PET QC Manager

About us

The PET Centre is part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London within the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences.

The Positron Emitting Radiopharmaceutical Laboratory (PERL) plays a crucial role in the clinical PET Centre, serving over 8,000 patients and research participants annually from South-East London and beyond. It is an integral part of both King's College London's School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences and Guy's & St Thomas' National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust. Our PET Center relies heavily on the PERL facility for the supply of radiopharmaceuticals and this is likely to become increasingly important when the new Total Body PET scanner is installed later this year.

Comprising two GMP clean rooms, a QC laboratory, and an R&D laboratory with a total of 24 hot cells, the PERL facility is equipped with a PETtrace high-energy cyclotron and various dispensing units, calibrators, and analysis equipment. It operates under a “Specials” manufacturing license, currently producing [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and [11C]methionine routinely, with ongoing development of additional radiotracers. We anticipate the availability of two more radiotracers for routine and research use by the end of 2024, with plans to expand the portfolio by two to three radiotracers annually.

About the role

The successful candidate will have overall responsibility for the QC analysis of PET radiotracers produced at the facility.

This will include organising the routine analyses of radiopharmaceuticals, analytical methods development, documentation (SOPs, validation results, trending, etc.), overview of analytical infrastructure maintenance and building a proactive lab culture in the department; organising rotas for activities within QC; training of staff in QC-related activities and ensuring compliance with appropriate MHRA, radiation safety and other relevant legislation.

The post-holder will take the lead in planning, preparation, data collection, monitoring, validation, documentation and implementation of QC methods, technology and instrumentation. The individual will also assist in the validation and implementation of new and established PET chemistry and PET radiotracer analyses for research and clinical use.

The candidate must have PhD in chemistry or pharmacy or equivalent qualification, knowledge of PET and/or SPECT radiotracer synthesis,  Ionising Radiation protection regulations and proven record in adhering to the principles of GLP and GMP.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• PhD in chemistry or pharmacy or equivalent qualification or experience  
• Radiochemistry/radiopharmacy research and development laboratory experience  
• Practical experience of analytical chemistry techniques including HPLC and GC technology  
• Demonstrable experience of operational GMP 
• Knowledge of and proven record in adhering to the principles of GLP and GMP  
• Word processing including internet and e-mail and ability to draft documents e.g. standard operating procedures (SOPs) 
• Supervisory experience 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Desirable criteria

• Membership of a professional body  
• Experience with automated synthesis equipment  
• Knowledge of PET and/or SPECT radiotracer synthesis  
• Knowledge of Ionising Radiation protection regulations  
• Experience with a range of radionuclides and with automated synthesis equipment

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