Head of Regulatory Affairs North America, Food and Beverage

Novonesis•West Allis, WI

1d•$160,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for the Head of Regulatory Affairs, North America, Food and Beverage, a people manager position where you will lead a team of regulatory professionals. The team's objective is to translate evolving food regulations into actionable guidance for commercial, technical, and operational teams in the US and Canada, enabling safe, compliant growth and innovation. As the manager, you will provide direction, prioritization, coaching, and stakeholder alignment, ensuring strong execution on various regulatory tasks including dossiers, customer questions, product launches, digitalization, change management, regulatory intelligence, and process improvement. The company is currently focused on strengthening regulatory intelligence, digitalizing and harmonizing work processes, and building expertise in emerging ingredients, labeling/claims, and new regulatory pathways across North America.

Requirements

BS degree; or master’s degree preferred in Engineering, Food Science, Pharmacy, Nutrition, Chemistry, Biology, or related Natural Sciences.
10+ years in Regulatory Affairs within the food industry or a related regulated industry
Experience supporting US and/or Canada regulatory deliverables such as enzymes, cultures, probiotics, ingredients, labeling/claims support, dossiers, notifications, and customer/regulatory documentation.
People leadership experience is required, including coaching, prioritization, performance management, and development of regulatory professionals.
Strong regulatory judgment, stakeholder management, people leadership, project prioritization, and communication skills.
Strong computer/IT skills, including working knowledge of Microsoft Office programs.
English (read/write/speak).
Cross cultural awareness and experience working in a global environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience with digital tools, reporting, dashboards, or workflow optimization is a plus.
Spanish is a plus.

Responsibilities

Leading North America Regulatory Affairs activities and people priorities that enable compliant business growth, customer support, innovation, and operational excellence across the US and Canada.
Strategic people leadership by coaching and developing direct reports, including setting priorities, clarifying expectations, supporting performance and development conversations, and building capabilities across US and Canada regulatory topics.
Providing strategic and operational regulatory leadership for relevant food ingredient and food segments in the US and Canada; monitoring, interpreting, and communicating regulatory changes and potential business impact to internal stakeholders.
Ensuring timely, accurate regulatory guidance to internal stakeholders and customers regarding product and ingredient regulatory status, specifications, labeling/claims as applicable, and manufacturing/process considerations; supporting team escalation and decision-making on complex topics.
Overseeing and supporting the preparation of regulatory dossiers, notifications, submissions, and compliance documentation for the US and Canada in collaboration with Global Regulatory Affairs and local resources.
Partnering with business, technical, and innovation teams to define compliant regulatory pathways for new products, line extensions, and process changes, while ensuring regulatory deliverables are prioritized, resourced, tracked, and communicated.
Representing North America Regulatory Affairs in relevant industry or trade association activities, as needed, and building external regulatory insight to support business continuity and advocacy priorities.
Driving continuous improvement, digital transformation, harmonized ways of working, reporting, and internal training to improve transparency, efficiency, and quality of regulatory support.
Supporting procurement-related regulatory processes and supplier/customer documentation needs where regulatory input is required.