Certified Group is committed to partnering with customers to deliver innovative scientific solutions and expertise – So The World Can Trust In What It Consumes™. Our network of 30+ North American and European laboratories serves the food & beverage, dietary supplements, cosmetics, OTC, tobacco/nicotine, cannabis, and hemp industries.

Our Brands

Certified Group is comprised of a set of specialized brands that collectively deliver laboratory testing, regulatory consulting, and certification & audit services across highly regulated industries:

Certified Laboratories – Provides comprehensive analytical and microbiological testing, primarily supporting food, beverage, cosmetics, OTC, and dietary supplement industries.
Food Safety Net Services (FSNS) – A leading network of ISO-accredited laboratories across North America, focused on food safety testing, operational support, and technical services for the food industry.
Labstat – A global leader in contract research and testing for nicotine, tobacco, cannabis, hemp, and next-generation products, with deep expertise in analytical chemistry and toxicology.
EAS Consulting Group – A regulatory consulting firm offering expert guidance, training, and auditing support across FDA, USDA, and other regulated sectors, powered by a large network of independent advisors.
FSNS Certification & Audit – Provides accredited third-party auditing and certification services, including food safety, animal welfare, and GMP programs.

Job Summary:

The Microbiology Laboratory Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Burbank Microbiology laboratory, ensuring accurate, compliant, and timely testing for the local and national customer base. Burbank is a GMP-registered facility supporting microbiological testing of OTC drug products, cosmetics/personal care products, antibiotic products, and sterility-related . The Manager is accountable for all quality, customer, people, financial, and workflow activities within Microbiology. The role operates with a strong general manager mindset, balancing scientific rigor and cGMP discipline with business acumen, resource optimization, customer engagement, and continuous improvement. Particular focus is required on on-time delivery (OTD), backlog control, timely PET/stability/sterility starts, method suitability readiness, and accurate execution in LabWare.

Purpose: So the world can trust in what it consumes.

Mission: Partner with customers to deliver innovative scientific solutions and expertise.

Values: start with the customer, commit to safety and quality, drive to deliver, act with integrity and support the team.

Leadership Accountabilities

Quality Excellence: Promote a culture where cGMP compliance, data integrity, technical accuracy, and adherence to approved methods and SOPs are embedded into every action. Ensure the laboratory remains audit- and inspection-ready.
Customer-Focus: Ensure timely, high-quality results and proactive, factual communication on delays, study starts, technical concerns, and revised timelines to build trust and protect key customer relationships.
People-Centricity: Maintain a safe, engaging, accountable environment. Be present and accessible, ensuring supervisors and analysts are trained, supported, cross-trained, and developed to perform at their best.
Profitability: Manage labor, overtime, inventory, supplies, capacity, and other controllable costs while improving OTD, productivity, utilization, and sustainable laboratory contribution.
Innovation: Drive continuous improvement through root-cause problem solving, standard work, LabWare workflow improvement, automation, and cross-site best-practice sharing.

Behavioral & Functional Competencies

Strategic Leadership: Think beyond daily execution to align resources, capability, and capacity with Burbank and broader COS objectives; anticipate risks before they become customer or compliance issues.
Quality Champion: Use sound microbiological and regulatory judgment to ensure work is technically defensible, methods are appropriate, and issues are escalated and corrected promptly.