Regulatory Affairs Manager

As we continue our mission to make people and nature happy through re-inventing chocolate, we are looking for a Regulatory Affairs Manager to join our Technical Team on a permanent basis. As Regulatory Affairs Manager, you will play a pivotal role in driving the compliance and regulatory strategies for our dynamic UK and US product portfolios, ensuring adherence to the latest regulatory and food safety standards.

Leading a dedicated team, you will ensure timely regulatory approvals, accurate labelling, and continuous compliance with ever-evolving regulations, all while supporting the seamless management of product lifecycles in both markets. This role is all about collaboration, as you will work closely with cross-functional teams and external regulatory bodies to ensure the successful launch and ongoing success of our products.

With the team recently having achieved an AA Grade from a Food BRC Audit, a key part of this role will be to continue inspiring, coaching, and growing our team members whilst building a culture of accountability, trust and continuous improvement to enable continued success and growth.

As well as a competitive salary and a range of company benefits including private healthcare cover, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and Company pension contributions, you will receive a 50% discount on all products, and a 70% discount for you and your guests when you stay at our Rabot Estate hideaway on the paradise island of Saint Lucia. Here at Hotel Chocolat, we have adopted hybrid working, meaning that when you are not joining the team onsite, you can work from wherever you like! The onsite locations for this role are at our Factory 'Hadley Park', in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and our Distribution Centre in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire.

What you will be doing:

• Leadership, Team Management & People Development: Lead, mentor, and develop a team of regulatory professionals, setting clear goals and expectations. Conduct regular performance reviews and provide constructive feedback to support individual growth. Foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment that encourages learning and innovation. Identify training and development needs and create opportunities for professional advancement. Support succession planning and ensure the team is resilient and adaptable to regulatory and business changes. Champion cross-functional collaboration, helping to build a high-trust, performance-oriented culture.
• Regulatory Compliance & Strategy: Develop and implement regulatory strategies to ensure compliance with UK and US food safety regulations. Keep up to date with evolving food law, labelling requirements and ingredient regulations in both markets. Ensure all product formulations, ingredients and processing methods meet required regulatory standards. Manage regulatory submissions for new product approvals, ingredient changes and nutritional claims. Collaborate with development, operational, commercial and the broader technical team to assess regulatory risks and provide guidance on compliance.
• Product Labelling & Claims Management: Review and approve product labels, packaging and marketing claims to ensure they meet the UK and US regulatory standards. Ensure compliance with allergen labelling, nutritional declarations, and country-specific labelling laws. Work with marketing and commercial teams to validate claims and sustainability statements.
• Stakeholder Collaboration & Process Improvement: Liaise with government agencies, regulatory bodies, and third-party certification organisations to facilitate approvals and resolve compliance issues. Support internal audits and regulatory inspections to maintain compliance. Identify opportunities to streamline regulatory processes and improve efficiency in product approvals.

This role may also be called upon to deputise for the Head of Technical when required.

Who you are:

To be successful, the Regulatory Affairs Manager will utilise strong leadership, management, and coaching skills to engage the relevant teams and drive the regulatory compliance agenda. They will share their knowledge with the team to achieve the highest standards that Hotel Chocolat is striving for and have a positive can-do attitude which will be essential to build relationships across various departments and promote a robust compliance-focused and quality culture across all business functions.

Essential:

• Proven leadership experience with the ability to inspire, coach and develop teams.
• Demonstrable expertise in Food Regulatory Affairs, Nutrition or a related field.
• Demonstrable experience within Regulatory Affairs role within the food industry.
• Strong knowledge of UK and US food safety regulations and labelling laws.
• Experience in product formulation approvals, ingredient compliance and nutritional labelling.

Desirable:

• Experienced in sustainability certification and nutritional claims management.
• Knowledge of international food safety standards.

We are one of the UK's favourite premium chocolate brands, with a range of products spanning luxury gifts, alcohol and our pioneering drinking chocolate system, the Velvetiser. A cacao pod takes years to grow - it can't be rushed if it's going to be just right for our products. The same can be said for Hotel Chocolat, which originally started as a mint production company before we realised it was luxury chocolate that we were really passionate about. Now, we are market leaders in the industry. What began as an online-only business grew to over 140 stores across the UK, and we are still growing. Today, we are multi-category, multi-channel, and multi-territory, and our customers, colleagues, cacao farmers and suppliers all benefit from the success we make together.