Category Quality Softeners Sr Associate

Home to the world's best loved and trusted hygiene, health, and nutrition brands. Our purpose defines why we exist: to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We are a global team united by this purpose. Join us in our fight to make access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness, and nourishment a right and not a privilege.

**Research & Development**:
In Research and Development, we're full of highly skilled talents that include Scientists, Engineers, Medical, Clinical and Regulatory professionals - all working to create a cleaner, healthier world. With nine Centres of Excellence, we continually seek out new opportunities by using science, our entrepreneurial flare and our fearless innovation to develop and enhance our existing portfolio, never compromising on quality or performance.

We do the right thing, always, by ensuring we act with responsibility and integrity, by complying with regulatory legislation across the globe, whilst ensuring our products are safe for our consumers and are to the highest quality.

The size of our organisation means you'll have the opportunity to learn and work in different functions within R&D, giving you exposure to different disciplines, teams and environments. You will also have access to our Research and Development Academy, designed to develop our team and allow you to grow in our great organisation.

**About the role**:

- Provide leadership for Quality and Compliance excellence to the brands CDO with responsibility for building quality in during the innovation process for category led development. The Category Quality Senior Associate will ensure all products are developed in full compliance with all stipulated regulatory requirements, all internal corporate standards and in compliance with the R&D QMS. They will provide training and support directly to the R&D team to ensure Quality is at the heart of all development work and provide input and support into development of site KPIs and Quality metrics for continuous improvement.

**Your responsibilities**:

- With Category Quality Team Lead support, provide the overall leadership in the areas of quality throughout the development of new and existing products through the category development organisation.
- Responsible for ensuring Category teams work within the requirements of the company Global Quality Standards, Technical Manuals and requisite legislation to meet quality requirements.
- Represent the Category Quality viewpoint to Marketing and R&D, with links to other applicable parts of the business, including Supply, Regulatory, Safety. Provide communication to relevant management and senior stakeholders.
- Work with the Category teams to implement quality strategies based on prevention during development, not inspection during manufacture
- Identify, prioritise, and drive quality improvements within the Category, and lead the communication on those internally/externally as appropriate.
- Partner with Consumer Relations to build feedback into monthly reports and follow up with Category teams on improvement work from consumer trends. Where necessary lead Quality Improvement Programs from the learnings.

**The experience we're looking for**:

- Degree in science, quality, or engineering discipline.
- 3+ years experience in product innovation and/or quality assurance.
- Experience with quality tools such as: SPC, control plans, FMEA, root cause analysis, and other Lean and Six Sigma tools (green belt desirable).
- Ability to deal confidently and effectively with key business partners and suppliers.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Fluent in Italian and English.
- Strong intellectual curiosity, ability to innovate and challenge the status quo.

**The skills for success**:
Commercial Awareness, Business Partnership, Collaboration, Partnership building, Ability to challenge the status quo, Propose improvement, Accountability, Adaptability, Collaborator, R&D, Product Lifecycle Management.

**What we offer**:
With inclusion at the heart of everything we do, working alongside our four global Employee Resource Groups, we support our people at every step of their career journey, helping them to succeed in their own individual way. We invest in the wellbeing of our people through parental benefits, an Employee Assistance Program to promote mental health, and life insurance for all employees globally. We have a range of other benefits in line with the local market. Through our global share plans we offer the opportunity to save and share in Reckitt's potential future successes. For eligible roles, we also offer short-term incentives to recognise, appreciate and reward your work for delivering outstanding results. You will be rewarded in line with Reckitt's pay for performance philosophy.

**Equality**:
We recognise that in real life, great people don't always 'tick all the boxes'. That's why we hire for potential as well as experience. Even if you d