Microbiologist at Diageo

About the Role  

We’re excited to offer a brand-new role with the opportunity to truly make it your own. Reporting directly to our Food Safety Lead, you’ll collaborate with global stakeholders and play a key part in crafting the future of our innovative product range. Based in our brand-new laboratory, this position focuses on developing and ensuring the safety of 0% alcohol products, giving you the chance to work at the forefront of a growing market. 

You will be instrumental in guaranteeing the safety, stability, and premium quality of Diageo’s low and no alcohol products. Your expertise will protect consumer safety, uphold product integrity, and strengthen brand reputation by applying microbiological knowledge across spirit production, packaging, and innovation. You will also ensure full compliance with Diageo Quality Standards, HACCP, FSSC 22000, GMP, and all relevant regulatory requirements 

Additional responsibilities include: 

• Provide technical microbiological input into product development, trials, scale-up, and shelf-life studies, supporting innovation and the successful delivery of new low/no alcohol products. 
• Develop, validate and continuously improve microbiological test methods tailored to low and no alcohol products ensuring accurate, reliable and timely results. 
• Monitor, analyse and interpret microbiological data and trends to proactively identify risks, resolve issues and implement preventive measures. 
• Partner with cross-functional teams (Quality, Operations, Technical, and Engineering) to embed microbiological protocols into processes, systems and everyday culture. 
• Performing routine and non-routine microbiological testing of raw materials, water, in-process samples, environment and finished low/no alcohol products using validated methods appropriate to product matrices. 

About You   

To be successful for this role, you have a degree in Microbiology, Food Science, or a related scientific discipline. You’ll also be able to demonstrate good practical knowledge of classical microbiology techniques such as aseptic technique, serial dilution, spread plating, filtration plating, water and environmental monitoring, and GLP. 

In addition, you’ll have: 

• Practical experience in industrial microbiology, ideally within beverage, food, or pharmaceutical manufacturing. 
• Proficiency in aseptic techniques, microbial identification and microbiological method development/validation. 
• Good working knowledge of CIP systems and their efficiency with a track record in trouble-shooting microbial issues. 
• Ability to interpret microbiological data, trend results, and translate findings into risk-based actions. 

Practical experience with low and no alcohol products or other high-risk food categories would be an advantage.