Government Relations, Legal, Meetings/Expositions/Events
Required Education:
4 Year Degree
Position responsibilities are split between regulatory and legal activities. Position advocates for the dairy industry on a variety of regulatory and legal issues including environmental, worker safety, sustainability, organic, food defense, food safety, and GE labeling issues. Position requires understanding, explaining and resolving complex issues involving diverse state/federal regulations and policies that directly impact the food and dairy industries. The most critical aspect of the position is to help members understand what is required of them so that they can be in compliance with the numerous rules and regulations that impact their businesses on a daily basis. Position reports to the Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.
Job Responsibilities
Develop and advocate dairy industry positions on regulatory matters such as environmental (EPA), worker safety (OSHA), sustainability, organic (USDA), food safety, food defense (FDA, DHS), and GE labeling (USDA) issues at the federal level, including networking with members and food trade associations
Educate and assist members with regulatory compliance issues and individual company issues (e.g. inspections, recalls, Proposition 65) and other areas of subject matter expertise
Serve as staff lead or facilitator of IDFA working groups and committees including Environmental and Worker Safety Committee, GE Labeling Task Force, and Food Waste and Date Labeling Task Force
Represent IDFA on governmental, non-governmental organizations, other trade associations, and dairy industry committees and working groups to develop common positions
Monitor and analyze developments to provide advice to IDFA members on regulatory compliance for dairy plant processing on areas of subject matter expertise
Provide technical and legal advice to legislative and communications teams on areas of subject matter expertise
Analyze legislation, statutes, and proposed and final rules and draft comments during the regulatory promulgation process on areas of subject matter expertise
Organize, present at, and conduct meetings including IDFA hosted workshops and webinars, and outside conferences
Manage program at IDFA’s Regulatory RoundUP conference
Conduct issue spotting on legal and regulatory issues and anticipate emerging issues dairy industry may face
Serve as legal counsel to association by monitoring association activities for antitrust issues, managing association trademarks and intellectual property, and acting as legal counsel at board meetings
Review and draft association contracts, non-disclosure agreements and other legal documents as needed
Manage certain departmental budgets
Job Requirements
Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience
BS degree in life sciences such as dairy science, food technology, food processing, or environmental sciences a plus
Experience working on environmental, worker safety, sustainability a plus
Law degree (JD) and admission to the District of Columbia bar, or eligible for immediate waiver, required for legal work and analysis
Legal skills are needed for attorney related activities
Understanding complex scientific and regulatory issues involving environmental, worker safety, sustainability, organic, food defense, food safety, and GE labeling issues
Confident public speaker to address policy and technical issues in an easy to understand manner at board meetings, conferences, and as an invited speaker at outside meetings
Leadership and organization skills to effectively run committees and meetings via conference calls and face-to-face meetings
Problem solving to assist members with complex issues and the ability to interpret and explain the relevant government regulations and policies but also to assist members with understanding the legal enforcement and risk for non-compliance
Ability to build and use an extensive network for outside assistance (legal counsel, consultants, colleagues, academics, trade associations, regulators) and resources to call upon when needed
Customer service skills for assisting members in many different capacities from complex technical questions to simple friendly greetings at meetings and events
Excellent writing skills and verbal communication
Basic computer skills for email, word processing, excel, power point for presentations
Self-starter who excels in fast-paced environment
Delegation of work to appropriate staff
Physical Requirements
Normal office environment requiring use of typical business equipment (e.g., computer, telephone, fax and copier machines)
Ability to travel to industry events
About International Dairy Foods Association
The International Dairy Foods Association, Washington, DC, represents the nation's dairy manufacturers, with a membership of 530 companies representing a $90-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), National Cheese Institute (NCI), and International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85% of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. IDFA can be found online at www.idfa.org.
