Business Operations Manager UK&I

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Traveller, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Svedka, Wheatley, BuzzBallz, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

The Business Operations Manager works within the UK & Ireland Supply Chain and Operations team based in Kingston Upon Thames, London.  The role is Hybrid working with 2 to 3 days per week in the office.  Occasional travel will be required to our offices in Dublin Ireland and Lucerne Switzerland.

The role works alongside the UK & Ireland commercial, marketing and planning teams as well as global manufacturing and innovation / development teams. The 3 main responsibilities are company compliance, product compliance and new product development.   The Business Operations Manager is a unique role within the business with responsibilities in supporting the development in wider business projects, operating as a project manager on key companywide projects as well as improvements within the Supply Chain function.

Key Responsibilities:

Company Compliance

• Take full ownership of company-level compliance relating to packaging regulations across the UK and Ireland, ensuring the business meets all legal and reporting obligations.
• Lead and manage the submission of all packaging waste reporting requirements, including the UK Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, HMRC Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT), Ireland Repack, and Ireland Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), as well as proactively preparing for and implementing any future regulatory schemes.
• Monitor upcoming legislation and industry developments, ensuring the company remains ahead of regulatory changes and adapts processes accordingly.
• Initiate and lead product optimisation projects to improve recyclability and sustainability of packaging, using cost analysis and working through the New Business Development (NBD) process to deliver compliant and commercially viable solutions.
• Partner closely with IT and data teams to continuously improve data capture, reporting systems, and automation related to compliance reporting, ensuring accurate, reliable, and easily accessible information.
• Develop robust internal processes and documentation to ensure compliance activities are repeatable, auditable, and scalable as the business grows.

Product Compliance

• Ensure all active SKUs within the UK and Ireland markets adhere to current regulatory and compliance standards across packaging, labelling, and environmental requirements.
• Conduct regular reviews of the active product portfolio to identify compliance risks or optimisation opportunities, initiating SKU maintenance or improvement projects where required.
• Work collaboratively with the Global Compliance Officer and New Product Development teams to implement product updates driven by regulatory changes or sustainability initiatives.

New Product Development

• Support the successful launch of new products into the UK and Ireland markets by working cross-functionally with supply chain, brand, sales, finance, and NBD teams to ensure smooth delivery from concept through to market launch.
• Assist brand and sales teams with project coordination and tracking across NBD initiatives, helping ensure projects remain on schedule and key milestones are delivered.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date product data within internal product databases and dashboards, ensuring all required information is captured and shared across the business in a timely manner.
• Build strong working relationships across teams to enable effective communication, alignment on project priorities, and successful delivery of new initiatives.

Process Improvement & Business Operations

• Continuously review operational processes across supply chain, compliance, and product management to identify opportunities for simplification, efficiency, and automation.
• Own and develop Power BI dashboards and reporting tools that support data-driven decision making across the supply chain.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes where possible, improving efficiency, reducing risk of error, and freeing up time for higher-value strategic work.
• Work closely with sales, marketing, and operational teams to streamline cross-functional processes, ensuring collaboration is efficient and aligned with business objectives.
• Support the management and clearance of slow-moving or obsolete inventory by tracking performance and ensuring agreed action plans are executed.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by proactively identifying opportunities to enhance ways of working, improve systems, and strengthen operational processes.

Required Qualifications

• Proven experience as Operations Manager or similar role with proven experience in projects within FMCG.
• Strong knowledge of FMCG supply chain and how products launch in the market. Able to manage critical path adherence across functions to mitigate delays and find solutions.
• Good knowledge of product compliance, working with brand managers and product developers to ensure product is complaint for UK & Irish markets.  
• Able lead projects & development across functions including manufacturing, marketing, sales & supply chain.
• Proactive analytical person with great attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and prioritise tasks in a fast-paced environment while remaining focused on process improvement.
• Excellent communication, organisational, and multitasking skills, both internally and with external partners.