Job Description
This is a key role supporting our international retail customers, suppliers and internal teams, helping to ensure our products meet customer-specific, territory-specific and product safety requirements across categories including books, toys, stationery, craft and lifestyle products.
You’ll work closely with teams across Creative, Product Development, Procurement, Production and Sales, as well as external compliance consultants, testing partners and suppliers. From coordinating product safety documentation to identifying potential compliance risks and improving processes, you’ll play an important part in helping our products reach customers around the world smoothly, safely and on time.
Key Duties
International customer compliance
- Manage and coordinate compliance requirements for international retail customers, ensuring customer-specific standards, documentation and approval processes are met in a timely manner.
- Act as a key point of contact for internal teams on international compliance requirements, helping colleagues by providing clear guidance on customer expectations, timelines and compliance requirements.
- Support customer onboarding and new business opportunities by identifying compliance requirements early and helping to ensure these are achievable.
- Work with Sales and Account teams to understand upcoming customer or territory requirements and ensure these are factored into planning.
- Build knowledge of key international retailer requirements and use this to support smoother product development and approval processes.
- Liaise with external third parties, compliance platforms, testing partners and consultants to ensure information is accurate, complete and submitted on time.
- Support the business in identifying potential compliance risks relating to international customers and territories, escalating and proposing solutions where appropriate.
Product safety and technical compliance
- Provide advice and coordination on product safety testing requirements, liaising with external safety consultants where specialist guidance is required.
- Support compliance across product development and manufacturing, ensuring that requirements are understood from concept stage through to final production.
- Work closely with Creative, Procurement and Production teams to ensure the correct product, component, supplier and testing information is obtained.
- Coordinate safety testing and compliance documentation for relevant products, ensuring critical paths are met and any issues are communicated promptly.
- Maintain accurate compliance records, including certificates, declarations, test reports, supplier documentation and customer-specific compliance files.
- Support with cross-referencing existing safety testing certificates wherever possible, helping the business avoid duplication and improve efficiency.
- Ensure any compliance concerns are raised clearly and quickly so they can be resolved before they impact customer delivery or product launch dates.
Supplier, manufacturing and third-party compliance
- Liaise with suppliers and manufacturers to obtain required compliance certifications, test reports, ethical documents and supporting information.
- Monitor supplier compliance documentation, including expiry dates, missing information and customer-specific evidence requirements.
- Work with suppliers to close information gaps and escalate concerns where standards are not being met.
- Support the assessment of whether suppliers are fit for purpose for customer and territory requirements.
- Help ensure new suppliers provide the necessary compliance information as part of the onboarding process.
- Develop strong working relationships with third-party compliance contacts, testing houses, consultants and customer compliance teams.
- Use external contacts and industry knowledge to keep Curious Universe informed of emerging compliance trends, risks and expectations.
Process improvement and strategic support
- Review, maintain and improve compliance processes to ensure they are clear, efficient and embedded across the business.
- Take ownership of relevant compliance trackers, databases, Dynamics fields and filing systems.
- Identify opportunities to streamline compliance workflows, reduce duplication and improve visibility across teams.
- Support the Head of Department with strategic compliance planning, including future customer requirements, territory expansion and business risk.
- Help create practical guidance for internal teams so that compliance requirements are understood and followed consistently.
- Take a proactive approach to resolving compliance issues, working cross-functionally to identify practical solutions and keep projects moving forward.
- Proactively communicate progress, risks and blockers to ensure deadlines are met.
- Build strong relationships internally and externally to support smooth processes, fast communication and effective problem-solving.
Required skills
- Previous experience in a compliance, product safety, product development, manufacturing, quality assurance or technical coordination role.
- Experience working with product compliance requirements in a consumer product environment.
- Awareness of international product safety frameworks (including US and EU requirements).
- Understanding of safety testing, certification processes and compliance documentation.
- Experience working with suppliers, manufacturers or Far Eastern supply chains.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines and customer requirements at once.
- Excellent attention to detail and confidence handling technical documents, certificates and product information.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across internal teams and external partners.
- Confidence liaising with third parties, consultants, suppliers and/or customer compliance contacts.
- Ability to think ahead, identify risks and suggest practical solutions.
- Ability to balance compliance, commercial considerations and delivery timelines to support practical decision-making.
- Comfortable making balanced decisions in a fast-paced environment where information, customer requirements or timelines may evolve.
- Strong administration, database management and process ownership skills.
- A proactive, positive and tenacious approach.
Desirable
- Experience working with international retailers or major retail customer compliance requirements.
- Experience using third-party compliance portals, platforms or customer approval systems.
- Experience interpreting customer-specific compliance manuals, testing protocols or retailer requirements.
- Existing contacts or networks within the compliance, testing, certification or product safety world.
- Experience in books-plus, toys, stationery, craft, gifting, publishing or children’s products.
- Knowledge of product development and manufacturing processes.
- Experience supporting compliance across multiple territories.
- Supplier compliance experience.
- Sustainability or ethical sourcing knowledge.
- Experience working with critical paths and product launch deadlines.
Benefits
- Bereavement leave
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Free fitness classes
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- Paid volunteer time
- Referral programme
- Sick pay
- Work from home