OverviewThe Packaging Compliance & Regulatory Manager provides technical leadership and strategic oversight for packaging regulatory compliance across the product portfolio. This role ensures packaging materials and components meet applicable food-contact, chemical, environmental, labeling, and sustainability requirements while supporting innovation, speed to market, and responsible packaging solutions.
Serving as a subject matter expert and strategic business partner, this role works cross-functionally to assess regulatory risk, guide packaging development and commercialization, maintain compliance processes and documentation, and prepare the business for emerging packaging regulations.
Responsibilities • What You'll Do - Lead regulatory compliance assessments for packaging materials, components, suppliers, and packaging changes.
- Interpret and apply food-contact, chemical, sustainability, labeling, and packaging end-of-life requirements across applicable markets.
- Partner with Packaging R&D and cross-functional teams to integrate regulatory requirements into innovation, commercialization, cost-savings, sustainability, and supplier-change initiatives, including providing regulatory review and approval through applicable stage-gate and change-control processes.
- Assess regulatory risks and develop practical recommendations and mitigation strategies that enable compliant innovation.
- Establish and maintain packaging compliance documentation, including supplier declarations, specifications, test reports, and other regulatory evidence.
- Monitor emerging packaging regulations and translate changes into actionable business guidance, implementation plans, and compliance roadmaps.
- Support compliance with packaging sustainability requirements, including EPR, recycled content, recyclability, packaging waste, and end-of-life labeling.
- Partner with Procurement, suppliers, laboratories, consultants, and other external resources to address regulatory requirements and documentation needs.
- Develop methods for pulling data from current systems, analyze packaging data, and partner with IT to ensure accuracy of data for reporting. Develop models to assess regulatory impacts, including packaging usage and fee-based requirements.
- Lead cross-functional discussions, provide training and guidance, and communicate regulatory risks and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Lead cross-functional team in the management of the Regulatory Taskforce program within Marzetti which tracks efforts to assure compliance with regulations for the organization.
Qualifications • What You'll Bring Qualification Requirements: Required - Bachelor's degree in Packaging Science, Food Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Regulatory Science, or a related scientific or technical field.
- 8+ years of relevant experience in packaging regulatory affairs, food-contact materials, packaging development, quality, compliance, or a related field within food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, or another regulated industry.
- Knowledge of packaging materials, food-contact requirements, and packaging sustainability/environmental regulations.
- Experience interpreting regulatory requirements and reviewing technical and supplier compliance documentation.
- Experience analyzing large data sets, validating data accuracy, and identifying and resolving discrepancies.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and lead across functions without direct authority.
Preferred - Advanced degree in a relevant scientific, technical, or regulatory field.
- Experience supporting global or multi-market packaging portfolios.
- Knowledge of U.S., Canadian, European, and/or other international food-contact regulatory frameworks.
- Experience with packaging compliance, product lifecycle management, or regulatory information systems.
Supervisory Responsibility: Working Conditions/Environment Works in a normal office environment where the employee is regularly required to speak, see, hear, sit, stand, talk, type, walk and bend while moving about the facility. The noise level in the office is quiet. Occasional travel to plants or meetings is required.
