Vice President, Global Compliance Lead

tms; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 265,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401(k)

Paid time off

Job summary

tms seeks a strategic leader to serve as VP, Global Compliance Lead, governing regulatory, environmental, safety, and client-mandated compliance across its packaging and supplies portfolio worldwide.

You will build a single global source of truth, harmonizing external regulations with internal standards, and lead a cross-functional team to ensure consistent, scalable compliance across markets while proactively identifying risks.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as Packaging Engineering, Chemical Engineering / Materials Science, Sustainability, Food Safety and Compliance, Supply Chain.
• 10–15+ years of regulatory compliance / quality systems experience.
• Experience leading a team in a global organization.
• Foodservice packaging or consumer packaging industry experience preferred.
• Strong strategic thinking and commercial acumen.

Responsibilities

• Centralize and govern regulatory, environmental, safety, and client/brand compliance globally.
• Establish a single global source of truth for regulatory standards and client requirements.
• Lead anticipatory issues management and proactive risk mitigation.
• Collaborate with Sustainability, Quality & Food Safety, Sourcing, and Legal to align requirements.
• Report regulatory and client requirements regularly and influence strategy.

Skills

Regulatory compliance

Global supply chain

Team leadership

Foodservice packaging

Consumer packaging

Strategic mindset

Commercial acumen

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Packaging Engineering, Chemical Engineering / Materials Science, Sustainability, Food Safety and Compliance, Supply Chain or related field

Job description

tms unites technology, marketing, and sourcing to drive transformational change for the world’s leading brands. With more than 1,400 employees across 28 countries., we offer an impressive range of solutions – from inspiration and innovation to category management and delivery.

Operating as a creative agency, a strategic consultancy, a sourcing business, and a technology provider, we engage with over 110 million customers every single day for our clients, including McDonald’s, Starbucks, T-Mobile, O2, and adidas.

Most importantly, we're a place where you can achieve great things, and be recognized as the best.

What Matters The Most

Breakthrough, business-driving ideas come from extraordinary people with the freedom to be their most authentic selves at work. Authenticity and diversity are critical elements of our business. They can only be realized when we create access and equity for all. We foster a culture of inclusion and belonging and aspire to be ever-evolving.

tms is a place where brilliant people are better together. If you want your ideas to be heard and to contribute to a culture of inclusion and authenticity, bring us your voice! Visit us at tmsw.com.

WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE THIS ROLE

The VP, Global Compliance Lead is responsible for centralizing and governing all regulatory, environmental, safety, and client/brand-mandated compliance requirements across the global packaging and supplies portfolio.

This role will lead a team that establishes a single, integrated compliance framework by consolidating external regulations and client-specific standards into one authoritative global source of truth, ensuring consistency, transparency, and scalability across markets.

The role also leads anticipatory issue management, proactively identifying emerging risks and regulatory changes to enable forward-looking, compliant decisions.

Responsibilities Of The VP, Global Compliance Lead Include

• Centralized Compliance Governance (Core Focus)

Establish and maintain a global “single source of truth” for:

• Regulatory requirements
• Environmental and sustainability standards
• Product safety requirements
• Client and brand-mandated compliance standards (e.g., internal specifications, claims frameworks, brand requirements)
• Aggregate, harmonize, and reconcile external regulations with internal client/brand requirements into a unified framework
• Define global policies, standards, and governance models to ensure consistent application across markets
• Eliminate fragmentation by consolidating compliance ownership into a centralized, globally governed model
• Anticipatory Issues Management (Critical Capability)
• Lead a global anticipatory issues management framework to proactively identify:
• Emerging regulatory changes
• Shifts in environmental and sustainability requirements
• Evolving client/brand expectations and claims standards
• Industry risks across materials, safety, and supply chain
• Assess impact and interdependencies across regulatory and client-driven requirements
• Develop forward-looking guidance, risk mitigation plans, and positioning statements
• Provide early visibility to leadership and clients to enable proactive decision-making
• Cross-Functional & Client Alignment

Partner With

• Sustainability (environmental standards and claims)
• Quality & Food Safety (product safety requirements)
• Sourcing & Supplier Management (supplier compliance and advocacy)
• Legal / Regulatory Affairs (interpretation of laws and standards)

Engage Directly With Clients And Brand Stakeholders To

• Understand evolving internal standards
• Align on compliance expectations
• Translate requirements into scalable global frameworks
• Report at a regular cadence regional regulatory requirements, client/brand requirements, and anticipatory issues
• Ensure compliance requirements are aligned with category strategy, innovation, and cost decisions

The Ideal Candidate

• WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE ORGANIZATION
• Brings regulatory & technical expertise
• Has the ability to interpret complex legislation and translate into practical, scalable requirements
• Delivers proactive risk anticipation and the ability to shift the organization from reactive issue management to proactive horizon scanning
• Experience with structured compliance processes and systems
• Thinks strategically and can leverage compliance expertise to create commercial advantage and win new business

Skills And Experience We Would Like You To Have

• Education - Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as Packaging Engineering, Chemical Engineering / Materials Science, Sustainability, Food Safety and Compliance, Supply Chain, Regulatory Affairs.

Experience

• 10–15+ years of relevant experience, with:
• Regulatory compliance / quality systems
• Global supply chain or category management
• Experience leading and developing a team (preferably in a global organization)
• Foodservice packaging, consumer packaging, or related industries preferred
• Proven ability to manage complex, cross-functional client projects

Skills

• Technical depth in foodservice packaging, consumer packaging.
• Proactive and forward-thinking balanced with structural rigor.
• Enterprise leadership. Especially in an organization requiring matrixed influence and global alignment.
• Strategic mindset and commercial acumen.

Any of the following would be a plus

• MBA particularly with operations or supply chain focus

Starting salary between $265,000-$290,000

Our total rewards philosophy integrates programs for compensation, benefits, recognition, learning and development, corporate culture, corporate citizenship and work-life balance. While individual program components may differ by country, some things remain constant:

• Our commitment to rewarding results
• Opportunities to work with talented and driven individuals at every level of our company who respect each other, treat each other fairly and hold one another accountable for our customers’—and our company’s—success

There's more ...

• Generous medical, dental, vision and other great benefits
• Paid parental and medical leave programs
• 401(k) with a company match component and profit sharing
• 15 days of paid time off plus company holidays
• Tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment assistance
• Inclusive employee resource groups

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

RECRUITING AGENCIES

tms does not accept agency resumes submitted by third-party vendors unless a valid agreement has been signed and the tms Talent Acquisition Team has granted authorization for submissions for a specified position. Please do not submit or forward resumes to our site, tms employees, or any other company location. tms is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.