Program Lead

GS1 (Lethbridge AB, Canada) Follow 2 hours ago

This role is open to candidates from the US, Canada or Europe.

Role Summary

The purpose of the Regulatory-Driven Standards Programme is to ensure that regulatory requirements are effectively assessed, prioritised, coordinated and translated into GS1 standards and related deliverables that meet regulatory intent while serving the needs of GS1 Member Organisations and industry. As regulatory requirements continue to increase in both volume and complexity, this role provides the programme coordination and governance needed to ensure a consistent, transparent and cross-functional approach to standards development across GS1.

The Programme Lead, Regulatory-Driven Standards is responsible for leading the end-to-end coordination of the programme, acting as the central point of integration across Public Policy, Standards Delivery, Community Engagement, Architecture and Project Delivery. Working in a highly matrixed environment, the role ensures that regulatory initiatives are appropriately assessed, prioritised, planned, governed and delivered through a consistent programme management approach.

Rather than managing functional teams directly, the Programme Lead works collaboratively with subject matter experts and senior leaders across the organisation to coordinate programme activities, facilitate cross-functional planning, manage interdependencies, monitor programme health, risks, dependencies and resource constraints, and provide clear programme visibility to support informed decision-making. The role also owns the end-to-end intake and prioritisation pipeline, ensuring regulatory requirements are evaluated transparently and progressed efficiently from initial assessment through to standards development and implementation.

Success in this role requires exceptional programme management, stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, enabling diverse teams to work together effectively while maintaining alignment with GS1's strategic priorities and evolving regulatory landscape.

Key Responsibilities

Programme Leadership & Delivery

Lead the end-to-end coordination of the Regulatory-Driven Standards Programme, ensuring effective planning, governance, execution and delivery across multiple cross-functional workstreams.
Develop and maintain the integrated programme plan, including scope, milestones, timelines, dependencies, resource requirements and key deliverables.
Monitor overall programme progress, proactively identifying risks, issues and opportunities to ensure successful delivery.

Intake, Assessment & Prioritisation

Own the end-to-end intake, assessment and prioritisation process for regulatory-driven standards requests, ensuring a transparent, consistent and efficient approach from regulatory signal through to execution.
Facilitate cross-functional assessment and prioritisation by bringing together the appropriate subject matter experts from Public Policy, Standards, Architecture, Community Engagement and other relevant functions.
Establish and continuously improve the governance, processes and criteria used to prioritise regulatory-driven standards development.

Cross-functional Coordination

Coordinate the integration of multiple regulatory standards development workstreams, ensuring alignment, collaboration and coordinated execution across Public Policy, Standards Delivery, Architecture, Community Engagement and Project Delivery.
Identify, manage and resolve cross-functional dependencies, ensuring programme activities remain aligned with organisational priorities and delivery timelines.
Foster effective collaboration across the Global Office, Member Organisations and external stakeholders to support successful programme outcomes.

Governance, Reporting & Decision Support

Support programme governance by coordinating planning cycles, monitoring deliverables, facilitating governance meetings and ensuring timely stakeholder communication.
Produce integrated programme reporting, dashboards and decision-ready materials that provide leadership with clear visibility of programme status, risks, dependencies, resource constraints and strategic trade-offs.
Escalate significant risks, issues and decisions through the appropriate governance channels, ensuring timely resolution and maintaining programme momentum.
Facilitate cross-functional decision-making by presenting options, trade-offs and recommendations to governance bodies and senior leadership.

Continuous Improvement

Drive the adoption of consistent programme management methodologies, governance standards and best practices across participating functions.
Identify opportunities to improve programme processes, transparency and cross-functional collaboration to strengthen GS1's regulatory-driven standards capability.

Experience

10–15+ years’ experience in programme management of complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives (e.g. standards development, data ecosystems, sustainability programmes or digital transformation initiatives).
Experience coordinating complex multi-stakeholder programmes across industry and regulatory environments.
Demonstrated ability to enable decision-making in complex environments by structuring options, trade-offs and priorities for senior stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to influence, align and drive outcomes across cross-functional teams without formal authority or direct reporting relationships.
Experience establishing programme governance, prioritisation frameworks, reporting and performance tracking for complex initiatives.
Preferred experience working within international standards organisations, industry associations or federated organisations is highly desirable.

Knowledge

Strong understanding of programme and portfolio management methodologies, governance and delivery best practices.
Good understanding of data interoperability, identification standards and supply chain information flows.
Familiarity with regulatory-driven standards development, Digital Product Passport initiatives, sustainability reporting frameworks or similar regulatory data programmes is desirable.
Understanding of standards development processes and the role of public policy in shaping industry requirements is an advantage.

Skills & Competencies

Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment across diverse technical, policy and business stakeholders without formal authority.
Excellent facilitation skills, with the ability to bring together diverse technical, policy and business stakeholders, build consensus, resolve competing priorities and drive collaborative decision-making.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and identify practical solutions.
Excellent organisational skills with the ability to coordinate multiple concurrent workstreams in a fast-paced, global environment.
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with executive, technical and policy audiences.
Strong facilitation skills, capable of leading discussions, resolving conflicts and driving consensus across cross-functional teams.
Demonstrated ability to work independently while fostering collaboration and maintaining strong relationships across a matrixed organisation.

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience in Business, Programme Management, Engineering, Information Management or a related discipline.
Advanced degree or Professional programme or project management certification (e.g. PMP, PgMP, MSP or PRINCE2 Practitioner) is desirable.

Additional Information

This job may require up to 25% global travel.

GS1 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will never unlawfully discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, belief, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, age, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, or political opinions.

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