Quality Assurance Officer / QA Officer

Office Based (Thursday we work from home). Since medical cannabis was legalised in the UK in 2018, Cantourage UK has been building the infrastructure that makes this industry work - safely, compliantly and at scale. A regulated tele-health clinic, delivering high-quality patient care and a licensed pharmaceutical supply operation, powering the wider ecosystem. Together, they form a complex, high-trust system where clinical integrity, operational excellence and smart technology must work in lockstep.

The Quality Assurance Officer is a core operational and compliance role sitting within our Quality team and supporting the Responsible Person (RP). You will own the day-to-day quality activities that keep our GDP licence in good standing, from Controlled Drug record-keeping and import/export permit coordination, to supplier qualification, deviation investigations, and computerised systems validation.

• Support the import, export, storage, and distribution of Controlled Drugs (CDs) and Cannabis-Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) in full compliance with GDP, Home Office and MHRA requirements.
• Coordinate and review Home Office import and export permits, verifying accuracy, completeness, and alignment with commercial documentation, customer authorisations, and Letters of No Objection (NOIs).
• Ensure all activities are conducted in accordance with GDP principles, Home Office licensing requirements, MHRA expectations, company procedures, and applicable pharmaceutical regulations.
• Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records including Controlled Drug Registers, export documentation, Pick & Pack records, and customer transaction logs, keeping us always inspection-ready.
• Perform routine reconciliation between internal and contract storage records.
• Support data integrity initiatives and ensure compliance with ALCOA+ principles across quality records, computerised systems, and business processes.
• Assist in the creation of Technical Agreements for all outsourced activities and support monitoring and audits of outsourced entities.
• Conduct investigations into deviations, complaints, permit discrepancies, stock discrepancies, and other quality incidents to support root cause analysis, CAPAs, and continuous improvement activities.
• Assist with product recalls, returns investigations, destruction activities, and pharmaceutical waste management, ensuring appropriate authorisations and documentation are obtained and maintained.
• Support the validation and lifecycle management of bespoke software, spreadsheets, and computerised systems used in GDP-regulated activities including User Requirements Specifications, risk assessments, validation plans, test evidence, and validation reports.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Operations, and Quality colleagues to assess system changes, determine validation impact, and ensure validated systems remain in a controlled and compliant state throughout their lifecycle.

• Support the Responsible Person (RP) by providing quality metrics, reporting on QMS performance, escalating quality and compliance concerns, and ensuring regulatory obligations are met.
• Assist in the training of Quality staff and wider teams named within the QMS. Support GDP onboarding training for all new starters.

A strong working knowledge of GDP principles and pharmaceutical quality management systems is required, along with meticulous attention to detail and a genuine commitment to record accuracy and inspection readiness. Experience conducting deviation investigations, root cause analysis, and CAPA management is essential. Comfort working with computerised systems in a regulated context (including contributing to validation activities and data integrity programmes) is necessary. You should build relationships across Engineering, Product, Operations, and clinical teams as naturally as you do within Quality.

If you have the following, it'll be a huge bonus:

• Direct experience with CBPMs, cannabis-based medicines, or the UK medical cannabis regulatory framework.
• Background in gene therapy, advanced therapeutics, or large pharmaceutical manufacturing environments.
• Medical cannabis regulation is a live, evolving space. You'll need to think through risk clearly and make well-reasoned judgements under ambiguity.
• Someone who views Quality as a tick-box function rather than a commercial and clinical enabler. Someone uncomfortable with digital transformation.

Benefits include:

• 36 day annual leave (includes your birthday + all UK public holidays)
• Performance based annual bonus
• Share options - we all have skin in the game
• Inhouse chef - nutritious lunches cooked 3 days a week
• Dog-friendly office
• Comprehensive private medical insurance
• ClassPass membership (gyms, fitness classes, yoga, massages & more)
• Cycle-to-work scheme