Sustainability Manager

London Permanent Excellent + benefits Ref: 416627

The Company

This is a fast moving, values driven organisation operating at scale within a complex supply chain environment. Sustainability is not treated as a tick box exercise, but as a core business priority with real commercial, operational and reputational impact.

Following organisational change, sustainability is being elevated from a largely technical function into a more visible, influential and integrated discipline. The business has already invested heavily in measurement frameworks, reporting systems and compliance, creating a strong platform for the next phase of progress.

This is an environment where pragmatism matters, collaboration is essential and credibility counts. You’ll be trusted to influence senior leaders, engage operational teams and represent the organisation with confidence to customers and suppliers alike.

The role

This is a pivotal sustainability leadership role with genuine scope to shape direction and delivery. You will take ownership of the day to day sustainability agenda, balancing hands on execution with longer term strategic development.

In the first 6–12 months, your focus will be on consolidating and strengthening existing foundations while driving greater visibility, engagement and commercial relevance across the organisation. You’ll work closely with senior stakeholders, coordinate activity across multiple functions and ensure sustainability commitments translate into practical, measurable action.

Key elements of the role include:

Owning and driving the sustainability agenda across environmental, social and governance priorities
Delivering a clear sustainability strategy with defined targets and success measures
Managing and governing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, with particular emphasis on supplier engagement and Scope 3 progress
Translating sustainability data into clear, commercially meaningful insights for senior leaders and customers
Leading and developing a small sustainability team, with scope to build capability over time
Acting as a credible internal and external advocate for sustainability, influencing without hierarchy

This is not a narrow technical role. It is a highly collaborative, engagement led position that requires confidence, judgement and the ability to “hold the line” while embedding longer term change.

The Candidate

You are an experienced sustainability or ESG professional who enjoys operating at the intersection of strategy, data and delivery. You’re comfortable navigating complexity, influencing diverse stakeholders and balancing ambition with commercial reality.

You’re likely to bring:

Proven experience in a sustainability, ESG or related role, either in house or within consultancy, with an interest in food
Demonstrable people management experience, with a genuine interest in developing others
A strong grounding in sustainability fundamentals, data and reporting frameworks
Experience working cross functionally in fast paced, operational environments
Confidence engaging senior leaders, customers and suppliers with credibility and clarity

Above all, you are pragmatic, down to earth and solutions focused. You care about impact, not rhetoric. You’re comfortable with ambiguity, prepared to roll up your sleeves and motivated by the opportunity to make sustainability work in the real world.

If you’re looking for a role where sustainability is taken seriously, where your voice will be heard, and where you can genuinely influence how a business operates, this opportunity will stand out.