M&S Food is changing, and fast! We are undergoing one of the biggest transformations in retailing today to build a bigger, better, fresher food business.

Plan A is our way to help build a sustainable future by being a business that enables our customers to have a positive impact on wellbeing, communities, and the planet through all that we do. 2021 sees us embarking on a major relaunch of our sustainability program and as our Head of Sustainability, your role will be to develop and lead the sustainability agenda for Foods, driving transformational change at a time when Sustainability is front of mind.

In this exciting, high-profile position, you will demonstrate a high level of competence in business acumen, strategic agility, and managerial courage. We have high ambitions and are looking for someone with the energy and drive to drive a step-change in our sustainability agenda.

Key accountabilities and measures

• Lead, develop, influence, and deliver the Food Groups sustainability strategy
• Support heads of business functions and leaders within the Food Group to deliver an integrated sustainability strategy
• Demonstrate progress against Food strategic objectives and performance indicators
• Be a sustainability advocate that drives positive innovation and change across the Food Group, championing sustainability and leveraging internal support structures to drive change cross-functionally
• Be responsible for all corporate sustainability aspects of the Food Group
• Ensure compliance with all UK environmental statutory reporting obligations
• Creating operational metrics, tracking and managing delivery timelines, and communicating progress to internal stakeholders by establishing appropriate internal controls and measurement systems to support sustainability efforts
• Owning and fortifying relationships with NGOs, think tanks, trade associations
• Review and evolve the current sustainability framework as needed (across all social, environmental, and economic topics)
• Assess compliance with core aspects of the existing sustainability program to understand gaps and priorities
• Ensure effective governance of all aspects of the Food sustainability agenda
• Lead on Foods external sustainability reporting (Annual Report, website, and other)

Key skills/preferred experience

• An experienced and acknowledged leader in sustainability, Experience in implementing sustainability programs for large scale organizations inhouse or in consultancy
• Ability to influence and make recommendations at a senior/Board level on areas ranging from strategy to policy, governance, process, reporting, and business planning
• Act as a role model for demonstrating subject matter excellence coupled with great leadership
• Solid project and budget management skills combined with high energy to set a dynamic pace of delivery
• Technical knowledge on topics such as packaging, waste, energy, and natural resources, as well as responsible sourcing
• Exceptional interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail
• Gravitas and a strategic thinker, with the ability to engage and influence senior leaders
• A self-starter who over-indexes on ownership and accountability, willing to be hands-on and operational
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience of leading, often without direct reporting lines, to deliver against targets
• Ability to prioritize and multi-task
• Commercial outlook and analytical mind

APPLY TODAY!