Tissue Culture Lab Manager (Micropropagation)

Location: SE QLD – Harrisville/Mutdapilly (Scenic Rim, near Ipswich/Brisbane)

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Our client is a licensed medicinal cannabis company based in Southeast Queensland. Forty five minutes drive from Brisbane CBD, our hybrid-indoor glasshouse on the northern edge of the Scenic Rim produces consistent, high-quality medicinal cannabis products for Australian patients and global partners. Our facility combines:

• Advanced environmental control in a glasshouse setting.
• Significant use of solar energy and efficient irrigation to reduce our footprint.
• A strong focus on quality, compliance and data-driven cultivation.

SUMMARY:

Help build one of Australia’s most advanced medicinal cannabis projects from the ground up. We are seeking an experienced Tissue Culture Lab Manager to manage a high-throughput micropropagation lab producing 1,000,000+ plants per year for our hybrid indoor glasshouse in the Scenic Rim.

• Lead a 1M+ plants/year microprop lab.
• Manage and grow a 5–15 person lab team over 3–5 years.
• Build GMP/GLP/ISO-style systems from day one.
• Work in a sustainable hybrid-indoor glasshouse powered significantly by solar in SE QLD.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the commissioning and day-to-day operation of cutting-edge plant tissue culture lab.
• Manage 5–7 lab staff, scaling to 10–15 as throughput grows.
• Own the delivery of 1,000,000+ plants/year through a highly standardised micropropagation pipeline.
• Align lab output with nursery and glasshouse planting schedules.
• Work closely with cultivation, quality, engineering and automation teams to integrate the lab into a modern, large-scale facility.
• People leadership – Lead, roster, coach and performance-manage a team of TC technicians and seniors.
• Capacity planning – Plan media, explants, incubator/growth room space and labour to hit throughput targets.
• Quality & documentation – Own SOPs, batch records, logbooks and checklists; support deviations, CAPA and change control.
• KPIs & improvement – Set and track KPIs (contamination, yield, cycle time, throughput/FTE, cost/plant); drive continuous improvement.
• Technical oversight – Ensure robust contamination control, aseptic practice and reliable multiplication/rooting.
• Integration & automation – Work with engineering and IT on workflow design, future automation, barcoding and LIMS/MES.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Proven line management of at least 5–10 lab staff (rostering, supervision and performance management).
• Experience running a high-throughput lab (plant tissue culture/microprop OR cell culture/bioprocessing/pathology) using SOPs, batch records, QC checks and CAPA.
• Comfort operating under GMP/GLP/ISO-style quality systems.
• Strong organisational competence:
• Capacity planning for media, explants, incubator/growth room space and labour.
• KPI literacy (throughput, contamination rate, labour productivity, cycle time).
• Clear continuous improvement mindset.
• Strong hands-on technical competence in tissue culture or a closely related discipline, with credibility at the bench.
• Preferred:
• Experience with medicinal cannabis, hops, grapevine or other sensitive/high-value crops.
• Exposure to start-up / scale-up environments.
• Experience with automation and digital systems (ERP, conveyors, robotics, LIMS/MES, barcoding, e-batch records).

WHY JOIN:

• Shape a flagship tissue culture lab from day one.
• Direct impact on plant health, genetics and patient outcomes.
• Work alongside a next-generation, sustainable hybrid-indoor glasshouse in a great lifestyle region.
• Competitive salary package with relocation support for the right candidate.