Sustainability Manager (Forest Risk)

What’s in it for you

We offer excellent benefits that help make Tesco a great place to work! These include but are not limited to:

• Annual bonus scheme.
• Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus 8 Bank holidays).
• Retirement savings plan - save between 4% and 7.5% and Tesco will match your contribution.
• Life Assurance - 5 x contractual pay.
• Great colleague deals and discounts, saving you money on everyday purchases, eating out and utility bills for the home.
• Opportunities to get on - take advantage of our ongoing learning opportunities and award winning training, to help you achieve the job and career you want.

Click here to read more about the benefits we have available for our colleagues.

About the role

We have an exciting opportunity for a passionate environmental professional to join our Sustainability team. The Sustainability team at Tesco works across the business and with external stakeholders to develop and implement our industry leading sustainability commitments to tackle some of the biggest environmental and human rights challenges facing the planet.

Forests play a critical role in our global ecosystem. They are the lungs of our planet. The world has already lost approximately half its forests and what remains is increasingly under threat. At the current rate, our forests are at risk of extinction by the end of this century. Preventing further deforestation and degradation is critical for mitigating climate change and protecting both biodiversity and the communities who live in forests or depend on them for their livelihoods.

The hiring manager for this vacancy is Anna Turrell.

You will be responsible for

Main Responsibilities

Tesco is committed to be an industry leader in tackling deforestation and achieving zero-net deforestation in our sourcing of forest-risk commodities, including palm oil, soy, wood/paper products and Brazilian beef. This role will be responsible for leading Tesco’s work on ensuring we achieve this commitment. Given the globally traded nature of commodities, to achieve our commitment requires extensive engagement and effective collaboration with our supply chain partners and stakeholders such as NGOs and governments to achieve industry transformation. The candidate will be responsible for leading this work. Our zero-net deforestation target is a Tesco Group wide target and will require the candidate to work across both our retail businesses in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Central Europe and also our UK wholesale business, Booker.

The main areas of responsibility include:

1. Subject matter expert
Being the key contact within the Tesco Group for all technical issues relating to the responsible sourcing of forest risk commodities (e.g. supporting colleagues and suppliers with policy requirements, respond to queries from external stakeholders such as customers, media etc.). 

2. Policy development and implementation
Continuously reviewing the internal and external environment to develop and implement effective policies and strategies for making progress towards our zero-net deforestation targets.

3. Industry engagement and leadership
Tesco is now a recognized leader on forest protection. The candidate will need to be at the forefront of advocating for effective and practical solutions to end deforestation in industry groups and forums (e.g. the candidate will be responsible for representing Tesco in the following groups: the Statement of Support for the Cerrado Manifesto signatory group; Palm Oil Transparency Coalition; Soy Transparency Coalition; CGF Forest Positive Coalition of Action; UK Soy Manifesto, UK Government Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; UK Government Roundtable on Soy; Retail Palm Oil Group; Retail Soy Group; Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Round Table on Responsible Soy).

4. Data management and reporting
Development and management of internal data management systems for tracking our progress towards zero-net deforestation and compliance to both internal and external reporting requirements (e.g. Little Helps Plan reporting, RSPO, RTRS, CDP).  

5. Management of the Forests workstream of our partnership with WWF
We have an exciting and industry leading partnership with WWF. The candidate will be responsible for working with WWF experts to progress action to achieve our forest protection related metrics.

You will need

Technical Requirements

• An in-depth knowledge of the sustainability issues, challenges, opportunities and key stakeholders relating to palm oil, soy, timber products and Brazilian beef.
• Knowledge of relevant voluntary certification schemes and industry standards (e.g. RSPO, FSC, RTRS).
• Knowledge of relevant mandatory E.U Regulations
• Experience with data management and reporting (internal compliance, CDP)

Core Competencies

• Technical expertise (detailed below)
• Effective communication
• The ability to influence stakeholders and situations to achieve desired outcomes
• The ability to build and manage collaborative relationship
• Business acumen
• Analytical and strategic thinking
• Exceptional drive and passion for forest protection
• Flexibility

Education and Professional experience

• Experience working in responsible sourcing within a retail context
• Experience working in responsible sourcing within the supply chain/manufacturing
• Experience working with related topics within an NGO/not-for-profit sector
• Field experience relevant to our Forests Agenda (e.g. on-the-ground experience in key production countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia). 

About us

Our vision at Tesco is to become every customer's favourite way to shop, whether they are at home or out on the move. Our core purpose is ‘Serving our customers, communities and planet a little better every day’. Serving means more than a transactional relationship with our customers. It means acting as a responsible and sustainable business for all stakeholders, for the communities we are part of and for the planet.

We are proud to have an inclusive culture at Tesco where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. At Tesco, we not only celebrate diversity, but recognise the value and opportunity it brings. We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued, and make sure that all colleagues are given the same opportunities. We're a big business with diverse working patterns and many business areas which means that we can find something that works for you. Everyone is welcome at Tesco.

We have recently announced that we will be moving towards a more blended working week – combining office and remote working. Our offices will continue to be where we connect, collaborate and innovate. Please talk to us to about how this can work for you.

NOTE: Should you be successful in your application, your offer will be subject to and conditional upon you providing your bank account details on your agreed start date.