Global Sustainability Compliance Specialist

The primary mission of the Global Sustainability Compliance Specialist is to safeguard and guide Sonoco’s packaging portfolio through an increasingly complex international regulatory environment. Reporting directly to the Global Sustainability Manager, you will be responsible for reviewing and interpreting critical legislation, notably around packaging design (PPWR), extended producer responsibility (EPR), corporate reporting (CSRD), deforestation (EUDR), and corporate due diligence (CSDDD). On an operational level, responsibilities include handling customer ESG inquiries, coordinating data within sustainability databases, and optimizing compliance documentation workflows. You will also participate in recyclability assessments and industrial trials, manage Sedex/SMETA ethical supply chain initiatives globally, and draft internal guidelines, technical briefs, and training webinars to educate business units on product compliance.

This position offers deep, hands-on exposure to European and global environmental policymaking as it applies directly to high-volume industrial packaging. You will gain thorough expertise in implementing complex directives like the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and CSRD at an operational manufacturing scale. Additionally, you will strengthen technical skills around packaging lifecycle assessments, lab-scale and plant recyclability trials, and database management. Representing Sonoco in industry trade bodies and managing corporate audit platforms like Sedex will broaden your professional network and deepen your knowledge of cross-border supply chain ethics.

The ideal candidate holds a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree related to sustainability, environmental sciences, or packaging engineering, complemented by 2 to 4 years of proven experience in regulatory compliance, corporate sustainability, or product stewardship. Prior experience directly within the packaging, consumer goods, or industrial materials sectors is particularly advantageous. Strong technical literacy regarding circular packaging principles, recyclability standards, and EPR schemes is essential. Because the role bridges technical production, legal compliance, and commercial teams, the candidate must possess fluent English skills, excellent analytical problem-solving abilities, and an aptitude for stakeholder mediation.

To distinguish your profile, highlight your concrete familiarity with recent European sustainability regulations, specifically showing how you have interpreted or implemented PPWR, EUDR, or CSRD requirements in past roles. Avoid vague sustainability statements and focus on practical applications in product design or supply chain validation. Demonstrate your ability to operate across matrixed manufacturing environments. Showing that you can bridge the gap between regulatory mandates and commercial constraints, such as handling high-volume customer ESG questionnaires or conducting material recyclability assessments, will signal immediate operational readiness.

The role centers heavily on product stewardship, circular economy integration, and supply chain accountability. A significant portion of your efforts will focus on ensuring that consumer and industrial packaging formats comply with emerging recyclability, recycled content, and substance restriction mandates. In addition, you will likely address supply chain traceability and human rights due diligence through platforms like Sedex/SMETA, while ensuring product sustainability claims remain transparent, substantiated, and compliant with consumer empowerment directives such as EmpCo.

A primary challenge will be navigating the rapid pace and fragmentation of global and regional environmental regulations. Keeping multi-country packaging operations aligned with shifting EPR frameworks and EU-level mandates requires continuous vigilance and rigorous analytical attention. Another significant hurdle could involve harmonizing commercial and operational priorities with strict sustainability requirements. Mediating between customer expectations, factory manufacturing capabilities, and strict regulatory deadlines demands effective persuasion and diplomatic cross-functional coordination.

A typical day could start with reviewing updates on European packaging directives or evaluating the impact of new EPR reporting rules on current product lines. You might then transition to an alignment call with plant engineers to review lab trials on a newly adapted recyclable paper or plastic container. In the afternoon, you might configure or validate packaging data in an internal IT database, answer technical compliance questionnaires submitted by global consumer brand clients, and collaborate on presentation slides for an upcoming internal webinar designed to train European sales teams on anti-greenwashing rules.

Within a global corporation of Sonoco's size, success in this position opens clear pathways into more senior regulatory affairs, corporate ESG management, or sustainable product innovation leadership. As packaging regulations become central to business continuity, specialized compliance expertise is highly visible to senior leadership. You might expand your responsibilities from regional compliance to leading broader global corporate sustainability strategies, or pivot into operational sustainable procurement or dedicated product eco-design leadership.

Internally, you will collaborate closely with the Global Sustainability Manager, corporate ESG teams, regulatory affairs, research and development (R&D), and plant-level technical teams across various European facilities. You will also interface regularly with commercial sales and marketing teams to address customer requirements. Externally, your main counterparts will include corporate customers, industry packaging associations, external auditors, regulatory bodies, and industry working groups shaping circular economy standards.