{"id":1366883,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager","title":"Product Safety Lab Manager","company":{"id":1795137,"name":"DS Smith","domain":"dssmith.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/dssmith-com","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":79,"open_postings":37,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.838,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":38,"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"}},"role":"Science & Research","role_family":"Science & Research","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Almussafes, Spain"],"countries":["ES"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":48000,"max_usd":133000,"period":"year","method":"role_country_seniority_unknown","sample_n":17},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-21","last_verified_at":"2026-10-21T05:55:30Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":30,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":30},"description":"Location: Valencia, Spain (onsite)\nAbout the Role:\nDS Smith has an exciting new opportunity for a Product Safety Laboratory Manager to lead our new Product Safety laboratory based in Valencia, Spain. You will provide analytical chemistry testing and technical expertise for R&D, strategic innovation projects, and major business initiatives.\nThe role combines hands-on technical leadership - designing, executing, and interpreting experiments in line with agreed milestones - with management skills: leading a team, running the laboratory as a well-governed operation, and owning its budget and performance.\nBeyond laboratory and people management, you will act as the technical face of the laboratory to DS Smith's customers and internal stakeholders - presenting results, explaining technical findings in commercial terms, and building trust directly with clients. The successful candidate will bring seniority and confidence operating at manager and customer level, alongside strong analytical and laboratory management credentials.\nKEY RESPONSIBILITIES:\nLead the laboratory and team, managing daily operations, workflows, and resource allocation\nServe as the primary technical contact for customers, presenting results and providing commercially relevant recommendations\nRepresent the laboratory during customer visits, audits, and technical reviews\nSupport R&D projects through experimental design, testing, data interpretation, and technical reporting\nManage the laboratory budget, purchasing, inventory, and cost control\nDrive continuous improvement of laboratory methods, processes, and equipment\nMaintain knowledge of food contact regulations and testing methodologies\nCollaborate with R&D teams to ensure consistent quality, productivity, and best practices\nEnsure compliance with health, safety, quality, and maintenance standards\nPrepare and review scientific reports, maintaining confidentiality and professional standards.\nAbout You\nMSc (or equivalent) in Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Food Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, or a related discipline. A PhD is advantageous\nPrevious experience using analytical instrumentation within an industrial, R&D, testing, or CRO environment\nExperience assessing food contact materials and regulatory compliance\nStrong practical experience with HPLC, GC, ICP, method development, validation, and troubleshooting\nSound understanding of food contact regulations and packaging materials, particularly paper, board, and cellulose-based products\nProven ability to analyse data, solve technical problems, and communicate findings to technical and non-technical audiences\nExperience managing projects, laboratory operations, quality systems, and regulatory compliance activities\nPrevious experience with paper, board, or packaging materials is an advantage\nVery good written and spoken Spanish and English - level B2/ C1\nTravel: Occasional travel within the UK and Europe to support R&D trials and business activities.\nInterested? Apply today! Please send us your CV in English and a member of our recruitment team will be in touch, if shortlisted.\nTo fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.\nOur people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.\n#LI - TG","description_format":"text","description_chars":3660,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"Spanish","level":"Upper-Intermediate (B2)","optional":false},{"language":"English","level":"Upper-Intermediate (B2)","optional":false}]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Spain","iso":"ES","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Manufacturing","Packaging & Labeling","Packaging Design"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-28T02:34:29Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":39,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.514,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":30,"expected_fill_days":38,"reasons":["conf:8","stale_co","velocity","win:late","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-21T14:04:50Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":20043,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-22T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1795137},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1795137"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fds-smith-product-safety-lab-manager"}]}