Producer Manager

About Re-turn

Ireland has one of the most beautiful natural environments in the world, and we want to keep it that way.

Appointed by the Irish government, but operating as a standalone company, Re-turn is a not-for-profit organisation established to run Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), a simple solution to achieving higher collection rates for drinks containers. DRS schemes operate successfully in more than 40 countries. DRS schemes reduce litter, prevent waste, lower emissions and relieve pressure on natural resources.

The Irish scheme went live on 1 February 2024 and has already collected over 2.5 billion drinks containers across the country. This means high quality material can be reprocessed and used to make new products - supporting a truly circular economy.

We're a small but growing team and we've got off to a great start, but there's still plenty to do to ensure Ireland's scheme runs as efficiently as possible and achieves its high recycling ambitions.

Role Summary

We're hiring a Producer Manager to lead the Producer and Distributor function of Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme. This includes producer and distributor membership onboarding, product registration, regulatory reporting, compliance oversight, and ongoing operational support for Producer and Distributor Members.

Your remit spans team leadership, deposit refund governance, monthly and annual producer reporting, data quality improvement, QMS ownership, and risk register management. You will also collaborate cross functionally with Regulatory & Compliance, Finance, Data & Technology, Logistics, Communications, and the wider Operations teams to ensure coherent, audit ready performance across the DRS ecosystem.

This is a strategic operational role requiring demonstrable capability in strategy analysis, strategy implementation, project management, people leadership, and data driven decision making. Qualifications in these areas are a plus; proven experience is essential.

What You'll Achieve:

• A compliant, high performing Producer & Distributor function, with accurate registrations, timely submissions, and strong governance.
• Successful delivery of regulatory and reporting obligations, including monthly declarations, data validations, and SUPD related requirements.
• High quality data standards achieved through structured quality controls, root cause analysis and portal improvements.
• Audit ready QMS documentation and operational processes that withstand internal and external scrutiny.
• Clear organisational alignment across cross departmental systems, data flows, and operational plans.
• Improved team capability via coaching, performance management and structured training.
• Delivery of strategic and operational projects on time and to scope using professional project management disciplines.

What you'll do:

• Lead the Producer team, overseeing OKRs, HR processes, performance management, work planning and capacity alignment.
• Own Producer & Distributor membership management - recruitment, onboarding, contracts, documentation, and compliance assurance.
• Oversee product registration and testing, including RVM compatibility and product data accuracy.
• Manage Producer reporting, including monthly declarations, regulatory submissions, SUPD reporting, and accuracy validations.
• Own the process for escalation and management of non compliant Producers and Distributors
• Lead the Distributor deposit refund process, ensuring decisions, training and documentation meet scheme standards.
• Own the QMS - ensure SOPs, workflows, controls and documentation meet audit and regulatory expectations.
• Maintain operational risk registers, introducing controls and mitigation actions for new and emerging risks.
• Collaborate cross functionally with Regulatory, Finance, Data, Communications and Logistics to ensure aligned reporting, system functionality and operational readiness.
• Lead strategic and operational projects, managing timelines, RAID logs, stakeholders and outcomes.
• Analyse data to support forecasting, reporting, invoicing accuracy and process improvements.

Who Are you?

• A senior operations professional with a proven track record leading complex operational or regulatory programmes.
• A strategic thinker who can analyse options, design solutions, and turn strategy into execution.
• An experienced people leader capable of building capability, driving performance and shaping team culture.
• A project management professional - structured, milestone driven, risk aware and strong in cross functional coordination.
• Data led - you use evidence based insights to make decisions and maintain high data integrity.
• Skilled in stakeholder engagement with credibility across regulatory bodies, stakeholders and internal teams.
• Comfortable in a high compliance, audit heavy environment with strong governance expectations.

Essential

• 7+ years in a senior operational, compliance, regulatory or reporting role.
• Demonstrable project management capability (qualifications a plus)
• Experience in strategy analysis, recommendation and implementation.
• Demonstrable leadership and people management experience.
• Proven data reporting, validation and analysis experience.
• Data analysis capability to drive accuracy and decision making.
• Experience in QMS ownership, SOP development and audit preparation a plus.
• Strong stakeholder relationship management.
• Experience in regulated or high compliance environments
• This role will require travel so a full clean drivers' licence is essential

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in Sustainability, Environmental Management, Packaging, Operations, or related area.
• Experience with environmental regulation, SUPD requirements, or Producer Responsibility schemes
• Experience using AI-powered features in workplace tools to improve efficiency and confident in leveraging generative AI models (e.g., CoPilot,ChatGPT,Claude,Gemini) for daily tasks and workflow optimization.
• Familiarity with FMCG, packaging supply chains or Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks
• Experience handling non compliance workflows.

Benefits Include:

• 23 days annual leave plus 2 company days
• Flexible hours
• Hybrid working - 2 days per week WFH
• Bonus
• Company Pension
• Company Health Care Scheme
• Income Protection
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Onsite parking and Subsidised canteen
• Sports & Social Club