laboratory Quality Management System (QMS), including quality control, internal audits, document control, non-conformities, risk management, and corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory, statutory, accreditation, health and safety, and organisational requirements, including maintaining all required licences, permits, records, and compliance documentation.
• Review and validate laboratory results, where applicable within the Manager's scope, investigate anomalies and quality issues, and ensure the accuracy, reliability, integrity, and timely release of patient results.
• Lead incident, non-conformity, and complaint investigations, including root-cause analysis, implementation of effective corrective and preventive actions, and monitoring of their effectiveness.
• Oversee pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical processes, ensuring proper patient identification, sample collection, labelling, transportation, processing, storage, testing, result validation, and reporting.
• Ensure proper management of critical, urgent, and abnormal results, including adherence to established escalation and communication procedures.
• Oversee laboratory equipment, including procurement input, installation, qualification, calibration, maintenance, troubleshooting, breakdown management, preventive maintenance, and equipment lifecycle management.
• Manage laboratory resources, including staffing, reagents, consumables, equipment, and inventory, ensuring adequate availability while promoting efficient and cost-effective utilisation.
• Monitor reagent and consumable stock levels, expiry dates, wastage, consumption trends, and stock availability, working closely with Procurement and Supply Chain to prevent stock-outs and service interruptions.
• Develop, review, implement, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), policies, work instructions, and other controlled documents, ensuring staff adherence to approved procedures.
• Ensure effective document and record control, including appropriate retention, version control, accessibility, and confidentiality of laboratory documentation.
• Prepare, monitor, and control laboratory budgets and expenditure in collaboration with management, identifying cost-saving opportunities without compromising quality, patient safety, or service delivery.
• Monitor laboratory productivity and operational performance, including workload, revenue-generating activities, utilisation, wastage, TAT, quality indicators, complaints, and other agreed KPIs.
• Lead, motivate, coach, and develop laboratory staff, including recruitment input, onboarding, competency assessment, performance management, appraisals, workforce planning, succession planning, and identification and coordination of training needs.
• Ensure staff competency and ongoing professional development, including appropriate training, competency assessments, continuing education, and maintenance of staff training records.
• Organise staff rosters, schedules, leave planning, and resource allocation to maintain appropriate staffing levels and smooth laboratory operations, including contingency arrangements for absences and peak workloads.
• Promote a strong culture of quality, patient safety, accountability, confidentiality, professionalism, and continuous improvement within the laboratory team.
• Support and coordinate internal and external audits, inspections, accreditation activities, and regulatory assessments, ensuring timely closure of findings and implementation of required improvements.
• Oversee participation in internal and external quality assurance programmes, including EQAS/PT, review of performance, investigation of unacceptable results, and implementation of corrective actions.
• Ensure laboratory health, safety, infection prevention, waste management, and occupational safety requirements are consistently followed, including appropriate management of biological, chemical, and other laboratory hazards.
• Ensure business continuity and emergency preparedness, including contingency plans for equipment breakdowns, power/infrastructure failures, IT/HIS disruptions, reagent shortages, staffing shortages, and other operational emergencies.
• Collaborate closely with doctors, nurses, hospital departments, front-office teams, patients, customers, referral partners, and other stakeholders to ensure efficient service delivery, timely resolution of issues, and an excellent overall laboratory and patient experience.
• Actively monitor and address patient and customer complaints, ensuring timely investigation, appropriate response, root-cause analysis, and implementation of preventive measures to avoid recurrence.
• Support business development and service improvement initiatives, including introduction of new tests, expansion of laboratory services, workflow optimisation, and evaluation of opportunities to improve accessibility, quality, revenue, and customer experience.
• Participate in the evaluation and implementation of new technologies, equipment, tests, and laboratory processes, ensuring appropriate validation, verification, training, documentation, and quality requirements are met before implementation.

What are we looking for?

• A Bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Science, Biomedical Science, or a related field.
• Proven experience in a clinical/medical laboratory environment, with significant experience in a supervisory or management role.
• Strong knowledge of laboratory testing processes, equipment, quality controls, calibration, and troubleshooting.
• Experience in laboratory budgeting, cost control, stock management, and resource planning.
• Proven people-management skills, including coaching, mentoring, performance management, staff development, and conflict resolution.
• Excellent organisational, analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with laboratory teams, doctors, hospital departments, patients, and other stakeholders.
• High attention to detail and a strong commitment to accuracy, patient safety, confidentiality, and professional standards.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities, and make sound decisions in a fast-paced healthcare environment.
• A proactive approach to continuous improvement and service excellence.
• Proficiency in laboratory information systems and standard Microsoft Office applications would be an advantage.