Principal Laboratory Analyst (Research, Innovation & Knowledge Management)

LIKELY QUESTIONS

- How have you verified the performance of HPLC or GC columns, and what acceptance criteria did you use?
- Describe your approach to verifying Class A glassware and documenting its calibration or performance status.
- How do you conduct method verification or method transfer before routine implementation in a quality control laboratory?
- What experience do you have implementing ISO 17025-aligned quality management systems, including document control, deviations, CAPAs and change control?
- How have you applied biosafety and biosecurity requirements in a laboratory handling chemical, microbiological or health-product samples?
- What controls would you establish to ensure MSDS compliance, chemical segregation, labelling, storage and emergency preparedness?
- Describe your role in an internal audit or investigation. How did you identify root cause and verify CAPA effectiveness?
- How would you plan and execute post-market surveillance sampling and laboratory testing for health products and technologies?

BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS

- Tell us about a time you identified a quality risk before it affected test results or product-release decisions.
Model approach: Situation: A trend, equipment concern, reagent issue or documentation gap created a potential quality risk. Task: Protect data integrity and maintain compliant operations. Action: Quarantined affected work, assessed impact, notified relevant stakeholders, investigated root cause using tools such as 5 Whys or fishbone analysis, implemented CAPA and monitored effectiveness. Result: Prevented invalid reporting or product risk, strengthened the procedure and reduced recurrence.

- Describe a time you led an investigation into an out-of-specification, out-of-trend or audit finding.
Model approach: Situation: An unexpected analytical result or audit nonconformity was identified. Task: Lead a timely, objective and scientifically sound investigation. Action: Secured records and samples, checked analyst technique, instrument performance, reagents, calculations and method requirements, documented root cause, proposed CAPA and verified closure. Result: Reached a defensible conclusion, met timelines and improved compliance or analytical reliability.

- Give an example of when you had to influence colleagues to adopt a new laboratory procedure or safety requirement.
Model approach: Situation: A revised SOP, waste-management process, biosafety control or quality-system requirement faced inconsistent adoption. Task: Achieve sustained compliance without disrupting operations. Action: Explained the risk and regulatory rationale, involved users in implementation, provided practical training, created checklists or job aids and followed up through observation and feedback. Result: Improved adherence, reduced errors or incidents and embedded the change into routine work.

- Tell us about a time you managed competing laboratory priorities under pressure.
Model approach: Situation: Multiple urgent samples, audits, equipment issues or surveillance activities had overlapping deadlines. Task: Deliver critical work while maintaining quality and safety. Action: Conducted risk-based prioritisation, allocated staff and equipment, communicated realistic timelines, tracked progress and escalated resource constraints early. Result: Delivered priority outputs on time, maintained data integrity and avoided shortcuts or noncompliance.

SMART QUESTIONS TO ASK

- What are the most important quality-system, safety or analytical-performance priorities for the Principal Laboratory Analysts during the first six to twelve months?
- Which standards and regulatory frameworks most directly guide the laboratory's work, such as ISO 17025, WHO guidance, national regulations or internal quality procedures?
- What types of health products and technologies are most frequently covered by the post-market surveillance activities?
- How are CAPAs, deviations, internal-audit findings and risk registers currently managed, and where does the laboratory want to see improvement?
- What would distinguish excellent performance in this role at the end of the two-year contract?

RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR

- Vague answers about quality standards, accreditation status, SOP availability or who has authority to stop testing when data integrity is at risk.
- A culture that treats CAPAs and audits as paperwork rather than root-cause analysis, learning and effectiveness verification.
- Unclear provisions for PPE, waste disposal, chemical inventory control, equipment maintenance, calibration, training or adequate laboratory staffing.