Associate Director - Regulatory and Sustainability

BISSELL, Inc.; Grand Rapids (MI); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

BISSELL, Inc. is seeking an Associate Director, Regulatory & Sustainability in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This role involves leading compliance with global regulatory legislation and sustainability standards for all products. You will be responsible for monitoring regulations, developing procedures, and overseeing a team while driving continuous improvement initiatives.

The ideal candidate should have a minimum of 14 years in engineering with significant experience in the Consumer Products Industry. Proven leadership skills and extensive knowledge of global regulations are essential.

Qualifications

• 14+ years of experience in engineering with increasing responsibilities.
• Experience in the Consumer Products Industry.
• Extensive background in Global Regulatory Affairs.

Responsibilities

• Set corporate regulatory and sustainability strategy.
• Monitor global regulatory requirements.
• Lead the team of regulatory engineers.

Skills

Manufacturing processes knowledge

Project coordination

Influencing without authority

English communication skills

Microsoft Office proficiency

Problem-solving skills

Team-building skills

Continuous improvement initiatives

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Law or equivalent

Job description

Overview

The Associate Director, Regulatory & Sustainability leads business compliance to global regulatory legislation and sustainability standards for all of BISSELL’s electromechanical and consumable product lines. This role monitors the evolving regulatory landscape, assesses impact, and communicates requirements and updates through clear reporting and organizational education. The Associate Director partners cross-functionally to establish and maintain reporting standards, ensures regulatory and sustainability initiatives are tracked and delivered annually, and drives capability and knowledge growth across direct reports and broader stakeholder teams.

Responsibilities

• Set the corporate regulatory and sustainability strategy and ensure it aligns with overall business objectives, as well as relevant global requirements.
  • Monitor, interpret, and track status of relevant global regulatory requirements for applicability to all products
  • Implement regulatory strategies that ensure compliance with local, national, and global requirements
  • Liaise with regulatory authorities, representing the company on regulatory matters, where appropriate
  • Coordinate with reporting personnel to submit regulatory registrations, reporting, and documentation
  • Monitor continuously evolving regulatory changes across major global regions and assess their impact on the total company
  • Achieve regulatory goals as outlined in the overall business strategy
• Lead the development of new regulatory and sustainability procedures that have corporate, global, or regional scope based on any new relevant legislation, directives, or similar product guidance.
  • Provide global training and support to team and cross functional partners on best practices
• Support regular maintenance of the product regulatory and sustainability policies, procedures and forms to ensure corporate compliance to the latest standards.
• Maintain working knowledge of current standards, regulations, or legislation that may impact both product and business level regulatory and sustainability requirements.
• Conduct internal audits and compliance reviews to identify and mitigate risk.
  • Coordinate with cross functional partners within global business regions to drive mitigation of compliance risks identified
  • Drive corrective action when non‑compliance risk is identified
• Lead a team of regulatory engineers, analysts, and cross‑functional stakeholders to ensure requirements are met by timelines imposed by regulatory bodies.
• Drive inclusion of regulatory practices and frameworks within the Global Product Development (GPD) and Innovation process.
• Generate and provide reporting for executive management on regulatory performance and tracking to goals.
• Provide strong leadership for direct reports with capacity to mentor and coach, maintaining a high level of job satisfaction among associates.
• Manage on‑going resource and budgetary planning based on business needs and category growth.
• Perform other duties at the request of leadership.

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience

• Degree minimum: Bachelor’s degree
• Specific concentration: Engineering, Law, or equivalent
• Experience level: 14+ years in engineering, with increasing responsibilities
• Experience in the Consumer Products Industry
• Extensive experience with Global Regulatory Affairs initiatives and industry standards

Preferred Education and Experience

• Expert knowledge of global regulatory or sustainability frameworks
• Expertise in relevant regulatory topics (REACH, RoHS, Prop65, EPR, CLP, LVD, PPWR, CSRD, etc)
• Working knowledge of global sustainability frameworks (CSRD, GHG Protocol, etc)
• Expertise in relevant sustainability topics (life cycle analysis, circularity, legislative activities, etc)
• Experience working with global team across time zones and varying regulatory requirements
• Experience with leading large time‑sensitive projects with multiple cross‑functional stakeholders
• Good, self‑motivated project management and time management skills

Required Skills

• Diverse knowledge of manufacturing processes (i.e. plastic molding, metal stampings, assembly, etc.), product development processes, and supply chain management.
• Project coordination and management capabilities, and management of cross‑functional teams
• Ability to influence without formal reporting authority
• Good English verbal and written communications skills
• Good computer skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or equivalent)
• Proactive problem solving skills
• Demonstrated team‑building skills and leadership
• Track record of continuous improvement initiatives
• Willing and able to travel to domestic and international locations