Position Title: Sr Manager R&D Regulatory
Position Type: Regular - Full-Time
Position Location: Sao Paulo
Requisition ID: 33403
We know the importance that food plays in people's lives – the power it has to bring people, families and communities together. Our purpose is to bring enjoyment to people’s lives through great tasting food, in a way which reflects our values.
The Senior Manager Regulatory Affairs LATAM is a critical leadership role within the Scientific & Regulatory Affairs team accountable for developing, implementing, and maintaining our regulatory systems and compliance. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading our LATAM regulatory team and strategy. Key duties include, for example, product composition and label regulatory compliance for finished goods manufactured and sold in LATAM, help ensure export requirements are complied with, horizon scan and interpret regulatory changes that impact McCain business and other regulatory projects (filings etc.), as required.
The position supports the region’s commercial goals and includes key day-to-day business continuity activities, e.g. formula reviews, marketing and nutrition claim exploration, global product commercialization. The position also supports long-term strategies and projects to advance McCain’s regional and global business plans, e.g. clean label alternatives, removing technical barriers to trade, positively influencing regulatory initiatives, among others.
The Sr. Manager Regulatory Affairs is also responsible to represent & defend McCain activities with external stakeholders. The role is expected to be 80% internally focused on supporting the regional R&D, Quality, Marketing & business operations. The other 20% will be externally focused and include work in Technical Committees of Trade Associations or other organizations.
This role reports into the Director R&D of LATAM, dotted-line reporting to the Global Leader of Scientific & Regulatory Affairs. This role is responsible for managing a small team of Regulatory Affairs specialists with direct line accountabilities.
Job Duties & Activities
Responsibilities and Accountabilities
Product compliance
Acts as the subject matter expert on food legislation and guidelines issued by regulatory authorities in LATAM: Interprets legislation requirements, shares industry best practices and recommends regulatory positions. Develops and maintains regional procedures to approve product formulas, ingredients, labels, and other marketing material aligned with business requirements. Consults with Government Relations/External Affairs (GR/EA) on sensitive marketing claims. Suppots business partners (Procurement, R&D, Marketing, etc.) on new product development, product reformulations, product claims exploration and label redesigns as needed to ensure regulatory compliance. Manages regulatory approval procedure, leveraging external consultant where necessary to support expertise. Conducts regulatory risk assessments (regulatory investigation, data collection, industry calibration, etc.) in collaboration with other cross-functional teams, e.g. Global Regulatory, QA/Food Safety, Legal, GR/EA teams. Coordinates special regulatory label/product non-compliance situations to resolution. Advocates and sponsors change management or training initiatives to support cross-functional team members and their contribution to regulatory compliance for continued efficiency and accuracy.
Legislation Watch & Response
Keeps abreast of emerging legislation on key topics such as product composition, ingredients, and food labelling requirements. Communicates and works with cross-functional team members to estimate impact and evaluate state of readiness. Identifies strategies to influence regulatory outcomes. Mitigates potential impact through early interventions. Coordinates implementation of regulatory directives. Monitors and communicates regional emerging legislation to Food Safety team members on microbiological parameters, food contaminants, and Food Safety Management programs.
Commercial Projects and Global Regulatory initiatives
Liaises with Global and other regional regulatory contacts to review compliance on export/import requirements for lift-and-launch operations and facilitates product flows across different markets. Works closely with regional R&D teams and other regional regulatory counterparts to ensure proactive assessment of product design compatibility and anticipate future geographical expansions. Supports regulatory evaluations for new global ingredients or technology solutions. Supports McCain’s Global Regulatory Agenda: Collaborates in the areas of Global Compliance Check documents, Global Issues Management, monitoring and responding to International emerging legislation
Other regulatory activities
Provide support to GR/EA on technical aspects of crisis management related to food labelling and use of ingredients. Supports the Acrylamide Management program for LATAM.Generates, coordinates, or supports responses to customers or Government requests in collaboration with other cross-functional teams (e.g. QA/Food Safety, Legal, GR/EA teams), where appropriate. Coordinates Government approvals/registrations as needed. Leads and executes non-routine regulatory activities or business projects that require investigation, interpretation, and recommendation for decision making (for example, position statements, claims related language or other sensitive labeling topics). Responsible for driving and providing oversight for transformational projects in line with developing effective LATAM regulatory procedures and performance.
External Liaison (Trade Associations)
Participates in relevant Technical Committees of Trade Associations to protect and advance McCain’s interests through:Keeping abreast of Government’s and NGO’s emerging actions on regulatory matters.Providing technical perspective to GR/EA to positively influence proposed Government Legislation and Industry proposals. Requesting support on regulatory issues Sharing and expanding knowledge on acceptable labelling practices Benchmarking/caligrating with industry best practice. Establishes working relationships with regulatory authorities, as appropriate, at the local and national levels to consult and bring potential issues to resolution.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, microbiology or related technical discipline. MS preferred. Minimum ten (10) years of experience working within a large global food manufacturing organization in food regulatory compliance and food safety risk assessment, with at least 3 years in leadership roles within large, complex region or global. Advanced knowledge of Government agencies and regulatory approval pathways. Demonstrated interaction with regulatory authorities to advance issue resolution. Proven participation in Trade Associations and working committees to review regulatory and industry initiatives and positively influence regulatory outcomes. Expertise in LATAM regulatory requirements for raw materials, formula, nutrition, label legal text and claims substantiation. Record of having led transformative initiatives, demonstrating an ability to influence the business to achieve positive results. Experience leading & engaging teams, measuring and measuring work, delegating and coaching. Candidates must have a hands-on approach; demonstrate a strong intellect and proficient skills in communications, combined with a drive to deliver results. Ability to influence key stakeholders and peers. Ability to stand alone, set clear standards and hold others accountable to a critical requirement. Candidates must have high planning capabilities, as she/he will be involved in numerous projects. The ability to engage others to lead or engage in key projects will be essential. Excellent communication skills: is able to effectively and persuasively articulate positions both verbally and in electronic mediums to various audiences including senior executives in a clear, concise and compelling manner. Courage to have difficult discussions with groups from all levels of the organization. Strong team player, highly motivated, who can effectively interface with and present results to all levels of management and teams across the business.Desirable competency in Spanish.
McCain Foods is an equal opportunity employer. We see value in ensuring we have a diverse, antiracist, inclusive, merit-based, and equitable workplace. As a global family-owned company we are proud to reflect the diverse communities around the world in which we live and work. We recognize that diversity drives our creativity, resilience, and success and makes our business stronger.
McCain is an accessible employer. If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process (including alternate formats of materials or accessible meeting rooms), please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.
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Job Family: General & Administration
Division: Global Research and Development
Department: Regulatory LATAM
Location(s): BR - Brasil : São Paulo : São Paulo
Company: McCain do Brasil Alimento