R&D Raw Materials Spec Manager

We are Reckitt

Home to the world's best loved and trusted hygiene, health, and nutrition brands. Our purpose defines why we exist: to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We are a global team united by this purpose. Join us in our fight to make access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness, and nourishment a right and not a privilege.

About The Role
This is a role at the heart of the transformation that PLM will bring to R&D and Core Reckitt. You will be responsible for a portfolio of raw material specifications in Core Reckitt, pioneering the new ways of working for how Reckitt's (General) specifications are written and their relationship with supplier specifications. You will help drive the simplification of our raw materials portfolio and deliver an enduring positive change in the way in which R&D develops and delivers new products to market. Working within core Reckitt, you will play a lead role in executing the end-to-end business process for raw material specifications, from their creation to their retirement. You will be part of a dedicated team of raw material specification managers, reporting to the Specification Management Leader for Raw Materials. You will work closely with the Business Process Leader for raw materials (BPL-RM) who will own the process for specification management that you and your team will follow. You will also work closely with the BPL-RM to set the data quality standards for raw material specifications. Your primary role is to write new raw material specifications and revise existing ones as required by the R&D Category and PDM teams, following the Business Process defined by the BPL-RM, and in the process raise the quality of raw material specifications to that defined in the data quality standard. This will be a collaborative activity, taking inputs from adjacent functions such as Quality, Regulatory, Consumer Safety, Procurement and Manufacturing and using your judgement and experience to strike the optimum balance when some of these requirements are in conflict.

Your responsibilities

• Responsible for a pre-defined portion of Core Reckitt's Raw Material Specifications portfolio.
• Consolidate our raw material specification portfolio, removing duplicates, increasing the number of crosssite RM specs where applicable, and broadening the range of our RM specs where appropriate, at all times ensuring they meet the holistic needs of our business.
• Define a set of data quality standards for our raw material specification portfolio and raise the quality of our RM specs to meet these standards.
• Set up KPIs to track our progress towards the goal of a RM spec portfolio reduced in size and of higher quality.
• Follow the process for RM specification management that is defined in our new Product Operating model.
• Work with Procurement colleagues and the raw materials governance team to ensure that our RM specportfolio is developed whilst being mindful of the raw materials and associated suppliers that our procurement organization is guiding us to.
• Collaborate with and nurture good working relationships with our partner organizations who will provide input into specifications, namely regulatory, safety, quality, procurement, manufacturing and of course R&D Category and PDM teams.

The experience we're looking for

• Good degree in a relevant technical discipline, ideally Chemistry.
• Good communication, influencing and interpersonal skills with the ability to operate successfully in various team capacities and a multi-cultural environment and with external partners.
• Good technical knowledge of product compositions in terms of the functional roles of raw materials, their properties, and factors that affect their use and suitability in products such as regulations and consumer safety considerations.
• Experience of writing specifications in a PLM environment e.g. TDS, Optiva etc.
• Strong IT literacy with proficiency in the use of the MS Office product suite.
• Self-motivated with strong planning, organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to effectively prioritise and execute tasks under pressure.
• Good commercial awareness and understanding of corporate codes of conduct.
• The business language is English, therefore fluency in English is essential and fluency in other languages advantageous.
• A good understanding of the product lifecycle and of regulations impacting the FMCG sector.
• Working knowledge as a practitioner in several of the following areas: procurement of raw materials, identification of fit for purpose raw material from suppliers, formulation development, specification management, raw material portfolio management, complexity reduction, raw materials management, hand over to manufacturing, regulatory and safety assessment as they apply to raw materials e.g. REACh.
• It is preferred that the above working knowledge has been gained within Reckitt such that the individual already has established, relevant Communities of Practice in which they work that can be built upon. If not from within Reckitt, it is preferred that the above working knowledge has been gained within either an FMCG and/or pharma environment.

The skills for success

Essential FIT Criteria

• Experience of working with Raw Materials in a context of formulating new products (good technical knowledge of product compositions in terms of the functional roles of raw materials, their properties, and factors that affect their use and suitability in products such as regulations and consumer safety considerations)
• Experience of leading change management/ managing projects in a transformation context.

What we offer

With inclusion at the heart of everything we do, working alongside our four global Employee Resource Groups, we support our people at every step of their career journey, helping them to succeed in their own individual way. We invest in the wellbeing of our people through parental benefits, an Employee Assistance Program to promote mental health, and life insurance for all employees globally. We have a range of other benefits in line with the local market. Through our global share plans we offer the opportunity to save and share in Reckitt's potential future successes. For eligible roles, we also offer short-term incentives to recognise, appreciate and reward your work for delivering outstanding results. You will be rewarded in line with Reckitt's pay for performance philosophy.

Equality

We recognise that in real life, great people don't always 'tick all the boxes'. That's why we hire for potential as well as experience. Even if you don't meet every point on the job description, if this role and our company feels like a good fit for you, we still want to hear from you. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, disability or medical condition; colour, ethnicity, race, citizenship, and national origin; religion, faith; pregnancy, family status and caring responsibilities; sexual orientation; sex, gender identity, gender expression, and transgender identity; protected veteran status; size or any other basis protected by appropriate law.