Raw Materials Senior Associate - Specification Management

Reckitt; Kingston upon Hull; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Reckitt is seeking a Product Lifecycle Management professional to innovate and improve raw material specifications. This role involves writing and revising specifications in a highly collaborative environment to ensure product quality and regulatory compliance. Candidates with a degree in Chemistry and strong skills in communication and IT are encouraged to apply. Join Reckitt in making a positive impact in the FMCG sector.

Benefits

Parental benefits

Employee Assistance Program

Life insurance for all employees globally

Global share plans

Short-term incentives for outstanding results

Qualifications

• Degree in Chemistry or relevant technical discipline required.
• Experience in writing specifications in a Product Lifecycle Management environment.
• Good commercial awareness and understanding of FMCG regulations.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for a portion of raw material specifications.
• Consolidate raw material specifications, improving quality and removing duplicates.
• Set data quality standards and track progress with KPIs.

Skills

Communication

Influencing

Planning and Organisation

Technical Knowledge of Raw Materials

IT Literacy

Education

Degree in a relevant technical discipline, ideally Chemistry

Tools

MS Office product suite

Product Lifecycle Management tools (e.g., TDS, Optiva)

Job description

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. Research & Development In Research and Development, we're full of highly skilled talents that include Scientists, Engineers, Medical, Clinical and Regulatory professionals - all working to create a cleaner, healthier world. With nine Centres of Excellence, we continually seek out new opportunities by using science, our entrepreneurial flare and our fearless innovation to develop and enhance our existing portfolio, never compromising on quality or performance.

We do the right thing, always, by ensuring we act with responsibility and integrity, by complying with regulatory legislation across the globe, whilst ensuring our products are safe for our consumers and are to the highest quality.

The size of our organisation means you'll have the opportunity to learn and work in different functions within R&D, giving you exposure to different disciplines, teams and environments. You will also have access to our Research and Development Academy, designed to develop our team and allow you to grow in our great organisation. About the role

This is a role at the heart of the transformation, that Product Lifecycle Management 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.

Closing Date: 10th June 2025
If we have sufficient applicants prior to the date above, the listing will be closed. We recommend applying as soon as possible.

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 cross-site 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 spec portfolio 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

-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.
-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 Product Lifecycle Management 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 and organisational skills, with the ability to effectively prioritise and execute tasks under pressure.
-Good commercial awareness, understanding of corporate codes of conduct and of the product lifecycle and regulations impacting the FMCG sector.
-Working knowledge as a practitioner in several of the following areas within an FMCG or Pharma envronment: 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.

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.