Regulatory Compliance Manager

Richelieu Foods•Wheeling, IL

7d•$95,000 - $120,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Regulatory Compliance Manager leads regulatory compliance, food labeling, product documentation, customer compliance, and sustainability-related compliance activities across the organization. Reporting to the Vice President of Quality Assurance, Food Safety and Regulatory, this role ensures that new and existing products, formulas, labels/ artwork, customer documentation, and related records comply with applicable FDA, USDA, FSIS, customer, company, and emerging regulatory requirements. This role has one direct report, the Regulatory and Sustainability Specialist, and is accountable for setting priorities, providing day-to-day direction, developing backup capability, reviewing work output, and ensuring timely execution of regulatory, customer documentation, and sustainability deliverables. The role serves as a cross-functional leader and partner to Quality Assurance, R&D, Procurement, Operations, Sales, Commercial, Supply Chain, and site teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, Nutrition, Regulatory Affairs, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Sustainability, or a related field required.
5+ years of food industry experience required, preferably in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, labeling, or product documentation.
3+ years of consumer-packaged goods labeling, regulatory documentation, or customer compliance experience required.
Proficient knowledge of FALCPA, FDA labeling requirements, USDA and FSIS regulations, nutrition labeling, allergen declarations, and product claims required.
Strong knowledge of FDA, USDA, FSIS, FALCPA, food labeling, product claims, nutrition labeling, allergen declarations, and customer-specific compliance requirements.
Strong understanding of artwork review, USDA approvals, regulatory documentation, product specifications, customer portals, and commercialization workflows.
Ability to interpret regulations, customer requirements, technical documentation, supplier information, and product data into clear, practical business guidance.
People leadership skills, including prioritization, coaching, accountability, development planning, and follow-up.
Independent, highly organized, and detail-focused with strong critical thinking, sound judgment, and a high level of accuracy.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical issues in clear, business-appropriate language.
Ability to manage multiple projects, shifting priorities, deadlines, customer requests, and cross-functional follow-up in a fast-paced environment.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, Adobe Acrobat, customer portals, document management systems, and regulatory or nutrition analysis software

Nice To Haves

Experience with Genesis or similar nutrition analysis software required; Genesis Foods transition or system migration experience
Experience managing customer portals, product specifications, customer documentation, claim substantiation, and regulatory records
Experience supporting sustainability reporting, ESG initiatives, environmental data collection, packaging documentation, customer sustainability questionnaires, or related compliance requests
Previous experience supervising, leading, or formally directing the work of at least one direct report
Familiarity with Oracle Retail Brand Compliance, Sphera, specification management systems, SharePoint, or similar platforms
Working knowledge of sustainability documentation, ESG reporting support, environmental metrics, customer scorecards, packaging-related customer requirements, and sustainability-related claims or documentation.

Responsibilities

Lead regulatory review and compliance support for new product commercialization, formula changes, product maintenance, and customer-driven changes.
Oversee creation, review, and maintenance of ingredient statements, nutrition facts panels, allergen declarations, country of origin statements, claims documentation, product specifications, and customer-specific forms.
Provide oversight for artwork asset creation and review, including product name and description, net weight, nutrition facts panels, ingredient statements, claims, placement, sizing, and USDA inspection legend requirements.
Manage or oversee USDA label approvals, including sketch approvals, generic approvals, and temporary approvals as applicable.
Review formulas, raw materials, supplier documentation, packaging changes, and finished goods documentation to assess compliance with FDA, USDA, FSIS, customer, legal, and company requirements.
Review and approve new raw materials, matches, and related supplier documentation for regulatory and customer compliance impact.
Lead claim substantiation activities and provide risk-based guidance on product claims, labeling language, customer requests, and emerging regulatory concerns.
Monitor emerging regulations, customer standards, state legislation, labeling trends, ingredient restrictions, and industry developments that may affect products, claims, artwork, specifications, or business practices.
Maintain audit-ready regulatory files, approvals, records, specifications, version control documentation, and supporting materials.
Manage customer documentation expectations and ensure timely completion of questionnaires, certifications, customer forms, nutritional information, ingredient disclosures, organic documentation, BE disclosure support, and other product-related compliance materials.
Provide oversight for customer specification portal management, including portal accuracy, deadlines, routing, updates, and cross-functional follow-up.
Oversee external specifications, including NFILs or equivalent documents, for samples and finished goods.
Partner with Sales, Commercial, R&D, Quality Assurance, and Operations to resolve customer documentation issues, commercialization questions, product specification gaps, and technical inquiries.
Support QA and site teams on specifications, micro standards, testing requirements, code dating, consumer inquiry support, and other customer or quality documentation needs.
Lead management and continuous improvement of Genesis labeling software, specification systems, customer portals, document repositories, and related workflows.
Support development of centralized repositories, trackers, standard work, and workflow improvements to strengthen document control, ownership clarity, and audit readiness.
Prepare regulatory, labeling, customer compliance, sustainability, and project status updates for leadership as needed.
Identify opportunities to streamline recurring documentation, reporting, review, and approval processes.
Provide leadership oversight for sustainability and ESG-related documentation, customer requests, reporting activities, and follow-up actions across the organization.
Partner with the Regulatory and Sustainability Specialist and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure sustainability-related data collection, validation, organization, and reporting are timely, complete, and supported by appropriate documentation.
Support responses to customer sustainability inquiries, retailer scorecards, questionnaires, portal requests, packaging questions, environmental claims, responsible sourcing documentation, and decarbonization-related requests.
Monitor emerging customer expectations, sustainability reporting needs, packaging requirements, environmental compliance trends, and parent company expectations that may affect the business.
Support leadership in evaluating customer sustainability commitments by identifying data gaps, feasibility considerations, compliance risks, and organizational readiness.
Supervise, coach, and develop one direct report, including work prioritization, training support, performance expectations, workflow alignment, and timely feedback.
Develop backup support and cross-training plans to reduce single-point dependency for regulatory, labeling, customer portal, and Genesis-related activities.
Establish an effective meeting cadence and communication rhythm with the direct report to support priorities, issue escalation, development goals, and follow-through.
Support professional development in U.S. and international food laws, labeling regulations, sustainability topics, customer requirements, and relevant software or documentation tools.
Reinforce GMPs, standard operating procedures, food safety expectations, documentation discipline, and safety requirements consistently.
Other duties as assigned.