Head of Anti-Counterfeit in London

Welcome to Haleon. We’re a purpose-driven, world-class consumer company putting everyday health in the hands of millions. In just three years since our launch, we’ve grown, evolved and are now entering an exciting new chapter – one filled with bold ambitions and enormous opportunity. Our trusted portfolio of brands – including Sensodyne, Panadol, Advil, Voltaren, Theraflu, Otrivin, and Centrum – lead in resilient and growing categories. What sets us apart is our unique blend of deep human understanding and trusted science.

Now it’s time to fully realise the full potential of our business and our people. We do this through our Win as One strategy. It puts our purpose – to deliver better everyday health with humanity – at the heart of everything we do. It unites us, inspires us, and challenges us to be better every day, driven by our agile, performance-focused culture.

About the Role

The Head of Anti-Counterfeiting (ACF) serves as a senior strategic leader tasked with formulating and executing Haleon's global anti-counterfeiting strategy. This position is pivotal in safeguarding consumer safety, protecting brand reputation, and preserving business value through the leadership of intelligence-driven, risk-based, and cross-functional initiatives aimed at preventing, detecting, and disrupting counterfeit activities in high-risk markets.

A central responsibility of this role is to coordinate a multidisciplinary approach to anti-counterfeiting by collaborating closely with teams from QSC, Communications, Legal, Commercial, and other key stakeholders. The Head of ACF ensures coherent alignment across diverse functions and regions, facilitating an integrated and effective response to threats posed by counterfeiting.

Leading a specialised team of subject matter experts (SMEs), the Head of ACF works in partnership with the Global Security Operations team to optimize market-level capabilities and enhance engagement with external enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities, and industry coalitions. As an integral member of the Group Security leadership team, the Head of ACF oversees enterprise-wide ACF investigations, enforcement collaborations, and strategic stakeholder engagement. The role manages a globally dispersed team and external vendors to ensure measurable results are achieved through enforcement actions, intelligence gathering, and innovative practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive global anti-counterfeiting strategy aligned with business priorities and risk mitigation objectives, incorporating an intelligence-driven model and defining KPIs to evaluate enforcement effectiveness, ROI, and consumer trust.
• Coordinate cross-functional product protection by facilitating collaboration among QSC, Communications, Legal, and Commercial teams, and develop operational partnerships with internal stakeholders across business, legal, corporate affairs, and communications.
• Develop and deploy anti-counterfeit (ACF) policies, procedures, and SOPs that ensure consistent application internally and externally, supporting both large-scale source manufacturing investigations and standardized market sweep efforts through the Regional Security Manager network.
• Represent Haleon at industry forums, regulatory organisations, and law enforcement bodies, contributing to standards development, information sharing, strategic relationship building, and regular program reporting to senior leadership and stakeholders.
• Maintain relationships with investigation service suppliers to foster innovation, responsiveness, cost management, ROI, and continuous improvement.
• Manage a team of subject matter experts located across different regions, coordinating closely with Group Security Operations to capitalize on their market proximity, thereby enhancing operational scalability and strengthening relationships with external stakeholders.

Operational Execution

• Develop risk assessment and intelligence strategies to identify and monitor counterfeiting trends and oversee the delivery of tactical mitigation for key markets and products.
• Oversee global monitoring of counterfeit activities across online and offline channels.
• Coordinate with law enforcement, customs, regulatory bodies, and industry coalitions to pursue enforcement actions.
• Ensure ACF Program compliance with international IP laws and regulations.
• Supervise investigations and support litigation efforts related to counterfeit activities.
• Manage the global portfolio of third-party ACF contracts.
• Own the global ACF budget, ensuring effective forecasting, spend control, and value delivery.
• Manage relationships with external vendors, including IP enforcement firms and technology providers.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of global counterfeit trends and regulatory changes.
• Own the anti-counterfeit program budget, ensuring effective forecasting, spend control, and ROI.

Technology & Innovation

• Lead the global implementation of a centralised case management platform that automates workflows, captures structured data, and facilitates collaboration across teams.
• Produce actionable insights and trend analyses using case data, integrating predictive analytics and AI to identify threats, prioritise enforcement, and measure ROI.
• Drive interoperability with external enforcement bodies, explore emerging technologies and work cross-functionally to embed anti-counterfeit features into product designs.
• Oversee digital monitoring and enforcement by managing online platforms dedicated to the detection and removal of counterfeit listings across e-commerce sites and social media channels.

Qualifications & Experience

• Significant experience in law enforcement investigations, brand protection and/or anti-counterfeiting, preferably in a global role.
• Experience working with law enforcement, customs, and legal teams across international jurisdictions in market surveillance, investigations, and enforcement actions (including raids and legal coordination).
• Strong understanding of AI-driven tools, machine learning applications, and advanced data analytics platforms to detect counterfeit trends, predict risks, and enhance brand protection strategies.
• Proven experience in investigating and managing complex proactive investigations online and offline.
• Deep knowledge of case management platforms, digital authentication systems, and track-and-trace solutions for managing investigations and enforcement actions.
• Demonstrated success in managing third-party investigation service suppliers and operational budgets.
• Professional certification such as Interpol Intellectual Property (IP) Crime College or recognized university anti-counterfeit or intellectual property program accreditation strongly preferred.

Core Competencies

• Strategic vision and enterprise alignment.
• Strong commercial acumen and budget/vendor management experience.
• Risk-based thinking and continuous improvement.
• Self-motivated and able to act independently, demonstrating sound and ethical judgment.
• Strong analytical and investigative skills.
• Senior leadership & stakeholder engagement and cross-functional influence.
• Exceptional written/oral communication; ability to influence at senior levels and with external authorities.

Equal Opportunities

Haleon are committed to mobilising our purpose in a way that represents the diverse consumers and communities who rely on our brands every day. It guides us in creating an inclusive culture, where different backgrounds and views are valued and respected – all in support of understanding and best serving the needs of our consumers and unleashing the full potential of our people. It’s important to us that Haleon is a place where all our employees feel they truly belong.