Head of Compliance
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Head of Compliance
£60,000 to £70,000 + benefits
Full time - Monday to Friday
Hybrid
About the role
We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Head of Compliance to lead the Compliance function within a leading distribution and supply business. The role works closely with Buying, Category Management and Sustainability teams to embed regulatory requirements into sourcing and packaging strategies, helping maintain the organisation's strong reputation for product and supplier compliance.
Why Apply?
Join a market-leading distribution business with a strong reputation for quality, compliance, and innovation. This is an opportunity to contribute to a collaborative, commercially focused environment while developing your expertise and making a real impact.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of compliance professionals, setting clear objectives, KPIs, and performance standards.
- Plan workloads and allocate resources effectively to ensure the compliance function operates efficiently.
- Ensure the business meets all relevant UK and EU regulations relating to food safety, packaging, and hospitality standards.
- Monitor emerging legislation, assess impact in collaboration with Sustainability teams, and prepare the organisation for change.
- Drive continuous improvement through digital tools and process enhancements to increase efficiency and reduce manual workload.
- Work closely with Buying and Category Management teams to embed compliance into sourcing, supplier selection, and product lifecycle decisions.
- Oversee due diligence for new products, including technical documentation, packaging approvals, and supplier audits.
- Provide regulatory guidance during product development, range reviews, and in response to new environmental or industry legislation.
- Maintain accurate and complete compliance data, ensuring correct product setup, classification, and reporting across systems.
- Support commercial decision-making by balancing regulatory requirements with operational practicality and business objectives.
Key Requirements
- Proven experience in a compliance, regulatory, or technical role within catering, hospitality, foodservice, or FMCG sectors.
- Knowledge of food packaging and/or food contact materials is highly desirable.
- Demonstrated experience in managing, leading, and developing teams.
- Strong understanding of food safety, packaging regulations, and relevant regulatory frameworks.
- Experience collaborating with commercial teams, including Buyers and Category Managers.
- Skilled in managing product specifications, technical documentation, and compliance records.
- Ability to interpret legislation and translate regulatory requirements into practical, actionable business processes.
- Highly detail-oriented with a strong focus on governance and compliance standards.
- Commercially savvy, applying a practical and pragmatic approach to decision-making.
- Strategic thinker who can also take a hands-on approach when needed.
- Effective collaborator with the ability to teams.
- Confident and credible when engaging with senior stakeholders.
Want to recruit a similar role?
Cast UK is a leading executive consultancy, providing national recruitment solutions to both clients and candidates. Specialising in, HR, Procurement, Buying, Supply Chain, and Logistics, each member of our specialist team has a professional background specific to their recruiting sector. With this unique insight and knowledge, our consultants are able to place individuals from trainee through to main board. For more information on Cast UK or to discuss how we can find talent for your business then please visit
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Highlight your food safety and packaging regulations expertise at the top as this role specifically requires UK/EU regulatory knowledge
📊 Quantify your compliance achievements: 'Led 8-person team through 15 supplier audits, achieving 98% compliance rate'
🌐 Emphasise your FMCG or foodservice sector experience as the advert specifically mentions catering, hospitality, and FMCG backgrounds
🎯 Showcase your team leadership experience with specific metrics about team size and performance improvements you've delivered
🤝 Demonstrate your commercial collaboration skills by highlighting work with Buying, Category Management, or similar commercial teams
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Led 12-person compliance team through implementation of new EU packaging regulations, achieving 100% supplier compliance across 450 product lines within 6-month deadline
- •Collaborated with Category Management teams to embed food safety requirements into sourcing strategies, reducing non-compliance incidents by 85% over 18 months
- •Implemented digital compliance tracking system that reduced manual documentation workload by 60% whilst improving regulatory reporting accuracy to 99.2%
Free to copy — tailoring requires a 30-sec CV upload.
Your cover letter is ready
We've drafted a cover letter for Cast UK Limited. Preview the opening, then unlock the full personalised version.
Letter preview — tailored to Cast UK Limited
Dear Hiring Manager,
Cast UK Limited's Head of Compliance position represents exactly the strategic leadership opportunity I've been seeking in food safety and packaging regulations. My background in FMCG compliance and team leadership aligns perfectly with your need for someone who can embed regulatory requirements into commercial sourcing strategies.
My background in leading compliance teams through complex UK and EU regulatory landscapes, combined with hands-on experience in supplier audits and technical documentation management, positions me well to drive your compliance function forward whilst maintaining strong commercial relationships.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›How do you stay current with changes in UK and EU food safety regulations?
- ›Describe your experience with food contact materials compliance
- ›What digital tools have you used to improve compliance processes?
- ›How do you conduct supplier audits and due diligence assessments?
- ›Explain your approach to managing product specifications and technical documentation
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you had to balance regulatory requirements with commercial objectives
- ›Describe how you've developed and mentored a compliance team
- ›Give an example of when you had to prepare your organisation for new legislation
- ›How do you handle conflicting priorities between compliance and commercial teams?
- ›Describe a situation where you improved compliance processes through digital transformation
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you had to balance regulatory requirements with commercial objectives
Describe how you've developed and mentored a compliance team