Regulatory Affairs Specialist

ASR Group is the world’s largest refiner and marketer of cane sugar, with an annual production capacity of more than 6 million tons of sugar. The company produces a full line of grocery, industrial, food service and specialty sweetener products. Across North America, ASR Group owns and operates six sugar refineries, located in Louisiana, New York, California, Maryland, Canada and Mexico. In Europe, the company owns and operates sugar refineries in England and Portugal. ASR Group also owns and operates mills in Mexico and Belize. The company’s brand portfolio includes the leading brands Domino®, C&H®, Redpath®, Tate & Lyle®, Lyle’s® and Sidul®.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Regulatory Affairs Specialist reports directly to the Director of Global Regulatory Affairs. This position is responsible for assisting with matters involving the company’s regulatory initiatives and regulatory compliance, specifically relating to New Product Development and existing products. The Regulatory Affairs Specialist will work with multiple relevant stakeholders such as Product Development, Quality, Legal, Marketing, Operations, Packaging and others, to ensure product compliance. The Regulatory Affairs Specialist provides updates on existing and future key legislation that could affect new and existing product line development. Additionally, this individual will be heavily involved in making a positive contribution to implementing key legislative changes. This role will be responsible for providing excellent customer service and maintaining positive business relationships with both internal and external customers and vendors.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ensure that all existing and new product innovations comply with local and international laws, rulings, and regulations affecting the use of ingredients, formulas, nutrition, labeling, advertising, and other marketing materials
• Conduct artwork review to ensure compliance with regulatory standards
• Ensure regulatory compliance for new and existing product labeling and registration from a global perspective
• Serve as an advisor to the New Product Development team to provide regulatory requirements/guidelines
• Assist in the generation of regulatory documentation and SOPs
• Review requests via Product Life Management (PLM) in full compliance with applicable regulatory obligations
• Oversee regulatory standards, systems, processes and standard operating procedures and verify that operating actions meet requirements as defined by the company, federal, state and foreign statutes
• Coordinate with third-party certification groups, providing all necessary documentation to ensure approval; support onsite inspections/audits at our facilities for compliance with certification standards
• Develop and manage the process of identifying key regulatory timelines and regulatory critical path activities
• Support the Director of Global Regulatory Affairs by providing research and analysis to draft, submit and represent application data to regulatory authorities
• Track global regulatory activities; assess new ingredients, evaluate impacts, and comment on labeling proposals. Provide insights on key legislation.

WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Professional Experience – At least three (3) years of recent experience in regulatory affairs is preferred
• Recent experience in the Food & Beverage or Consumer Packaged Goods industry is strongly preferred
• At least two (2) years of recent experience with SAP PLM including specification review and document creation

ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES (KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES)

The candidate who will be a strong motivational/ cultural fit should demonstrate a high degree of the following traits:

• ADAPTABILITY/FLEXIBILITY - Maintaining effectiveness in varying environments and with different tasks, responsibilities, and people. Ability to adjust to changes in context.
• BUILD STRONG WORK RELATIONSHIPS - Seeks, listens to and acts on the input of people at all levels.
• CONTINUOUS LEARNING - Actively identifying new areas for learning; regularly creating and taking advantage of learning opportunities; using newly gained knowledge and skill on the job and learning through their application.
• DEPENDABILITY/RELIABILITY/RESPONSIBILITY - Taking responsibility for one’s action. Being known as someone that will deliver on their areas of responsibility and can be counted on, even under difficult circumstances.
• FOCUS ON RESULTS - Persists to overcome obstacles; Challenges people at all levels to exceed current levels of performance; Move peoples focus from analysis to action.
• INITIATIVE - Self-starting rather than accepting passively; taking action to achieve goals beyond what is required; being proactive; asserting one's influence over events to achieve goals.
• MANAGING COMPLEXITY - Keeping focused on key objectives and results when addressing the details of a situation. Makes timely decisions using available facts in ambiguous situations
• PROCESS IMPROVEMENT - Ability to reduce waste, inefficiency; standardize or simplify activities to the benefit of the customer.
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT - Managing resources, time, money, and scope in the completion of a set of activities which lead to the achievement of an objective(s).
• SYSTEMATIC THINKING/ACTION - Understanding how things influence one another as a whole. Ability to manage inter-connections in a way that creates better processes.
• TEAMWORK - Working effectively with team/work group or those outside the formal line of authority (e.g., peers, senior managers – not subordinate)

EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s Degree in Regulatory Affairs, Food Science, Chemistry, Business Administration or related field is required plus 2 years of applicable regulatory work experience
• Knowledge of the Food & Beverage or Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry is strongly preferred

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

• None although multilingual is preferred (English, Spanish, Portuguese)

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

• None

TRAVEL

• Less than 10%, some international travel may be required

REWARD PACKAGE

• Competitive salary  

• Full benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401K and other benefits

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.