Join Ivy Farm Technologies as Quality Lead – Help Shape the Future of Sustainable Food!
At Ivy Farm our mission is to create the world’s best guilt free and sustainable meat, it’s cultivated meat, just like real meat, only made differently - and we’re super excited by it.
Were a fun and humble community of 40+ technical and scientific crew; a team where you can make a true difference to animal well-being and global sustainability, and we’re looking for a driven Quality Lead to help us achieve regulatory excellence and operational success.
Are you ready to lead the quality function at the forefront of the cultivated meat revolution? This newly created role will spearhead our QA and QC operations and ensure we meet world-class regulatory compliance and quality standards. If you’re a leader with a passion for food innovation and sustainable technology, this is your opportunity to make a real impact.
Your Purpose:
In close collaboration with our Senior Leadership Team and R&D Leads, you will be the driving force behind our quality frameworks. You’ll define strategies for the long-term growth of our QA/QC function, ensuring our processes meet rigorous compliance standards and supporting our global scale-up efforts. This role includes line management responsibilities, providing you the opportunity to lead and develop a talented quality team.
Key Responsibilities - to give you a flavour - but of course not limited to:
- Quality Management: Develop and implement quality management systems (QMS) that comply with industry and regulatory standards
- Strategic Leadership: Provide strategic direction on all QA/QC processes at Ivy Farm, setting quality team goals, KPIs, and reporting to the Senior Leadership Team
- Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of quality professionals to achieve department and company goals
- Compliance and Audits: Ensure adherence to relevant regulations, manage internal audits, and coordinate external audits with regulatory agencies or customers
- Process Improvement: Identify continuous improvement opportunities and implement best practices to enhance quality and efficiency
- Accreditations: Attain and maintain critical quality accreditations, such as ISO/FSSC
- Global Scale-Up: Support international expansion efforts, including regulatory approval processes
The skills you’ll bring:
Essential Experience:
- We reckon you’ll have BSc/MSc/PhD in Biochemistry, Chemistry, or a related field
- You’ll have worked in an industry-setting, preferably ~2 years in a QA/QC lead role, managing quality systems and audits
- Experience with food-related quality standards (HACCP, FSSC22000, ISO9001)
- Track record of implementing and managing Quality Management Systems
Desirable Experience:
- Regulatory experience with food regulation, especially Novel Foods
- Knowledge of the cultivated meat landscape
- Track record of managing others
To be an Ivy Farmer we need you to have/be:
- Attention to Detail: Commitment to ensuring every product meets high-quality standards
- Analytical Skills: Strong ability to analyse data and spot trends
- Problem-Solving: Skilled in identifying and resolving quality issues quickly – innovative and lateral thinking
- Confident communicator, both written and verbal, happy to work with a team in a matrix structure or alone to achieve deadlines
- Excellent time-management & organisational skills
Why Ivy Farm?
At Ivy Farm, you won’t just be part of a company—you’ll be part of a movement. We’re driving innovation that will change the future of food, and we need visionaries like you to help us get there. We offer competitive compensation, opportunities for career growth, and the chance to work on something truly ground-breaking.
We’re an innovative bunch, with a can-do attitude and one that’s unafraid to think differently. We also have project targets, compliance expectations and – as in any fast-growing business – sometimes competing priorities. That’ll be something you have not just experienced previously but somewhere you thrive. We’ll be looking to you to share your expertise and experience with the team. We also realise this may well be your first venture into cultivated meat – and that’s absolutely fine – we have a great team that will be excited to help you get to grips with that.
So, if you’re ready to join an emerging ground-breaking industry, that’s both able to think differently and actively looking to do so, and one where you can make a difference to animal well-being and sustainability then we’re waiting to hear from you!
And just to confirm, here at Ivy Farm, we're an employer that believes in creating a workplace where everyone feels included and valued, no matter who they are.
This role is based at our state-of-the-art labs in Oxford, with potential for international travel to support global regulatory efforts.
Salary: £DOE, Bonus, Excellent Benefits Package, inc. Private Health Insurance and Company Shares, team get togethers, company parties, a well-stocked kitchen and free flowing tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks.