Senior Manager, Global EPR Compliance

Who We Are:

Kontoor Brands is a portfolio of three of the world’s most iconic lifestyle, outdoor and workwear brands: Wrangler®, Lee® and Helly Hansen®. Kontoor Brands is a purpose-led organization focused on leveraging its global platform, strategic sourcing model and best-in-class supply chain to drive brand growth and deliver long- term value for its stakeholders.

Job Posting:

Senior Manager, Global EPR Compliance

The Global EPR Compliance & Circularity Head will establish and lead Kontoor Brands’ global capability for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and related product stewardship compliance. This role will own the operating model for packaging, paper, plastics and textile EPR obligations across applicable markets; coordinate with internal functions to collect and validate reporting data; manage Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) relationships and external advisors; and translate evolving regulations into practical business actions. The role is designed to work in parallel with external advisors during the transition period, while building the internal knowledge, processes and governance needed for Kontoor to ultimately own recurring EPR execution.

Why This Role Matters at Kontoor

Global regulatory growth

• EPR requirements are expanding across U.S. states, Canada, Europe and product categories including packaging and textiles.

Data-heavy execution

• Compliance requires repeatable collection and validation of sales, product, packaging, material composition, weight, recyclability, and market data.

Internal ownership gap

• Consultants provide expertise, but Kontoor needs an accountable internal owner to drive execution, stakeholder alignment and knowledge of retention.

Key Accountabilities

Global EPR compliance strategy

• Develop and maintain a global EPR compliance roadmap covering packaging, paper, plastics, textiles and relevant circular economy requirements.

Regulatory monitoring and interpretation

• Monitor emerging laws and guidance, assess applicability to Kontoor, and translate requirements into business actions, timelines and data needs.

PRO registration and reporting

• Lead registrations, submissions, fee-related data packages, and ongoing engagement with PROs and other responsible authorities.

Compliance calendar and controls

• Maintain a global EPR calendar with filing deadlines, ownership, evidentiary requirements, approval checkpoints, and escalation paths.

External advisor management

• Coordinate with external advisors and other advisors, define scopes of work, track deliverables, validate outputs and drive knowledge transfer into Kontoor.

Data governance and reporting readiness

• Build standardized templates, data definitions and quality checks for sales, packaging, materials, fiber composition, weights, recyclability and market-specific requirements.

Cross-functional stakeholder leadership

• Partner with Sustainability, Legal, Finance, Tax, Supply Chain, Packaging, Product Development, Sourcing, IT, regional teams and brand leaders.

Fee forecasting and business planning

• Support annual planning by modeling known and potential EPR fees, liabilities and cost drivers by market, material and product category.

Audit and assurance support

• Coordinate records, assumptions, evidence files, document retention and responses to internal reviews, external audits or regulator inquiries.

Circularity and design influence

• Work with product and packaging teams to identify opportunities to reduce EPR exposure through material optimization, packaging reduction, recyclability, and circular design choices.

Essential Duties

• Own the end-to-end global EPR compliance process, including jurisdictional applicability assessments, obligation mapping, registrations, reporting preparation, submissions and post-filing documentation.
• Create and maintain a global EPR obligation tracker covering packaging, paper, textile and related product stewardship requirements across applicable jurisdictions.
• Coordinate data collection from ERP/reporting systems and business owners; identify gaps in data availability, quality, ownership and system capabilities.
• Partner with IT and analytics teams to improve EPR reporting automation, including data pipelines, dashboards, controls and repeatable reporting templates.
• Manage relationships with PROs, external consultants, legal advisors, industry groups and relevant external stakeholders; support negotiations or decisions related to program participation where applicable.
• Provide internal guidance to Sustainability, Legal, Finance, Tax, Supply Chain, Packaging, Product Development, Sourcing and regional teams regarding EPR requirements and emerging regulatory impacts.
• Lead recurring EPR governance meetings, issue logs, risk reviews and action plans; escalate compliance risks and business impacts to leadership.
• Support development of internal policies, SOPs, training materials and record retention practices for EPR compliance and product stewardship.
• Analyze fee structures and eco-modulation signals to identify opportunities for cost avoidance, packaging optimization, textile circularity and product stewardship improvements.
• Prepare leadership-ready updates summarizing regulatory changes, compliance status, key risks, consultant spending, fee exposure, data readiness, and opportunities for business optimization.
• Lead and design reusable packaging strategies, support recyclable materials programs, and guide circularity initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in sustainability, environmental science, business, supply chain, law, public policy, engineering, packaging, textiles or related field; equivalent experience considered.
• 7+ years of experience in regulatory compliance, environmental compliance, product stewardship, sustainability reporting, packaging compliance, EPR, circular economy programs, or related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex cross-functional programs with many stakeholders, deadlines and data sources.
• Strong analytical skills with experience using Excel and business intelligence or data reporting tools; ability to translate data into compliance deliverables and management insights.
• Experience managing external consultants, advisors, legal partners or third-party service providers.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to influence across functions, geographies and leadership levels.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with packaging EPR, textile EPR, PPWR, plastic packaging taxes, product stewardship, PRO reporting or related global circular economy regulations.
• Experience in apparel, footwear, retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, packaging, logistics or global branded products.
• Familiarity with ERP, PLM,  Power BI, sustainability reporting platforms or compliance management systems.
• Knowledge of packaging materials, textile/fiber composition, recyclability, eco-modulation, recycled content and circular design principles.
• Experience building SOPs, compliance calendars, audit-ready evidence files, control frameworks or governance processes.
• Advanced degree, legal/regulatory training, project management certification or sustainability credential preferred.

Core Competencies

• Regulatory judgment
• Data discipline
• Program leadership
• Stakeholder influence
• Consultant management
• Audit readiness
• Commercial mindset
• Circularity orientation

First 12 Months: Success Outcomes

• Global EPR regulatory inventory, compliance calendar and RACI created and socialized.
• Standardized data dictionary and reporting templates established for packaging and textile EPR needs.
• PRO relationships, evidence files, filing history and assumptions centralized in an auditable repository.
• Priority data gaps and system improvement requirements documented with clear business owners and action plans.
• Leadership dashboard launched covering deadlines, compliance status, fee exposure, risks and opportunities.

This is a high-impact global role for a hands-on regulatory and sustainability leader who can build the operating system for EPR compliance while helping Kontoor make smarter product and packaging decisions for a circular economy.

Leadership Competencies Expected for this Role:

Evolving Leader

Global Agility – Leads diverse teams, adapts amidst ambiguity

Purposeful Integrity – Leads with values, earns team’s trust, handles conflicts ethically

Strategic Foresight – Connects teamwork to business strategy

Customer Centric Innovation – Leads improvements rooted in customer needs

Urgency for Impact – Drive priorities forward with pace and purpose

Bold Accountability – Set high standards and model responsibility

Empowered Collaboration – Builds inclusive teams, collaborates across functionslar econ

Why Kontoor Brands?

At Kontoor, we offer a comprehensive benefit package to fit your lifestyle. Our benefits are crafted with the same care as our products.

When our employees are healthy, secure, and well, they bring their best selves to work. Kontoor Brands supports you with a competitive benefits program that provides choice and flexibility to meet your and your family’s needs – now and in the future. We offer resources to support your physical, emotional, social, and financial wellbeing, plus benefits like discounts on our apparel. Kontoor Brands also provides four weeks of Paid Parental Leave to eligible employees who are new parents, Flexible Fridays, and Tuition Reimbursement.

We are proud to offer a workplace culture centered on equitable opportunities and a sense of belonging for all team members. Here we have a global workforce of high-performing teams that both unlocks our individual uniqueness and harnesses our collaborative talents.