Director, Analytical Sciences and Laboratory Governance

About the role

The Director, Analytical Sciences and Laboratory Governance is a senior R&D leader accountable for the strategy, capability development, operational excellence, and governance of Balchem’s analytical sciences function.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the Analytical Sciences function, setting a multi-year vision, capability roadmap, analytical standards framework, and operating model that support all Balchem business units and align R&D, Quality, Operations, Commercial, and Product Development priorities.
• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of scientists, laboratory leaders, and technicians; establish clear goals, accountability, succession plans, technical career development paths, and a culture of safety, scientific rigor, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Design, implement, and lead the enterprise change program for an ISO/IEC 17025-aligned laboratory management system, including governance structure, gap assessment, implementation roadmap, documentation hierarchy, training plan, internal audit process, management review cadence, corrective action system, and readiness for external assessment where appropriate.
• Establish and chair the future enterprise governance model for analytical methods and standards across all business units, including method lifecycle management, validation and verification expectations, measurement uncertainty practices, reference standards, equipment qualification, calibration, proficiency testing, data integrity, document control, and change control.
• Manage and prioritize a portfolio of analytical projects supporting new product development, process optimization, quality investigations, complaint resolution, competitive product analysis, claims support, customer requests, and commercialization milestones; communicate trade-offs, risks, timelines, and resource needs to senior stakeholders.
• Serve as the senior analytical science partner to Quality and Product Development teams, ensuring that analytical strategy, method readiness, specifications, stability programs, technical risk assessments, and troubleshooting support are integrated from concept through launch and sustained through product lifecycle management.
• Lead laboratory safety, compliance, and operational excellence; maintain a safe, organized, inspection-ready laboratory environment and use metrics such as recordable incident rate, near-miss reporting, audit findings, turnaround time, right-first-time testing, and method performance to drive improvement.
• Identify, evaluate, and implement emerging analytical technologies, digital tools, LIMS capabilities, automation, and advanced data approaches that improve method reliability, throughput, traceability, scientific insight, and enterprise knowledge management.
• Develop and manage capital and operating budgets for analytical laboratories, including equipment lifecycle planning, service contracts, staffing needs, external testing strategy, and investment cases tied to business value, quality risk reduction, and innovation impact.
• Represent Analytical Sciences with senior leadership, external partners, customers, auditors, and technical organizations; prepare executive-level updates, technical reports, governance reviews, and recommendations that support business decisions.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Food Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific discipline required; Ph.D. strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 12–15 years of progressive analytical science, laboratory leadership, quality systems, or technical governance experience, including demonstrated responsibility for complex analytical programs, people leadership, and cross-functional stakeholder management.
• Deep technical expertise in chemical and physical characterization methods, such as gas and liquid chromatography, spectroscopy, thermal analysis, rheology, dissolution or release testing, particle characterization, wet chemistry, and method validation.
• Experience designing, implementing, maintaining, or preparing laboratories for ISO/IEC 17025, GMP, GLP, ISO 9001, or comparable laboratory quality management systems strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead enterprise change programs, influence without authority, align senior stakeholders, manage resistance, and embed new standards, processes, and governance practices across functions.
• Strong business acumen, executive communication skills, strategic prioritization capability, budget ownership experience, and the ability to translate analytical science into business value, quality risk reduction, and innovation impact.