Role Purpose

The Raw Materials Manager is responsible for defining, developing, and managing paperbased raw materials to ensure they meet technical performance, commercial, quality, and sustainability requirements. The role plays a critical link between product design, R&D, procurement, and production, translating rawmaterial performance and market dynamics into optimal, robust, costeffective, and compliant product solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Raw Material Evaluation

• Establish technical requirements/specification of raw material to be aligned with design, production and commercial requirements and compliance/sustainability
• Assess the quality and suitability of paper raw materials
• Monitor market price reporting, communicate fluctuations to the wider team

Supplier & Raw Material Management

• Identify and validate paper raw material suppliers globally and regionally
• Monitor supplier performance on quality, consistency, cost and lead times
• Support and coordinate with procurement teams in supplier negotiations and contracts
• Manage raw material supply and stocks using sales forecasts, ensuring min/max volumes are in place and adhered to across production and development sites
• Support the selection and management of inks and adhesives, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and driving global consistency across regions

Quality Control

• Refine testing protocols for raw materials in line with technical requirements/specification
• Troubleshoot raw material-related performance/testing issues

Innovation and Development

• Develop new raw materials in line with R&D initiatives focused on:
• Performance
• Cost
• Global/regional availability and lead time
• Participate in pilot trials and product development projects.
• Collaborate with the product design team to support raw material selection and refinement, ensuring endproduct design optimizes performance through material engineering.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Technical Skills
• Paper Raw material testing and analysis
• Mill and paper converter process knowledge
• Raw material technical attributes vs functionality of the end product
• Knowledge of inks, adhesives and compliance
• Analytical Skills
• Data interpretation and laboratory analysis
• Cost-benefit evaluation
• Process troubleshooting
• Commercial Awareness
• Raw material markets and pricing
• Supply chain and market dynamics
• Sustainability trends
• Communication
• Technical reporting
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Supplier engagement

Qualifications

• Degree in Materials Science, or similar
• Experience in pulp and paper manufacturing or paper procurement
• Knowledge of laboratory testing methods for paper materials

Experience Requirements

• 515 years in pulp, paper, or fiber supply industries
• Experience working with:
• Paper mills
• Recovered fiber operations
• Pulp suppliers
• Familiarity with sustainability certification systems