Careers at Cornelius

Sean Gage

Sean Gage, an Analytical Services Team Lead, finds great satisfaction in his work by diligently crossing off tasks from his daily workload. Whether he is analysing samples or compiling reports for various projects, he takes pride in tracking his progress and maintaining motivation throughout the week. However, he acknowledges that the most challenging aspect of his job lies in applying root cause analysis to troubleshoot problems with the analytical equipment. Despite following the manufacturer’s troubleshooting manuals, multiple interconnected factors often contribute to the same issue, requiring a substantial amount of time and effort to identify the cause and implement an effective solution.

One of Sean Gage’s notable achievements is the completion of his laboratory technician apprenticeship, which served as a crucial steppingstone for his career in the industry. As his first job, it played a pivotal role in kickstarting his professional journey.

When asked about the teacher who had the most profound impact on his life, Sean fondly recalls his A-levels math teacher. Not only did this teacher impart knowledge on the majority of course modules (although his memory of it has faded over time), but they also provided invaluable advice on perseverance and overcoming life’s obstacles. Sean still applies these valuable lessons to this day.

Lastly, if Sean were to embody any animal, he would choose to be a bee. He admires their tireless work ethic and their dedication to constructing efficient systems within a successful hive.

Faye Stevens

Faye Stevens, a Senior Sales Executive at Cornelius, plays a pivotal role in developing and nurturing relationships with both new and existing customers. Her primary focus revolves around promoting the company’s personal care, health, and nutrition portfolio. Faye’s responsibilities encompass problem-solving for clients, addressing technical issues they may encounter, and recommending the company’s materials to enhance performance or resolve challenges. She also assists clients in transitioning to Cornelius products. On of her key role objectives is to generate excitement among customers about trailing the company’s ingredients. Collaborating with various teams across the organisation, Faye is dedicated to delivering the best service experience to clients.

When asked about her biggest challenge this year, Faye highlights the delays in freight from overseas as a significant hurdle. She explains that it can be frustrating when factors beyond direct control impact operations.

In a typical workday, Faye eagerly looks forward to visiting customer sites. She finds it highly intriguing to observe their entire process.

If given the opportunity to experience a historical event, Faye expresses her desire to attend the iconic Live Aid concert in 1985, specifically to witness Queen’s electrifying performance.

Finally, Faye reveals that her favourite Disney villain is Cruella.

Jordan Taylor-French

Jordan, HR Business Partner at Cornelius, leads a dynamic and engaging professional life where no two days are alike. Her role encompasses a wide range of responsibilities, including recruitment, employee reward and payroll management, employee relations, training and development, employee engagement, and overseeing HR queries and systems. This diverse range of tasks keep her job interesting and fulfilling.

When asked what aspect of her work she looks forward to the most, Jordan expresses her enthusiasm for meeting different people. Each day, she engages with various people, and she finds the interactions to be pleasant and supportive. Although not naturally inclined towards extensive socialisation in the workplace, Jordan enjoys conversing with her colleagues, as she feels comfortable being herself around them, fostering her social wellbeing.

When discussing why she enjoys working at Cornelius, Jordan highlights the company’s unique blend of a family-run business and a corporate entity. The culture and caring nature of the people within the organisation embody the warmth associated with a family-run business. Simultaneously, Cornelius is strategically driven and offers numerous committees and project groups to participate in, providing endless opportunities for its employees. Furthermore, Jordan emphasises her positive relationship with her team and director, which contributes to driving their HR agenda and strategy forward. The synergy they share creates a constant sense of excitement surrounding their work at Cornelius.

When asked to choose an actress to portray her in a movie about her life, Jordan would choose Florence Pugh.

Finally, if given the chance to save an endangered animal, Jordan’s choice would be elephant. She admires their majestic and gentle nature, finding them particularly endearing when they are young calves.

Senior Regulatory Specialist

Department: Quality & Compliance
Reporting to: Group Head Quality & Compliance
Status: Permanent, Full Time, Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm with 1 hour lunch break, Hybrid working with min 3 days onsite (Tues, Thurs and 3rd day of your choice)
Location: Bishop’s Stortford (May require occasional travel to customers and/ or suppliers

Role Purpose

The role is based in the Quality & Compliance Team and will play a key role in the development of the regulatory function within the business.  

It will be primarily focused on supporting our Chemical distribution business which supplies raw materials into Personal Care, Food and Performance Chemicals, but will also be required to support regulatory compliance for our Manufacturing site producing starting materials into the Ocular and Dental markets.  

The Senior Regulatory Specialist will undertake a broad scope of tasks under the Q&C function to support the compliance of our product portfolio whilst managing the expectations of both our internal and external customers.  

Main Responsibilities

Regulatory Compliance 

• Work towards becoming one of the primary points of contact in the business with regards to chemical legislation and compliance relevant to the business activities 

• Ensure products distributed & manufactured comply with relevant GB/EU legislation regarding the application sold into. 

• Interpret and apply UK and EU legislation to ensure compliance. 

• Liaise with various departments across the business to ensure that all applicable regulatory responsibilities are fully understood 

• Report on and create action plans on any gaps identified with regards to regulatory compliance across the business. 

• Compile, submit and maintain regulatory dossiers, liaison with our OR to maintain EU compliance. 

• Carry out targeted research in the applicable business sectors and the wider regulatory landscape to ensure that Cornelius is aware of potentially impactful changes and to identify strategic marketing opportunities in order to lead our supply-chain through changes where possible. 

• Assist with supplier documentation reviews and approvals. 

• Support Principal management team with product compliance at point of onboarding 

Internal Collaboration 

• Work closely with commercial and operational teams to ensure required information is provided efficiently. 

• Escalate complex regulatory issues to management when necessary. 

• Provide regulatory support during development of new product/sector/territory opportunities. 

• Working with Q&C team members to maintain product master data 

Customer Technical Enquiries 

• Liaise with customers on technical and regulatory enquiries from our focus sectors (Food, Personal care, Performance chemicals & Ocular) 

• Creation & maintenance of accurate technical & regulatory product documentation and databases for supplied product portfolio. 

• Act as a key contact between customers and suppliers to obtain required technical, regulatory documentation. 

Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement 

• Support quality-related activities such as non-conformance investigations, document control and internal procedures. 

• Contribute to improving internal processes relating to scope of work by documenting and refining. 
• Provide support to the Q&R team and stakeholders on matters applicable to the Quality & Compliance departments outputs. 

Essential Knowledge

• 3 years’ hands on experience in Chemical regulatory position
• Solid working knowledge of UK & EU Regulatory frameworks such as REACH, CLP, with focused on Cosmetics regulation and/or European Food Regulations
• SDS Authoring 

Desirable Knowledge

• Experience in preparing dossiers in IUCLID
• Medical Devices regulations
• Experience working in ingredient distribution or manufacturing environments. 

Essential Skills

• Ability to manage & prioritise high volumes of regulatory requests and projects independently.
• Confident communicator both written and verbal with ability to explain complex regulatory concepts clearly to all levels of the organisation.
• Structured, organised and efficiency driven
• Proactive and solution focused
• Strong working knowledge on use of Microsoft packages such as Excel and PowerPoint. 

Desirable Skills

• Desire to take ownership of project work and drive identified improvement opportunities
• Strong relationship management skills.
• Commercially aware 

Essential Qualification

• Degree or relevant scientific discipline (Chemistry, Food/Cosmetics Science, Toxicology) 

If you’re interested in the above role, please complete the form below and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.

Process Operator

Department: Production

Reporting to: Shift Team Leader

Status: Permanent, Full Time

Location: Cornelius Specialties, 15C Rookwood Way, Haverhill, CB9 8PB

Role Purpose

The Process Operator will report to the Shift Team Leader and is responsible for an agreed variety of manufacturing tasks. The Process Operator will follow defined SOP’s and work instructions to ensure the production process is timely, and that the business is producing products of the highest quality. They will also work safely and carry out procedures to ensure Cornelius is a safe place to work.  

Main Responsibilities

• To carry out chemical production processes of certain materials to defined SOPs in a safe and efficient manner.  
• Continuously monitor the processes and equipment to ensure smooth operation.  Accurately record operational data on production sheets such as production volumes, temperatures, pressures, and times. Use this data to identify any areas for improvement. 
• Understand the properties and hazards of chemicals used in the process.  Identify and report any issues or abnormalities.   
• To report all relevant plant technical issues and breakdowns in a timely manner. 
• Pack finished products according to company standards and procedures to ensure that products are packed for storage and shipment. 
• To perform chemical waste disposal in accordance with Work Instructions. 
• To maintain high standards of plant and factory cleanliness in line with agreed 5S goals. 
• To carry out re-packaging of materials in accordance with Work Instructions. 
• To document output and downtime in the Production Plan Daily. 
• Safely handle raw materials and finished goods in accordance with health and safety procedures. 
• Carrying out any other task as requested by the Shift Team Leader and Management team.  

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Chemical hazards awareness.
• Worked under Health & Safety & Environment procedures.
• Previous chemical handling/processing experience.
• Effective communication skills.
• Basic IT competency.
• Multi-tasking, able to run multiple plants together using different parameters.

Desirable

• Working understanding of 5S standards.
• Training in leam manufacturing techniques.
• Manual handling training.
• COSHH.

If you’re interested in the above role, please complete the form below and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.

Territory Manager (HI&I & Personal Care)

Department: Commercial

Reporting to: Sales Manager (Personal Care)

Status: Permanent, Full Time, 40 Hours Per Week

Location: Home based, based in the North of England/ North Midlands

Role Purpose

The Territory Manager reports to the Personal Care Sales Manager and has responsibility for the sales of an agreed range of products into a clearly defined geographical area or set of customers.

The key functions for the Territory manager are as follows:

• To fully understand Cornelius Customers and the value that our products and services provide relative to the competition, thus defining our leverage capability and helping to inform decisions about pricing and volume allocation for both existing and new products being sold to each customer.
• To deliver and surpass the target gross profit established for the territory
• To establish strong relationships and works closely with other internal teams

Main Responsibilities

• Responsibility for achieving turnover and profitability budgets, as agreed with the Head of Sales and Personal Care Sales Manager for the agreed geographical area and sectors.
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of market trends, competitor activities, and customer needs, providing feedback to the management team to support strategic planning and product positioning.
• To prepare a monthly overview for the Personal Care Sales Manager on the performance of their sales areas.
• To identify and report on variances to budget to the Head of Sales and Personal Care Sales Manager.
• Responsibility for preparing a sales area plan to ensure that customers are regularly visited and contacted to ensure full market coverage in the most cost-efficient manner.
• To produce visit reports for prompt replication with the office databases and to ensure that all follow up actions are completed promptly
• Ensure that the frequency of customer visits reflects the targets as set by the Head of Sales and Personal Care Sales Manager.
• To motivate support staff as appropriate in a professional manner
• Accountability for running the day-to-day commercial business in a manner which maintains the high standards of service, already established by the company working closely with the customer services department.
• To make recommendations to the Head of Sales and Personal Care Sales Manager for corrective action for underperformance to budget.
• To be a responsible and participative member of the team
• Provide regular customer forecasts and variations in demand
• To have a good understanding and align to the company’s values and mission statement
• Involvement in submitting to the Finance department their opinions of credit levels of their customers
• Coordinate with support staff the follow up of quotations made within the geographical area
• Coordinate with support staff prompt and efficient follow up of samples in the sales area.
• Responsibility for optimising profit in the prevailing market conditions and increasing profit on an on-going basis.
• The decision on significantly reducing the profit level of a section of business, for whatever reason, remains with the UK and Ireland Sales Manager.
• To project the company to best advantage both within and outside the company.
• To promptly submit monthly expenses and strictly follow the expense policy
• To prepare weekly itineraries and plan visits two to three weeks in advance were possible
• Maintenance and regular updates of opportunity data base
• To be proficient in preparation and giving of formal presentations to customers, exhibitions, Cornelius events and internal staff using sales tools like PowerPoint etc.as required
• To represent the company at Exhibitions and seminars
• Liaison with relevant Industry Societies, especially with a view to ensuring company adherence to the highest levels of business ethics and standards.
• Develop and manage customer relationships to the highest standard, where applicable developing relationships with brands owners and consultant formulators
• Develop a detailed understanding of all key customer decision making process (DMP) and decision-making unit (DMU) and report this back to the UK and Ireland Sales Manager
• Define and record the relative degree of criticality and value in use to the customer of each product Cornelius suppliers to each major customer.
• Take guidance and direction from the principal management team when pushing principal led initiatives through o Cornelius customers.
• Provide required feedback to the principal management team when pushing principal led initiatives through to Cornelius customers
• Supply account & project updates to the Principal Management team on a monthly or as requested basis
• Facilitating and organising joint customer principal visits, as and when required.
• Be willing to travel occasionally during weekends to visit customers and Principal product training

Person Specification

Essential Knowledge

• Minimum 7 – 10 years of experience gained within a customer facing role within the UK H, I&I and PC industry.
• Demonstrable track record of managing territory, sales performance and call frequency.

Essential Skills

• Effective verbal and written communication, including reports
• Effective selling & negotiation
• Effective problem solving
• Budgetary planning and reporting
• Presentation skills
• IT skills
• Project management
• Organisational and planning
• Tact and common sense
• Self-motivation / Self starter

Essential Qualifications

• Degree in Chemistry / equivalent scientific discipline, or equivalent industry experience
• Valid and clean driving license.

Desirable Qualifications

• SCS Diploma

If you’re interested in the above role, please complete the form below and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.

Engineering Manager

Department: Manufacturing

Reporting to: Manufacturing Site Director

Status: Permanent, Full Time

Location: Haverhill, Cornelius Specialties

Role Purpose

The Engineering Manager reports to the Head of Site for Cornelius Specialties and is responsible for all aspects of engineering at the site and the leadership of the engineering team.

The main responsibilities for the Engineering manager are as follows:

• Deliver an engineering support function to the site in line with EH&S, quality, service and cost KPI’s.
• Ensure that plant and equipment operate in a way that achieves highest levels of OEE.
• Ensure that the Scheduled Maintenance Plan is carried out and documented correctly, including Scheduled Maintenance performed by others in the company.
• Lead and support in the design and installation of new plant and equipment as needed by the business.
• Agree design criteria and specific equipment specifications with the Production Manager. This includes coordinating parts for the work, performing risk assessment for the job and understanding how to reduce risks to practical levels.
• Lead in a way that is consistent with the Cornelius Vision Mission and Values.

Person Specification

Essential Knowledge

• Experience of working within a chemical production operation.

Essential Skills

• Project Management
• Organisation Skills
• Flexibility
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• IT Literate – Experience with SAGE and Lotus Notes is an advantage
• Effective communication skills
• Initiative and problem solving abilities
• Ability to work under pressure and be self sufficient
• Leadership

Essential Qualifications

• Chemical Engineering Degree or equivalent

If you’re interested in the above role, please complete the form below and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.