Operations Support Officer - Cellular Therapies & Tissue Banking

Permanent, Full‑time

Location: Auckland (National engagement) 

About New Zealand Blood and Organ Service

New Zealand Blood and Organ Service (NZBS) has sole responsibility for collecting, processing, and distributing blood in New Zealand. Our specialist services also extend to cellular therapies and tissue banking, including stem cell products and cardiovascular, skin, and bone allografts for transplantation.

NZBS is also at the forefront of innovative medical treatments, supporting clinical trials and advanced therapies that improve patient outcomes. Through this work, you know that at the end of every day you’ve contributed to making a genuine difference in someone’s life.

Our shared values are at the heart of our organisation’s culture, shaping our daily actions and motivating us to deliver the highest quality service to the New Zealand public.

About the role

This role is an opportunity for an experienced Medical Laboratory Scientist to take the next step in their career and join our Cellular Therapies & Tissue Banking (CTTB) team as an Operations Support Officer.

Based in Auckland, this position works across our CTTB portfolio, supporting the delivery and ongoing development of services that include cellular therapy manufacture, tissue banking, advanced therapy and clinical trial activities. You will work alongside operational teams to strengthen systems, governance, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement, enabling safe, compliant, and consistent delivery across CTTB services. This includes supporting cleanroom and aseptic environments within a GMP framework, while contributing more broadly to service readiness, change, and capability development.

You will draw on your operational and scientific experience to support service delivery, enable continuous improvement, and contribute to monitoring and improving operational performance against agreed KPIs.

What you will be doing

You will:

    Support GMP‑regulated cleanroom and aseptic processing environments

    Contribute to operational readiness for cellular therapy manufacture and ATMP clinical trials

    Support monitoring of operational performance, including contributing to KPI tracking, trend analysis, and reporting

    Identify operational risks or performance gaps and support timely corrective and improvement actions

    Support change implementation, including analysis, documentation, deployment, and post‑implementation review

    Coordinate and support deviations, incidents, CAPAs, and continuous improvement activities

    Maintain and improve quality system documentation, aligned with GMP, Medsafe expectations, FACT standards, and internal SOPs

    Work closely with Supervising Scientists, Technical Specialists, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, and Clinical teams

    Support national consistency, audit readiness, service resilience, and sustainable performance across CTTB services.

About you

You are an experienced laboratory professional looking for a role where you can apply your technical knowledge in a broader operational and performance‑focused context.

To be successful, you will have:

    Proven experience (minimum 5 years) as a Medical Laboratory Scientist, or equivalent experience in a regulated healthcare or manufacturing environment

    APC registration, or eligibility and willingness to obtain APC registration

    Strong understanding of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and quality management systems

    Knowledge of Medsafe regulatory requirements relevant to licensed or clinical trial environments

    Familiarity with FACT standards and their application to cellular therapy services (desirable)

    Experience working in cleanroom and aseptic processing environments (highly desirable)

    Experience supporting or contributing to operational KPIs, performance monitoring, or service improvement

    Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and confidence working across multiple teams and priorities

    Ability to influence outcomes through collaboration rather than formal authority

Experience in cell therapy, tissue banking, ATMPs, or clinical trial environments will be highly regarded.

What we offer

    A rare opportunity to contribute to nationally critical, life‑changing services

    Exposure to advanced therapies and clinical trials at the forefront of healthcare innovation

    A collaborative, supportive team environment with strong scientific and clinical leadership

    Professional growth through involvement in complex operational, performance, and system improvement initiatives.

Ready to apply?

If you’re ready to take the next step in your laboratory career and make a genuine national impact, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply now with your CV and a brief cover letter outlining your relevant experience.