Scientist Snapshot | Joe Culloty, Head of Quality

Joe Culloty joined Sterling’s Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland facility in 2012 as a Process Manager in the multipurpose manufacturing unit. Now, as Head of Quality, Joe oversees and supports the site’s quality team and supports the delivery of our quality strategy.

Can you tell us about your background?

After graduating with my BSc, I started working for an company in Cork called Irotec Laboratories as a Research and Development Chemist. I was in this lab-based role for around four years before I had the opportunity to move into manufacturing as a Production Chemist, supporting campaigns and manufacturing documentation. I then moved back into the labs as a Technical Development Chemist providing support for manufacturing and analytics at other global sites.

In 2012, I joined Sterling’s Cork facility, which at the time was part of Novartis, to become a Process Manager in the multipurpose manufacturing unit. In 2016, I moved to the manufacturing, science and technology (MS&T) department to work as a Product Steward, providing second level technical support and taking ownership for the knowledge of the products under my portfolio.

In 2019, I made the move across to the quality department where I began my role as Systems and Compliance Facilitator. In 2021, I was promoted to Head of Quality for the site.

What does your role as Head of Quality at Cork involve?

Within the quality department there are four subgroups (quality assurance operations, quality assurance systemsm quality control and the analytical development group) which I oversee and support to ensure that our site quality strategy aligns with the wider Sterling network’s strategy and the expectations of our customers. A big part of the role is also making sure that we’re working towards achieving our key goals for the site too.

These goals include completing our transition into the Sterling network and ensuring that we manufacture good quality batches right first time. This involves ensuring that our processes are robust so that we consistently make our products to the correct quality. Another focus for us is operational excellence; always looking for opportunities to continually improve, for example, through tracking and addressing any process deviations.

How has your previous experience supported you in your role?

It has provided me with a wider perspective of the business. My previous roles in production and MS&T have given me technical experience and knowledge of processes, that help me in my role today. My experience also allows me to see challenges from different perspectives, and I use this to help guide my decisions as well as others in the team.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Every morning we have our daily operational meetings, which is where we catch up on how our customers’ projects are progressing, review any action items from the previous day, and identify our priorities for that day.

I then go on to participate in governance and SOP meetings, but my main aim is to always get out on site to meet people. I think that having these one on one conversations is very important, as it helps me to understand our current projects and any challenges our people may be facing, especially during our period of transition. We need to ensure that our people are coming on the journey with us and are happy to talk to us if they need any extra support; addressing any queries as quickly as possible.

Can you tell us a little about Cork’s quality journey since Sterling acquired the site?

It has been a busy but exciting time to be part of the Cork site. In terms of quality, we have completely revamped our quality support systems and have migrated onto the Sterling systems. We’ve made really good progress with this, and the team has achieved a huge amount since the acquisition was completed back in January.

We’ve had tremendous support from Sterling’s integration team and across the wider global network. The collaboration has been great for the site and we’re looking forward to this continuing as we move forward as part of Sterling.

As part of this journey, it’s also been great to work with the wider Sterling quality team. Internal collaboration is key within the quality team, as it crosses all business areas in order to drive best practices and benefits for our customers.

As a quality team, we do this through regular quality leadership meetings, which provide us with a great opportunity to discuss current projects, and share successes and challenges. These meetings allow us to build strong partnerships with people in similar roles to us from across the Sterling network. It’s incredibly useful to have this global support network and someone to reach out to for advice when needed.

How does the quality team support our customers?

Our main role is to ensure that we deliver material to our customers, which is the correct quality, and on-time. It is important that we are open with our customers, as this allows us to build trust and develop a true partnership with them. Open and regular communication shows that we are working in their best interests, and if issues do arise, having their trust makes communication easier. They will trust us to work through it and we can problem solve together.

By continuing to supply good quality material on time in full and building that reputation of doing so gives us the best chance of winning additional business. That would be fantastic for the future of the site.

What are some of your short and long term goals in your role?

In the short term, we want to make sure our new quality systems are fully implemented and running successfully. Equally, we want to grow the capabilities of our current team; providing development opportunities for our people and allowing them to grow their careers with Sterling.

Long term, we want to become more proactive in the way we work. Developing new processes and initiatives, which help grow the business and support its operational excellence strategy, as well as deliver value for our customers, which is one of the most exciting parts of what we do. I’m looking forward to the opportunities we will have as part of Sterling.

Why are our culture and values important for quality?

Our core values ensure our team is aligned with what we do and why we’re doing it. Our values drive our culture, and it’s important that our customers know what our values are, so they know what to expect from working with our organisation.