Director, Circularity

Tarkett; Solon (IA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and holidays

Life and disability insurance

Career growth, stability, and flexible

Job summary

Tarkett is seeking a Director, Circularity to lead strategy and execution across Take-back, recycling pathways, and regulatory readiness for North America. The role interfaces with customers, sales teams, and external stakeholders, translating technical work into credible, sales-enabled messaging.

The ideal candidate has a strong sustainability background, 7+ years of relevant experience, and a proven ability to navigate EPR frameworks, develop partnerships, and drive post-use recycled content

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, engineering, sustainability or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years experience in sustainability, circular economy or regulatory compliance, in manufacturing or building products.
• NAVIGATING Extended Producer Responsibility or similar regulatory frameworks.
• Experience designing or managing take-back, reclamation or recycling partnerships.
• Working knowledge of LCA, EPDs and related transparency tools.
• Strong executive presence and ability to present complex sustainability content to leadership and customers.
• Ability to travel for customer, partner, and industry engagements.

Responsibilities

• Lead ReStart program strategy and execution, updating scope, logistics, and economics.
• Identify and manage recycling pathways and partnerships to expand end-of-life options.
• Monitor EPR regulatory developments and translate requirements into operational plans.
• Present circularity strategy to customers, architects, and internal teams; develop credible materials.

Skills

Executive presence

Stakeholder engagement

Regulatory knowledge

Sustainability expertise

Public speaking

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, engineering, sustainability, or related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Life Cycle Assessments (LCA)

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

Job description

Tarkett is looking for a Director, Circularity to join our talented team. Tarkett has been designing flooring for material recovery and reinvesting recycled content back into our products for decades. The Director, Circularity carries that commitment forward, turning it into a strategy for material innovation, regulatory readiness, and customer trust, not just landfill diversion. This role owns four connected priorities: 1) advancing the strategy behind Tarkett’s ReStart® take-back and recycling program to align with today’s market and regulatory realities; 2) own and develop the relationships that support end-of-life recycling to be effective technically and economically; 3) monitoring and advising appropriate preparation and responses to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations reshaping how flooring producers operate across North America; and 4) enabling post-use recycled content across product lines. The role is also a key Tarkett voice on circularity in front of customers — translating technical work into credible, sales-enabling presentations for architects, designers, specifiers, end-users, and internal sales teams. This is an influence and execution-oriented leadership role. It requires someone who moves fluidly between regulatory detail, materials and supply chain strategy, and external stakeholder presentation; and who treats end-of-life utility as a design and business input, not a marketing topic.

Key Responsibilities

ReStart® Program Strategy & Execution

• Lead the strategic advancement of Tarkett’s ReStart take-back and recycling program, updating its scope, logistics model, economics, and end-market outlets to reflect current market and regulatory conditions.
• Recommend and implement change in the program model and build the operational and financial case for reclamation capacity, including potential partnership or investment where needed.
• Establish and track program performance metrics: total collected by product type, volume diverted from landfill, cost details, recycling pathway, and other measurements as needed.
• Conduct a thorough feasibility and viability analysis of various recycling pathways.
• Own the customer- and field-facing mechanics of ReStart, ensuring sales and operations teams can leverage and execute the program consistently.
• Direct the overall execution of ReStart, from the management of reverse logistics to the end use of materials.

Recycling Pathways & Partnerships

• Identify and manage strategic relationships with recyclers, reclaimers, and materials-recovery partners to expand viable end-of-life pathways across Tarkett’s product categories.
• Work with R&D and product design to address technical barriers to closed-loop recycling, such as material separability at end of life.
• Represent Tarkett in industry coalitions, producer-responsibility organizations, and multi-stakeholder circularity initiatives shaping emerging collection and recycling infrastructure.

EPR Monitoring & Regulatory Strategy

• Own Tarkett North America’s monitoring of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and related producer-responsibility legislation affecting flooring products across U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
• Translate regulatory requirements — registration, reporting, recycled-content mandates, collection-program obligations — into operational compliance plans, in partnership with Legal and Regulatory Affairs partners.
• Serve as Tarkett’s primary point of contact with Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) and represent the company in regulatory comment periods and trade-association working groups.
• Maintain a regulatory risk register and brief leadership regularly on upcoming compliance deadlines and legislative developments, given how frequently these timelines shift.

Customer & Stakeholder Engagement & Execution

• Serve as Tarkett’s subject‑matter expert and primary presenter on circularity and ReStart for customers, architects, designers, distributors, and internal sales teams.
• Develop and maintain customer‑facing materials — presentations, case studies, diversion certificates — that translate technical circularity work into credible, sales‑enabling content.
• Support responses to customer and specifier sustainability inquiries related to circularity and end‑of‑life performance.
• Direct the coordination of reclamation and logistics resources to satisfy customer needs.
• Partner with Marketing to ensure external communications about circularity claims are accurate and defensible.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, engineering, materials science, sustainability, business, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in sustainability, circular economy, materials/recycling program management, or environmental regulatory compliance — ideally within manufacturing, building products, or flooring/textiles.
• Demonstrated experience navigating Extended Producer Responsibility or other producer‑responsibility regulatory frameworks.
• Experience designing, launching, or managing take‑back, reclamation, or recycling partnership programs.
• Working knowledge of sustainability concepts and tools, like Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and related sustainability transparency tools.
• Strong executive presence and a proven ability to present technical sustainability content to customers, senior leadership, and external audiences.
• Ability to travel for customer, partner, and industry engagements.

Tarkett Leadership Traits

• Thinks business: seeks the opportunity and connection with business strategy
• Accountable: seeks ownership and is a driving force behind initiatives.
• Risk for results: handles uncertainty well and is comfortable with measured risks.
• Kind to customers (external and internal): will go the extra mile to make Tarkett the nicest company to do business with.
• Empowers collaboration: shares responsibility and engages others to be stronger together.
• Talent developer: respects diversity, attracts, develops own and other talents at their best; ensures continuous learning.
• Thorough: peels back the onion, understands the details as well as the big picture.
• Asks why, is curious to understand and explore new ways of doing things.

Other Compensation

This role is eligible for an annual performance-based bonus.

What We Offer

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• Life and disability insurance
• Career growth, stability, and flexible work arrangements.

Responsible Manufacturing – Protecting Our Planet for the Future

We utilize renewable energy and a closed loop recycled water process. We are committed to reducing greenhouse emissions and water consumption. We are the only flooring company recognized by the Asthma and Allergy foundation.

Who we are:

With a history of more than 140 years, Tarkett is a worldwide leader in innovative and sustainable flooring and sport surface solutions, generating turnover of €3.3 billion in 2025. The Group has close to 12,000 employees, 25 R&D centers, 8 recycling centers and 33 production sites. Tarkett creates and manufactures solutions for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, stores and sports fields, serving customers in over 100 countries. To build “The Way to Better Floors,” the Group is committed to circular economy and sustainability, in line with its Tarkett Human‑Conscious Design® approach.

www.tarkett-group.com

Tarkett is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity in backgrounds and in experiences and promote an inclusive workplace where all employees can perform at their best.

As a worldwide leader of the flooring industry, we design, manufacture and provide our customers the most innovative and sustainable flooring and sports surface solutions. At Tarkett, we cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship with respect and trust. We make conscious choices, for people and for the planet and we commit to be next to your every step of the way. At Tarkett we help create great spaces. We believe in taking care of our people, our customers and our planet. We believe in being agile and performance-driven in everything that we do in order to find the best flooring and sports surface solutions.

https://www.tarkett.com/