Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist - Dairy

Location:

Hackensack, NJ (Hybrid – 2-3 days onsite; shuttle service available from NYC)

Salary: $105,000–$135,000

We are seeking an experienced Regulatory Affairs Specialist – Dairy to provide regulatory leadership across our dairy portfolio. In this highly autonomous role, you will serve as the regulatory subject matter expert for dairy products, ensuring compliance while enabling innovation, renovation, and commercialization across North American markets.

Working closely with R&D, Marketing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams, you will interpret complex dairy regulations and translate them into practical business guidance that supports compliant product development, labeling, and consumer communications.

• Regulatory Leadership
  • Serve as the regulatory subject matter expert for dairy products across North America.
  • Interpret and apply U.S. and Canadian food regulations, including dairy standards of identity, ingredient regulations, nutrition labeling, allergen requirements, and health and nutrition claims.
  • Partner with R&D to provide regulatory guidance throughout the development and renovation of dairy products, including milk, cheese, butter, cream, cultured dairy, and dairy-based innovations.
  • Lead regulatory assessments for complex or high-risk projects, identifying compliance risks and recommending mitigation strategies.
  • Review product formulations and ingredients to ensure regulatory compliance before commercialization.
  • Support regulatory submissions, notifications, and interactions with regulatory authorities as needed.
• Innovation & Portfolio Support
  • Partner with Innovation teams to ensure new dairy products and renovations meet regulatory requirements while supporting speed to market.
  • Monitor emerging regulations affecting the dairy industry, including standards of identity, labeling modernization, sustainability, clean label initiatives, and nutrition policy.
  • Assess the regulatory impact of new ingredients, processing technologies, and product claims.
  • Support portfolio compliance reviews and identify opportunities to strengthen regulatory governance.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of internal regulatory processes, guidance documents, and best practices.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Act as the trusted regulatory advisor for multidisciplinary teams across R&D, Marketing, Quality, Supply Chain, Procurement, and Commercial.
  • Review and approve product labels, packaging, ingredient statements, nutrition facts, allergen declarations, and marketing claims.
  • Clearly communicate regulatory requirements, risks, and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Mentor junior regulatory professionals through technical coaching and quality review.

Potential future career paths include:
Regulatory Affairs Manager, Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, Nutrition & Regulatory Manager.

• Master's degree in Food Science, Food Law, Regulatory Affairs, Dairy Science, or a related scientific discipline.
• Minimum of 5–8 years of Regulatory Affairs experience within the dairy, food, or FMCG/CPG industry.
• Demonstrated experience supporting dairy product development from concept through commercialization.
• Strong understanding of U.S. and Canadian food regulations governing dairy products.
• Experience interpreting legislation and translating regulatory requirements into practical business guidance.
• Proven ability to manage regulatory risk while influencing cross-functional teams.

• Experience with cultured dairy, butter, cheese, milk, cream, dairy ingredients, or functional dairy products.
• Familiarity with regulatory interactions involving the FDA, USDA, CFIA, and Health Canada.
• Experience supporting innovation within branded consumer packaged goods.

• Advanced knowledge of: U.S. FDA and Canadian food regulations, dairy standards of identity, nutrition labeling and allergen labeling, ingredient compliance, health and nutrition claims, packaging and advertising regulations.
• Strong understanding of dairy manufacturing processes and product lifecycle management.
• Awareness of emerging topics including:
  Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs), GLP-1 consumer trends, Clean Label, Dairy protein innovation, Sustainability and environmental labeling.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Highly organized, with the ability to independently manage multiple complex regulatory projects.

Occasional travel required.