Head of Laboratory (relocate to Vietnam)

A leading private diagnostic network in Vietnam is hiring a Head of Laboratory. We are growing 50% year on year. We need someone to run our central laboratory — and then grow it.Full ownership of the laboratory: its quality, its people, its numbers and its growth.The laboratory

• Several million tests a year, across a central reference laboratory serving a large collection network in Southern Vietnam
• Accredited to ISO 15189:2022, with participation in international external quality assessment programmes
• Core laboratory, molecular biology in a biosafety level 2 facility with high-throughput PCR, genetics including non-invasive prenatal screening, anatomical pathology and cytology, and microbiology
• Approximately 80 laboratory staff across sections, with section heads and a technical managerWhat you will own
• The quality management system, ISO 15189 accreditation, surveillance audits and scope extension
• Turnaround time, diagnostic accuracy, error and rejection rates across the collection network
• Laboratory profit and loss: budget, capital expenditure, cost per test, margin, supplier negotiation
• Test menu strategy — deciding what we add, building the business case, delivering it into routine use
• Insourcing analysis, specialised and higher-value testing, and partnerships with hospitals and corporate clients
• Automation, laboratory information systems, workflow and capacity planning
• Your team: competency, training, development and successionWho we want
• First choice: a doctor. A medical degree with postgraduate specialisation in laboratory medicine, clinical pathology, microbiology or biochemistry.
• Also welcome: a senior laboratory technical leader without a medical degree, at chief or department-head grade, with a track record that speaks for itself.
• You must be commercial. Profit and loss, budgets, return on investment, supplier negotiation. Technical strength alone is not enough.
• You must be hands-on. Know your department end to end: every process, every step, why it is done that way, and where it goes wrong. You judge whether your team is doing it well because you understand the work yourself, not because a report told you.
• You must be agile. At 50% growth a year, plans change mid-quarter.We run flat. Few layers, no reporting for its own sake. If you are looking for a desk job, this is not for you.Experience
• 8+ years leading clinical laboratory operations, including 3+ years accountable for a laboratory of comparable scale
• Hands-on depth in 2–3 disciplines
• Accreditation you have actually done, under ISO 15189 or a national equivalent
• Multi-site or network laboratory experience is a strong advantage
• Commercial contribution you can point to: a menu you expanded, revenue you grew, a service you brought in-house, a contract you negotiated
• Professional working English. Interviews are conducted in English. Vietnamese is not required.Your qualification, in your own systemWe recruit across Asia and recognise national qualifications on their own terms. Both a medical and a laboratory science route are open to you.
• India — MD or DNB in Pathology, Microbiology or Biochemistry; or M.Sc./Ph.D. in Medical Laboratory Technology at chief technologist or laboratory head grade. NABL accredits to ISO 15189.
• Malaysia — Master of Pathology with National Specialist Register entry; or Medical Laboratory Technology / Biomedical Science at senior or chief technologist grade. MS ISO 15189 under SAMM.
• Philippines — Philippine Board of Pathology; or Registered Medical Technologist with senior laboratory management experience. DOH licensing; CAP.
• China — Laboratory Medicine specialist at Associate Chief Physician or Chief Physician grade; or Associate Chief / Chief Technologist grade. CNAS-CL02.Licensing — we handle itYou will not hold a Vietnamese practising certificate on arrival, and we do not expect you to. There are two routes, depending on your qualifications. We confirm which one applies during selection.If you hold a medical degree: we support you through the Vietnamese practising certificate process, including the language requirement, over a defined transition period.If you do not: result authorisation and clinical sign-off sit with our locally licensed pathologist, working alongside you. This structure is established and fully compliant.Either route leads to the same job. Same scope, same authority. The difference is administrative.Work permit & temporary residence card are sponsored and administered by us.Qualifications and prior registration must be legalised and translated.