Analytical Chemist Industrial Placement 2023

Are you looking to gain valuable real world work experience and help positively impact the lives of others?

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years.

About the role

A GSK internship offers you the opportunity to kickstart your career – to take on a real role with genuine impact. You’ll take on challenging tasks within live projects or assignments. You’ll also get to learn from others in your team and other parts of GSK whilst developing your skills and gaining valuable experience for wherever the future takes you.

Inspired to help us get ahead together? Apply for an Analytical Chemistry Industrial Placement at GSK today!

An analytical chemistry placement will give you hands on practical application of analytical techniques and data analysis, as well as supporting other operations within the laboratory environment. You’ll be contributing to ensuring our pharmaceutical products are manufactured to stringent quality and safety standards by;

• Learning how to test a variety of products using a range of equipment from pH and viscosity meters to HPLC, Gas Chromatography and UV spectroscopy.
• Following all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and being compliant with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
• Performing equipment performance checks and calibration.
• Creating, reviewing and validating methods as well as updating laboratory documentation and writing technical reports.
• Creating testing and auditing cleaning protocols.
• To take part in Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and continuous improvement projects.

Whichever role you go into you will be applying the skills you already have and developing new skills such as team working, effective communication and time management. You will work with and learn from an experienced team who will coach and mentor you during your year to help you achieve your potential.

Ahead together with tailored training and career development

Location and roles available

Please read below about the 4 different locations we are recruiting for across our Analytical Chemistry Industrial Placements. Please note, these are distinct placements and so when you reach the written application stage you will be able to select 3 preferences of where you would like to be placed if successful. We will accommodate your preference where possible.

Barnard Castle

The Barnard Castle site is located in the North East of England is sited within the County Durham countryside. Barnard Castle is a key secondary site for GSK with a large number of New Products coming through development at site. We manufacture and supply a huge range of different pharmaceutical products from Sterile Products (Syringes and Vials) to Liquid Inhalations and Dermatologicals. We have recently opened a new state of the art aseptic digital facility producing biopharmaceuticals.

An opportunity exists for a candidate with a strong science background to work within the analytical chemistry laboratory to support the analytical testing of a wide range of pharmaceutical products manufactured on site. The successful candidate will be trained in a variety of analytical techniques used in the laboratory to support release/stability testing. The primary role of the analyst will initially be routine Quality Control (QC) analysis of finished products and incoming materials. Opportunities to perform project work to support the business and fulfil university academic requirements will be made available. Not only will the candidate gain experience of analytic techniques, but they will be required to work in the quality team to ensure patients receive high quality medicines compliant with global legislation.

Montrose

Our 45-acre primary manufacturing site at Montrose is located between the North Sea and the Angus Glens and is within easy reach of Dundee and Aberdeen. It is our largest UK chemical manufacturing facility which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2022. The site has state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities and produces a wide range of active ingredients for some of our most important medicines including respiratory, HIV and dermatological products. Every day, an estimated 30 million people take a medicine that includes ingredients from Montrose.

Working in our manufacturing site laboratories you will be part of a multidisciplinary team of analytical scientists, material scientists and synthetic organic chemists in both our technical and quality teams.

In our technical team you will be undertaking analytical chemistry experiments to support analytical method and process improvements, method development, technology transfers, route changes, impurity characterisation and mapping, etc. This work is very often non-routine in nature. As well as augmenting their chromatography (HPLC/GC) skills, you will gain valuable experience in spectroscopic characterisation (NMR/FTIR/MS), material science and method development/validation. Outside of direct laboratory expertise, you will experience of the application of DOE/MVA, COSHH and the regulatory aspects (Good Manufacturing Practice, etc) inherent in an active pharmaceutical environment.

In our quality team projects are based around method and technology improvements and aligned to the requirements of the business using chromatographic, spectroscopic and material science techniques. You will gain insight into the operation of the Quality Control laboratory and an oversight of how Quality Assurance operates, giving you an overview of how the different areas of Quality work together in a GMP manufacturing environment.

Ware

Ware is the largest GSK site in the UK with a thriving early talent community. The Ware Global Supply Chain site manufactures and supplies oral solid dose tablets (for HIV and oncology) and respiratory devices (for asthma and COPD) to over 140 countries, as well as to patients participating in clinical trials, playing a key role in new product introduction.

You will be part of a multidisciplinary team of analytical scientists focusing on the respiratory and HIV portfolio of products. In this role you will be undertaking analytical chemistry experiments to support analytical methods and their validation throughout their lifecycle. Projects are based around method and technology improvements for the analytical methods used across the business. The successful candidate will also gain experience in the ancillary supporting systems, such as COSHH, method validation reviews and GMP requirements.

Worthing

GSK Worthing celebrates 60 years of history in pharmaceutical manufacturing in 2021. One of our key products is Augmentin in tablet form and we manufacture approx. 42 million packs per year. The Worthing site is situated on the South Coast about 30 minutes from Brighton and 1 hour by train from London, offering a good degree of extracurricular activities outside of work.

There are opportunities on site in both our Bio Process Science (BPS) biochemistry-based labs and our quality control manufacturing site labs.

As placement student in the BPS team, you will undertake analytical chemistry experiments to support both manufacturing and R&D projects which cover both small & large molecules. This position is in an R&D-type environment, the work is very often non-routine in nature, and you should be confident to work alone on your analysis once training has been successfully completed. You will be encouraged to think about how to apply forensic analysis to answer questions raised on the projects you are working on.

You will get valuable experience in biochemical analysis using such techniques as UV, IC, HPLC/UPLC and GC. The successful candidate will also gain experience in the ancillary supporting activities, such as COSHH, risk assessments, audits and experiment write-ups.

Working within the Quality Control laboratory team at Worthing provides the opportunity to work in a high volume, fast paced laboratory supporting the manufacturing of antibiotic tablets and other formulations. You will experience analysis of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished products to Good Laboratory Practises (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practises (GMP).

You will contribute to continuous improvement of the operation of the laboratory as well as get involve in problem solving, root cause analysis and manage maintenance of equipment. There will be an opportunity to provide technical support/advice for QC testing whilst ensuring that the test methods are followed correctly.

Who are we looking for?

• To be a well-organised and patient focused individual
• Ability to prioritise and manage multiple tasks/assignments to demanding deadlines
• Sound interpersonal and team working skills
• Passion for driving change
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical production processes and GMP
• Ability to demonstrate qualities aligned with GSK’s culture

What do we offer you?

• A salary of £21,000, plus a bonus
• Access to GSK resources, including employee assistance programmes, private healthcare and well-being programs and pension plan membership
• On-the-job experience and informal training and development, delivered through a mixture of coaching, mentoring and training programs
• A GSK placement which gives you the opportunity to take on a real role with genuine impact
• You will join a GSK Industrial Placement community of over 250 students across the UK and business areas
• Access to LinkedIn groups to enable the new Industrial Placement community to network and connect before start date

Let’s do this!