Strategic Lead – Responsible Sourcing

Strategic Lead – Responsible Sourcing

Who are we?

Proforest is a mission-driven organisation that works throughout agricultural supply chains supporting the production and sourcing of agricultural and forest commodities that deliver positive environmental and social outcomes for People, Nature and Climate. These cover issues like protecting and restoring forests and natural ecosystems, respecting worker’s rights, advancing gender equality, and engaging with communities and indigenous people. Through our consultancy services, we help companies put their sustainability commitments into action both within and beyond supply chains. We also facilitate pre-competitive collaboration with peer companies and other stakeholders like governments, civil society and communities, and we support multi-stakeholder initiatives and landscape approaches that build common goals, address systemic issues and deliver positive outcomes at scale.

Proforest is looking for a full-time Strategic Lead of Responsible Sourcing, with expertise in consultancy and agro-commodities to join our European team and support companies in implementing their responsible sourcing commitments.  If you are passionate about taking on challenges at a global scale, and want to have a positive impact we would like to hear from you.

What will you do?

The Strategic Lead role sits in the Responsible Sourcing Team, a team of expert technical consultants who support the implementation of our clients’ responsible sourcing and production commitments. We work with companies including Nestlé, PepsiCo, Mars, Unilever, Cargill on commodity supply chains including palm oil, sugar, soy, coconut, beef and cocoa. Our client projects aim to deliver positive outcomes for People, Nature and Climate by using and adapting Proforest’s ACRES approach.

As a Strategic Lead, you will:

Take overall accountability on consulting projects for a number of Proforest clients, supported by the project delivery lead and a team of social and environmental experts:

• Provide strategic oversight of major client accounts, with the aim to drive and deliver meaningful environmental and social positive outcomes in their supply chain and production base;
• Design and budget large scale projects, with multiple workstreams and teams, working across Proforest entities in different geographies; tailoring Proforest methodologies to meet client needs;
• Coach and support project delivery leads and project team to deliver projects effectively and professionally, acting as a point of issue resolution and escalation within the client and internally in Proforest;
• Build and manage senior executive client relationships within client’s business and sustainability functions to influence long-term change. Lead business development with clients.

Demonstrate thought leadership to enhance and transform Proforest practices and services in our global organisation:

• Contribute to the strategic direction of responsible sourcing activities unit and its operationalisation plan
• Optimise project delivery and client account management processes, including establishment of new practices to raise the overall performance of our organisation;
• Inspire and grow the team by coaching and mentoring our talent to ensure they are prepared for future responsibilities;
• Represent Proforest in different industry platforms and events,.

What is your profile?

We are looking for people who are self-motivated, have a passion for what we do and are excited about helping deliver our mission. To succeed within Proforest you need the confidence and drive to achieve real change in a challenging environment.

You will have a relevant Masters’ level qualification and have knowledge and understanding of social and environmental issues in agricultural supply chains such as deforestation, regenerative agriculture, climate change, livelihoods, gender equality and respect for human rights.

You will have at least 5-7 years of relevant professional experience in a relevant role within the agricultural commodities industry (e.g. sustainability consultancy, private sector, sustainable finance), and a proven track record of implementing practical and realistic solutions in complex and challenging environments.

You are an excellent communicator, able to build and deepen collaborative relationships with stakeholders, have strong analytical skills and are able to drive innovation and change.

You have excellent written and spoken English with the ability to draft proposals and reports. Knowledge of one or more of our other working languages - Spanish, French, Portuguese, Bahasa or Mandarin - is a plus.

Why should you work for us?

• We all share the same vision and mission to support the transition to agriculture commodity production and sourcing that delivers positive outcomes for people, nature and climate;
• We trust our people and offer flexibility, including hybrid working, while also maintaining a strong sense of team cohesion;
• We are a global organisation, with offices and staff in more than 17 countries, speaking more than 40 languages;
• We also enjoy spending time with each other outside of work and you will have the opportunity to join spontaneous picnics or regular get togethers and parties.

Key Terms

• Location: Oxford, UK or Leiden, The Netherlands
• Salary commensurate to experience in the £45,000-£65,000 range
• Starting date: As soon as possible
• Eligible to work in the EU or UK only

Please send your CV and cover letter to personnel@proforest.net  by 30th September 2022.