I have a blog to pick with you....

Ok. So I keep getting asked what a Regulatory Affairs Coordinator does (or is). So I'm going to try to explain it to everyone here and then when people ask, I can say go to www.currentlyunimpressed....blah blah blah for an explanation. See I never had this problem when I worked for LexisNexis. I told them I was in customer support and that seemed to satisfy them. At least about my job. Now, of course, I got the "What's LexisNexis"? To humor myself, I would tell them that I sold shampoo out of the back of a really nice car. [All my friends from LN will enjoy that joke as they've had the same question poised to them a million times too].

If you really want to know what LexisNexis is, go to www.lexisnexis.com. I don't work there anymore and don't feel the need to explain it to anyone anymore.

As for my current job – I work for one of the many MANY dietary supplement/ cosmetic companies here in Utah. Regulatory Affairs is a subdivision of the legal department. Our department does many things having to do with registration of products in foreign countries, labeling laws, advertising and research. I specifically do the following things:

• Review and revise U.S. labels to ensure they are compliant with U.S. laws and regulations.
• Review and revise advertising materials to ensure that they are also compliant with the specific country's laws.
• Research information on the market/industry and competition to make sure we are kept abreast of current trends or issues especially involving the FDA or FTC. We try to learn from others mistakes by seeing who the FDA/FTC is going after and why. Ironically, I use Westlaw [LexisNexis' competitor] to do most of this research now.
• Review formulas to make sure the ingredients are approved for use in the US.
• Work with our vendors to get information needed to label our products correctly.
• I'm also a notary and spend quite some time notarizing other co-workers' documents that go to different governments in order to register our products.
• Anything else that the big boss throws on my plate.
• Attend various workshops/ conventions to increase my knowledge of U.S. laws and regs.

Yes, I love my job. Yes, I really really like my co-workers (we hang out after work quite often which says a lot). No, I won't be quitting anytime soon to do something else. I'm learning a lot and it's a challenging (but not overwhelming) job. Its perfect for me. Mostly because I almost never have to talk on the phone. Any questions?