Regulatory & Compliance Manager in Irving, Texas at Promotional Products Assoc International

Position Summary

The Regulatory & Compliance Manager leads the day-to-day management and delivery of PPAI’s product safety & compliance programs, resources and education. This role serves as an internal subject-matter resource, monitoring the evolving regulatory landscape and translating complex product safety and compliance issues into practical, accessible guidance for promotional products industry members.

Working under the Director of Sustainability & Responsibility, the Program Manager will manage established programs including Product Safety Aware (PSA), the Product Responsibility Action Group (PRAG) and PPAI’s Product Tracking Label tool, while identifying emerging regulatory issues and member needs that should inform future resources and programming.

The role works closely across PPAI, including with Professional Development, Public Affairs/Media, Events and Marketing, as well as external legal and technical experts, to ensure members receive timely, credible and useful information, education and resources.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor federal and state product safety, regulatory and compliance developments relevant to the promotional products industry and identify potential implications for PPAI members.
• Conduct ongoing regulatory horizon scanning to identify emerging product safety risks and issues requiring future PPAI attention.
• Translate regulatory developments and complex product safety topics into practical member guidance, tools, resources, and educational programming.
• Manage PPAI’s Product Safety Aware (PSA) program in partnership with Professional Development, including certification requirements, ongoing course maintenance, content updates and identification of future training needs.
• Manage and continuously improve PPAI’s Product Tracking Label tool, ensuring it remains current, practical and aligned with applicable requirements and member needs.
• Manage the Product Responsibility Action Group (PRAG), including meetings, annual workplans, volunteer engagement and coordination of subject-matter expertise.
• Develop and maintain product safety resources, templates, FAQs and implementation guidance for members.
• Support the development of product safety education and programming for Responsibility Summit, PPAI events, webinars and other educational offerings in partnership with Professional Development and Events.
• Work closely with PPAI’s Public Affairs and Media team to identify timely product safety and regulatory topics and provide subject-matter expertise, context and technical review to support Media’s development of articles and Public Affairs coverage.
• Coordinate with legal counsel, regulatory experts and other subject-matter experts to validate guidance and respond to emerging issues.
• Serve as a resource for member product safety and compliance inquiries, providing appropriate PPAI resources and identifying when questions should be escalated to the Senior Director of Sustainability & Responsibility legal counsel or other specialized expertise.
• Monitor emerging areas of product safety risk, including consumer product safety, labeling and tracking, restricted substances, product claims, packaging and EPR requirements, and other regulatory developments relevant to the industry.
• Maintain product safety resources across PPAI.org and other member-facing platforms in coordination with appropriate internal teams.
• Support integration of product safety considerations into broader PPAI Sustainability & Responsibility initiatives where the subject areas intersect.
• Track PSA participation, member resource usage, regulatory inquiries and other relevant indicators to identify trends and inform program improvements.
• Support the Responsibility department in broader strategy.
• This role may include period public-speaking and/or thought leadership engagements.
• Perform other related duties and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• 5+ years of experience in product safety, regulatory compliance, quality, responsible sourcing, consumer products or a related field.
• Working knowledge of the U.S. consumer product regulatory environment and experience interpreting regulatory requirements for practical business application.
• Experience developing or implementing product safety, compliance or risk-management programs.
• Ability to translate complex technical or regulatory information into clear, practical guidance for non-technical audiences.
• Strong project and program management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working cross-functionally with legal counsel, regulatory experts, communications teams, education teams or other subject-matter experts.
• Sound judgment regarding when an issue can be addressed through established guidance and when specialized legal or technical expertise is required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within promotional products, consumer products, retail, manufacturing, importing, supply chain or a related industry.
• Familiarity with CPSC requirements, CPSIA, FTC requirements and other regulatory frameworks affecting consumer products.
• Experience with product testing, certification, labeling, tracking or compliance documentation.
• Experience translating complex regulatory and policy updates to consumer-friendly stakeholders.
• Experience working with volunteer committees, advisory groups or industry associations.
• Familiarity with emerging areas where product compliance and sustainability intersect, including environmental claims, restricted substances, packaging and extended producer responsibility requirements.
• Involvement with or certifications from organizations such as ICPHSO, FLA, ISO, etc. a plus.

Core Competencies

• Product safety and regulatory knowledge
• Regulatory research and interpretation
• Program and project management
• Practical problem-solving
• Clear technical communication
• Risk identification and escalation
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Member service
• Volunteer and stakeholder management
• Attention to detail