Location: Bolton / North Manchester Salary: £35,000–£50,000 depending on experience Contract: Permanent, full-time Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm Working pattern: Office-based initially, with potential for up to 2 days hybrid working once fully established Start: As soon as possible
The opportunity
This is an unusual opportunity for an experienced non-food Product Technologist, Technical Manager or Product Compliance professional to come into a growing importer and supplier and build an in-house technical and product compliance capability almost from the ground up.
Our client designs and imports a broad range of paper-based gifting and stationery products, including gift wrap, gift bags, greetings cards, ribbons, bows, notebooks and related products. Alongside its own ranges, the business has a growing own-label operation supplying major UK and European retailers.
And that growth is creating an interesting challenge.
Regulation and customer compliance requirements within non-food are becoming significantly more complex. UK and EU requirements are evolving, retailers are demanding greater transparency and assurance throughout their supply chains, and areas including sustainability, packaging, materials, testing and factory standards increasingly need dedicated technical expertise.
That's where you come in.
What you'll be doing
You'll take ownership of the technical and product compliance agenda, working closely with the Buying team, overseas factories, customers and senior management.
Your responsibilities will include:
Managing product compliance across predominantly paper-based non-food consumer products. Ensuring products meet applicable UK and EU regulatory requirements. Managing and reviewing product testing, specifications, test reports and supporting technical documentation. Managing factory audit and ethical sourcing requirements, including BSCI and Sedex. Taking responsibility for FSC compliance, including internal FSC audits and associated documentation. Supporting the business with EUDR requirements and the implications for paper and forest-derived products. Managing evolving packaging and environmental obligations, including EU PPWR and UK EPR. Working with suppliers and factories to ensure appropriate compliance standards are understood and maintained. Supporting retailer and own-label customer technical and compliance requirements. Working closely with the Buying team to ensure compliance is considered from product development and sourcing onwards. Carrying out horizon scanning – identifying upcoming legislation and regulatory changes, understanding their likely impact and ensuring the business is prepared before they take effect. Helping establish the systems, processes and controls needed for a growing in-house technical/compliance function. Providing some additional support to the Buying team where required. What we're looking for
We're interested in people who have built their career within non-food product technology, technical compliance, quality or product compliance.
You don't necessarily need to arrive knowing absolutely everything. However, you do need enough relevant experience to understand the fundamentals and start contributing quickly.
Ideally, you'll bring experience in several of the following areas:
Non-food consumer product compliance or product technology. Paper, packaging, stationery, gifting, homewares or related consumer products. Working within a retailer, importer, supplier or consumer-products business. Product testing and technical documentation. Factory and supply-chain compliance. FSC. Sedex and/or BSCI. EUDR. PPWR and/or UK EPR. Working with overseas manufacturers, particularly Far East supply chains. Retailer own-label requirements. Interpreting legislation and translating it into practical actions for a commercial business. Experience specifically within paper-based products would be particularly valuable, but we're open to people from the wider non-food consumer-products sector who have strong transferable technical knowledge.
Most importantly, we're looking for someone who genuinely enjoys the detail: someone comfortable getting into specifications, legislation, audit requirements and test reports and working out what they actually mean for the business.
Why this role is different
You're not joining a large technical department where you'll own one small piece of an established process.
You'll be joining a successful, entrepreneurial business where your expertise will matter.
Initially, the role will sit alongside the Buying team, giving you a detailed understanding of the products, suppliers and sourcing process. As the company's compliance requirements continue to grow, the expectation is that the technical/compliance remit will grow with them – with the potential for this to develop into a dedicated function in its own right.
That means you'll have the opportunity to shape how things are done rather than simply inherit somebody else's system.
There's also variety. You'll work directly with products, factories, buyers, customers and senior management, combining detailed technical work with practical commercial problem-solving.
The business
Our client is a specialist UK importer, designer and supplier of gifting, paper and stationery products.
Products are designed in-house, manufactured through overseas supply partners and supplied into the UK and European retail markets. The business also has a growing own-label operation supporting major high-street and national retailers.
It's a relatively small team, which means people have genuine visibility and influence rather than disappearing into a large corporate structure.
The culture is refreshingly straightforward: work hard and do your job well during working hours – then go home and switch off. This isn't a business that expects people to build their lives around unnecessary overtime.
Location & hybrid working
The role is based at the company's office near Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Because this is a hands-on product role, with physical samples arriving regularly and close interaction required with the Buying team, you'll initially be office-based while learning the business and establishing the function. From month 6-12 onwards (depending on how quickly you get up to speed with products and internal processes) there may be the opportunity for some hybrid working, although in all cases it will be a minimum of 3 days/week onsite
We're particularly interested in candidates based around Bolton, North/West Manchester, Preston, Wigan, Warrington and the surrounding areas.
Salary
There is flexibility depending upon what you can bring to the role, with an anticipated salary in the region of:
£35,000–£50,000
The upper end is available for someone bringing substantial relevant non-food technical and compliance experience who can take ownership of the function quickly.
Interested?
If you're currently working in non-food technical, product compliance or product technology – perhaps within a retailer, importer, supplier or consumer-products business – we'd be very interested in speaking with you.
You may already be a Technical or Compliance Manager, or you might be a Product Technologist ready to take the next step and gain significantly more ownership.
Either way, this is an opportunity to take what you know and use it to build something.
Apply now for a confidential conversation.
Benefits:
Company pension On-site parking Work Location: In person