Senior Environmental Compliance Manager – Tirlán
Location: Abbey Quarter Kilkenny/Hybrid
About Tirlán
Tirlán is a world‑class food and nutrition co‑operative with a diverse portfolio of quality ingredients, leading consumer and agri brands.
Tirlán owns brands such as Avonmore, Kilmeaden Cheese, Millac, Solmiko, Truly Grass Fed, Premier Milk, Wexford, mymilkman.ie and GAIN Animal Nutrition.
We nurture a talented team across Ireland, the US, MEA and China, delivering annual revenues of over €3 billion, approx 2,000 people managing our network of 11 processing plants and 52 agri branches. Our purpose is to nourish the world, while safeguarding our environment for future generations.
Role Profile
The Senior Environmental Compliance Manager reports to the Head of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) and is accountable for establishing, maintaining, and governing environmental standards, programmes, and policies across Tirlán. The role is responsible for consolidated (“roll‑up”) reporting in relation to these areas, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and transparency.
Working in close collaboration with the business, the role leads the development and implementation of Tirlán’s environmental compliance strategy, ensuring it is effectively executed across all operations.
Under the direction of the Head of EH&S, the Senior Environmental Compliance Manager acts as a key liaison with external stakeholders, including regulatory authorities such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Irish Water, and other relevant corporate and external bodies.
The role provides oversight and support to environmental teams across Tirlán, determining our operational compliance with regulatory and internal standards while driving a culture of continuous improvement. It also plays a key role in enhancing environmental performance across the integrated supply chain and operational network.
As a member of the central EH&S Leadership Team, the role contributes to broader strategic objectives and, through proactive horizon scanning, ensures the business remains future‑ready in the context of evolving environmental requirements and best practices.
The Senior Environmental Compliance Manager is responsible for ensuring the organisation understands and is aware of all regulatory obligations and environmental licence conditions. Any significant risks or compliance issues are escalated appropriately to the Head of EH&S.
Key Responsibilities
Champion Tirlán’s core principle: “Health & Safety First, Food Safety Always, Environmental Compliance Every Day.”
Embed and promote the Tirlán Purpose, Vision & Values (PVV) by fostering a coaching mindset, encouraging positive intent, and strengthening collaborative ways of working.
In partnership with the Head of EH&S, develop and implement the Tirlán Environmental Compliance Strategy, ensuring protection of the company’s reputation and full compliance with all regulatory and internal standards.
Build and maintain strong cross‑functional and external stakeholder relationships, recognising collaboration as a critical success factor across the business and with regulatory bodies.
Define, lead, and continuously improve environmental compliance programmes and systems across the organisation.
Drive the ongoing development and implementation of Tirlán’s Central Environmental Standards, ensuring consistency and effectiveness across all sites.
Verify site‑level environmental systems and performance, ensuring compliance with both regulatory requirements and Tirlán standards.
Support the continuous development of EH&S systems in collaboration with the Head of EH&S.
Partner with site teams to deliver continuous improvement initiatives, including COVI and “Developing Tomorrow” projects.
Support the Environmental Network Team (ENT) to ensure timely closure of internal audit findings.
Capture and analyse key learnings and trends across the group, identifying common themes to inform targeted improvements, standard enhancements, and shared best practices.
Collaborate closely with Operations and Supply Chain to embed environmental compliance programmes and support strategic compliance investment cases.
Identify, design, and support delivery of environmental compliance training, building capability and fostering a strong Environmental Network Team culture.
Lead the Tirlán 3M governance and reporting process for environmental compliance across the network.
Ensure regulatory compliance readiness, maintaining a strong understanding of all applicable environmental legislation, licence conditions, and emerging requirements.
Ensure ongoing ISO 14001 certification is achieved and maintained across all Tirlán sites.
Lead the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU‑ETS) programme, supporting sites to deliver effective implementation and compliance.
Collaborate with key support functions including ESG and Utilities Excellence to ensure alignment and integration of environmental priorities.
Deputise for the Head of EH&S as required, including during periods of absence (e.g. annual leave), ensuring continuity of leadership and decision‑making.
Key Requirements
Environmental Science based qualification;
A high‑calibre expertise with strong risk awareness and organisational savvy;
Minimum 5+ years relevant work experience in an environment role at a senior level;
Extensive experience in agricultural, food & dairy industries;
Previous experience in Operations, Process / System Auditing, Environment Standards & Regulations;
A proven ability of successfully developing and cultivating relationships with cross functional teams;
Risk Awareness;
Organisational Agility;
Interpersonal Savvy;
Detail focused;
Conflict Management;
Problem Solving;
Domestic travel required.
Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
We welcome people from all walks of life without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, or disability status.
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