About Brand:
Minimalist (https://www.beminimalist.co) is a science-backed Indian skincare brand built on the core values of efficacy, transparency, and comprehensiveness. Known for its ingredient-first approach, the brand formulates high-performance skincare products using proven activities and clean formulations. The company believes in creating high-quality products using best-in-class ingredients at its own manufacturing facility. Minimalist empowers consumers with knowledge—clearly stating what goes into each product and why—so they can make informed choices. With a commitment to Hide Nothing, the brand champions authenticity and honesty in skincare, creating solutions that work, without the fluff. With a robust portfolio of 60+ SKUs spanning Skincare, Haircare, and Bodycare, the brand is rapidly expanding its footprint. Focused on enhancing product availability, it is strategically deepening its penetration while strengthening both Modern Trade (MT) and General Trade (GT) channels in India. The brand's global presence now extends across 15+ countries, including key markets such as the UK, USA, UAE, KSA, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Canada, Australia.
Job Title: Quality Assurance Lead
Location : Haridwar
Role Summary
The Resident QA Lead is the single brand-side point of accountability for quality oversight at the Lotus 3P site. The role owns the CM relationship at the working level, runs the daily quality huddle and weekly governance review with CM leadership, consolidates floor observations from the Floating CCP Auditors, and escalates structural issues to AGM-Quality. The role is explicitly witness/oversight in nature: it does not exercise execution authority within the CM's manufacturing or QC chain.
Key Responsibilities
1. Governance & Relationship Management
- Run the daily quality huddle with CM Production In-Charge and CM QA Head; document outcomes in the company digital system.
- Chair the weekly Joint Quality Governance Review with CM Plant Head; share agenda and minutes with AGM-Quality within 24 hours.
- Maintain the Quality Agreement addendum implementation tracker; flag any drift between agreed protocols and observed practice to AGM-Quality.
- Act as the named point of contact for the CM on all quality matters arising during embedded operations.
2. Floor Oversight Coordination
- Plan the Floating CCP Auditor coverage roster against the published CM batch schedule, prioritizing dispensing, blending, filling, line clearance, and primary pack.
- Review end-of-shift digital reports filed by Floating CCP Auditors; consolidate into a daily summary for AGM-Quality.
- Trigger unannounced night-shift walks on a sampling basis to verify auditor coverage and CM behaviour out of general-shift hours.
3. Witness, Verify, Audit
- Witness — not approve — high-risk batch events: new SKU tech transfer-batch runs, post-CAPA verification batches, batches following raw-material vendor change.
- Verify CM CAPA closure evidence against the original deviation; document verification outcome in the company system; escalate weak closures to AGM-Quality.
- Conduct quarterly internal audits of CM systems (BMR discipline, change-over cleaning, water system, training records, calibration); issue findings to CM and track to closure.
- Verify CM training records of shop-floor personnel against the agreed competency matrix; identify gaps; formally request remediation from CM management; track closure. (The role does not train CM operators.)
4. Documentation, MIS & Reporting
- Own the brand-side Quality MIS for Lotus operations: batch-level observation log, deviation register, CAPA tracker, customer complaint linkage register.
- Submit weekly written report to AGM-Quality covering observation trends, open deviations, CAPA aging, CM responsiveness metrics, and escalation candidates.
- Support central QA on customer complaint root-cause investigation for batches manufactured at Lotus; provide on-site evidence collection only — disposition decisions sit with central QA.
5. Stop-Work & Escalation
- Identify predefined trigger events (written list, agreed in the Quality Agreement addendum) and issue a written stop-work request to CM Shift-in-Charge with timestamp, photo evidence, and trigger reference.
- Document CM decision (halt or refusal) within the company digital system; in case of refusal, escalate to AGM-Quality and CM Plant Head in parallel within 30 minutes.
- The role does not verbally instruct CM operators to stop or restart any activity.
Required Qualifications
- B.Sc./M.Sc. in Chemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacy, or related; OR B.Pharm/M.Pharm.
- 6–10 years of cumulative experience in cosmetics or personal care quality assurance, of which at least 3 years on the shop floor at a manufacturing site.
- Demonstrated experience handling a 3P/CM relationship from the brand side, OR equivalent in-plant QA leadership at a personal care manufacturing site (shampoo, emulsions, serums, creams).
- Working knowledge of ISO 22716 (cosmetics GMP), Cosmetics Rules 2020, BIS standards (IS 7884 / IS 4707 series, etc.), Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, and CDSCO licensing framework.
- Track record of CAPA effectiveness verification and audit closure across a counterparty organisation.
- Proficiency in MS Office, digital QMS platforms, and tablet-based observation tools.
Preferred / Differentiating
- Prior brand-side embedded QA stint at a 3P/CM site (highest signal).
- Hands-on experience with shampoos, emulsions, and serums — viscosity drift, phase-separation onset, fill-weight variance at high-speed lines, microbial-risk control at water-contact points.
- DNV / BSI / TUV internal auditor certification for ISO 22716 or ISO 9001.
- Comfort with bilingual (English/Hindi) operations and willingness to be based in or around Haridwar.
Key Competencies
- Witness-and-escalate discipline — ability to observe a deviation without reaching for executional verbs.
- Political maturity to manage CM relationships through friction without being co-opted.
- Structured written communication; ability to convert floor observations into governance-grade language.
- Evidence orientation — timestamps, photographs, trigger references, not opinion.
- Resistance to capture: comfort with the floating Senior QA dropping in unannounced and reviewing the resident's own observation logs.
