Professional Experience & Achievements
"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way"
- Mark Twain
Quintis Sandalwood - Albany Site 01/24 - present
Quality Assurance Manager
This role demonstrates expertise in establishing clear communication channels on a regional site of an international company. Proven ability to develop reports and manage staff ensures timely and accurate information flow across all levels. The combination of ISO 9001 quality control knowledge and regional sandalwood production experience translates into data analysis that empowers diverse teams (R&D, Sales, etc.) for strategic decision-making.
Current Projects:
Efficiency Review
Leveraging existing relationships and knowledge to accelerate progress in transitioning into the Quality Manager role and contribute to the continuous improvement of Quintis Sandalwood Albany's quality management system, and effectively delegate and prioritize work for optimal team performance while reviewing the workflow
Conducting a targeted gap analysis
Focusing the gap analysis on areas where previous involvement identified potential for improvement with the goal to develop a preliminary action plan.
Continuously Evolving Action Plan
Leverage stakeholder and employee feedback, alongside progress updates, to refine the action plan.
Prioritize long-term initiatives to ensure alignment with the organization's evolving needs.
Feedback-Driven Improvement
Establish a framework for ongoing evaluation, incorporating stakeholder and employee feedback.
Identify areas for improvement based on the gathered feedback.
Implement effective solutions to address identified areas for improvement.
Quintis Sandalwood - Albany Site 04/20 - 12/23
Analytical Chemist
Responsible for Quality Assurance and Control in product and raw materials testing within a GMP environment to ensure compliance with domestic and international quality standards and regulations.
Chemical Cleanup (currently ongoing):
Consolidation of Chemical storage, organisation of chemical disposal, update to dangerous goods registers, and redesign of waste stream systems.
Shift from current paper and folder based SDS and Risk Assessment system to ChemAlert.
Supervisory period:
For a period of over 9 months had a supervisory role for a Quality Control Laboratory, this involved staff management and day to day work control of the lab.
Go to person for most QA/QC issues involving testing.
Database Creation and Migration:
Organisation & Successful installation of 2 database control units for scientific instrumentation.
Including upgraded hardware and software and integration of cloud sync technology to allow for multiple storage locations/backups.
Training and Mentoring:
Onboarding and Training of multiple staff within a quality assurance laboratory and data processing roles.
NSW Health Pathology Forensic & Analytical Science Service - Illicit Drugs Analysis Unit 04/18 - 03/20
Scientific Officer
Scientific examination of police exhibits to determine the identity of substances found and report on said findings in accordance with NSW and Commonwealth legislation. Troubleshooter and trainer for instrumentation including GCMS, GCFID, UPLC and FTIR.
Training and Mentoring:
Hiring, Onboarding, Supervision and mentoring of a small team of technical officers with regards to instrumentation,
sample testing and quality assurance and maintenance
Assisted in supervision and creation of undercover operations testing team on conjunction with NSW Police for increased TAT of urgent and
confidential samples.
Improvements and Innovation:
Lidcombe Facilities and Environment Refurbishment Working Group:
Refurbishment of facilities and surrounds, including internal and external environments.
Creating workplans and project management with large scale consultation (250+)
Validation and setup of multiple pieces of scientific instrumentation:
Set up multiple Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometers
Assisted in setting up a Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer - Time of Flight Instrumentation.
Awards:
Received Change & Innovation Award 2018 at FASS for implementing positive changes and ideas in the
workplace.
Multiple "You're Awesome" Awards (for work above and beyond standard)
NSW Health Pathology Forensic & Analytical Science Service - Illicit Drugs Analysis Unit 08/17 - 04/18
Technical Officer (Instrumentation Specialist)
Maintenance of a regular program of analytical and auditing work to meet laboratory needs, specialising in instrumentation.
Training and Mentoring:
Training and mentoring of multiple staff in a similar role
Improvements and Innovation:
Developed mixed steroids standard to significantly cut down on issues surrounding turn around time of
steroid analysis via GCMS and storage of standards required.
Culture Champion:
Initiative from HR and WHS executives to help increase harmony and co-operation within the workplace.
NSW Health Pathology Forensic & Analytical Science Service - National Institute of Forensic Science - Drug Reference Collection Unit 04/16 - 08/17
Forensic Standards Officer
Maintenance of a repository of over 800 chemicals for the use of forensic labs Australia wide. This including storage, disposal, database management, chemical testing and transport arrangements for any samples requests to meet client expectations.
Consultation and Recognition:
Recognition by various external stakeholders at different levels on timeliness and excellence of service.
Consultation with Senior staff around safety issues.
Chemical Control update:
Discovery of database inconsistencies and implementation of a checking methodology to gradually fix
errors whilst maintaining continuation of service.
Cleanup of old dangerous goods
Implementation of documented regular safe chemical destruction.
Continuation of prior WHS Representative work.
NSW Health Pathology Forensic & Analytical Science Service - Forensic Toxicology 09/08 - 04/16
Laboratory Technician
Maintenance of a regular program of coronial exhibit reception and handling, testing , maintenance of laboratory and data entry utilising a LIMS system.
WHS representative and Safety committee member (and occasional chair)
For almost a decade I worked with staff, managers and executive to promote safety, implementation of WHS policy and amendments passed down from NSW Health Pathology's corporate team.
Involved in maintenance of safety auditing, creation of safe work practices and other documentation, ongoing consultation with regards to safety and environmental issues with all staff.
Poster presentation at TIAFT 2016
Specialised in the maintenance of a ChemAlert database.