Assistant Sustainability Manager – Material Transformation Project

Job Introduction

Are you looking for a new challenge that gives you the chance to get creative and use your knowledge of sustainable materials to help Selfridges achieve our environmentally friendly missions. Looking for a company that wants to help further your career as well as provide you with an exciting, inspiring and fun place to work?   

If the answer to all of these questions is ‘yes’ then you’re just the kind of person we’re looking for!  

Role Responsibility

The Sustainability Project Manager – Material Targets Tracking will play an integral role in supporting the delivery of the Materials pillar of Selfridges’ Project Earth strategy.

In August 2020, we set out our vision to ensure that the 9 most environmentally impactful materials used in our business come from certified, sustainable sources by 2025. From product to procurement and property, transitioning to more sustainable materials is critical to reducing our footprint.

Reporting into the Sustainability team, you will provide your expertise to support the definition of the changes required to meet our materials targets. These changes will range from technology solutions, to process improvements to behaviour change within our teams.

As Sustainability Project Manager you will:

•Support in the day-to-day decision making of the project, tapping into your knowledge of industry standards, product certifications such as organic and FSC, and existing or upcoming regulations.

•Working collaboratively with key stakeholders to shape the requirements for new and innovative solutions which will enable the Sustainability team and wider business to meet our Materials commitments.

•Participate in workshops to design solutions that meet our current and future sustainability requirements, from a materials perspective. The primary focus will be Goods For Resale (this means all the products we sell in our stores), with some support required for the Goods Not For Resale activities (this means all the products we use in our business but don’t sell to customers) and will include areas such as supplier onboarding, monitoring product composition information, capturing certification information and reporting on progress to the wider business.

•Act as a key liaison between the Materials Tracking project and the Sustainability, B&M Projects and wider Buying teams, working closely to achieve agreed project outcomes and share progress.

•Ensure Materials Tracking activities are aligned with and achieve the objectives under the Materials pillar of the Sustainability strategy, identifying risks and issues ahead of key decisions.

•Work with the Sustainability Managers and internal stakeholders, to provide updates which will feed into our reporting dashboards at a Selfridges and Selfridges Group level.

•Monitor and interpret the sustainability data captured through the materials tracking reporting, providing insights to the project and wider business to support prioritisation of activities and decision making.

The Ideal Candidate

•Highly organised, including strong planning, influencing and negotiation skills.

•A people person, both proactive and collaborative, with the ability to build strong working relationships with multiple stakeholders internally and externally.

•Able to thoughtfully and constructively challenge the people you work with.

•A self-starter/independent worker with a great deal of persistence.

•Experienced within corporate sustainability, ideally with experience of working within the retail or fashion industry.

•A strategic thinker, you will have a broad understanding of key sustainability areas and have delivered sustainability initiatives with demonstrable outcomes.

•As pro-active individual, you will also be numerate and analytical, strong on MS programmes and have strong presentation skills.

•Highly motivated with a personal passion for sustainability.

•An example of our values, a trusted and respected colleague.

This guide represents a summary of the role, however all team members are expected to be flexible in the work they undertake, which may change from time to time, according to the needs of the business.

About the Company

Our Creative Spirit 

We are more than a shop. We are a social space where culture and commerce collide to release an energy that we call the Selfridges spirit. We are here to make our world brighter, and everyone is welcome. 

Our Awards Cabinet 

We’re not ones to brag, but since you asked...Selfridges has won the award for The World’s Best Department Store an unprecedented four times at the IGDS awards, with an additional award for the Best Sustainability Campaign. We were also recognised as a ‘Best 25 Big Company to Work For 2020’ as awarded by The Sunday Times.

Our Future 

Since 1909 we have been at the forefront of retail and today our stores in London, Manchester and Birmingham – alongside selfridges.com and the Selfridges App – continue to redefine the way we shop and socialise. As a Selfridges team member, you will learn what it takes to consistently drive innovation, success and amazing customer experiences. 

Everyone is welcome

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive working culture, and we see this as key to our success and our working culture. Here at Selfridges, everyone is welcome - irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age or disability, we stand by equal opportunities for all. We are diverse, we are inclusive, we are Selfridges.

The Fun Stuff  

There are lots of reasons to be excited about joining Team Selfridges – from our fantastic team member communities to volunteer days and behind-the-scenes Selfridges experiences throughout the year. 

Other benefits and rewards include:

• Generous bonus and/or commission scheme 
• Discounted gym memberships 
• Pension contributions  
• Annual travel pass and cycle to work schemes 
• Up to five paid volunteering days
• Access to a wide range of training programmes to help your career development

Selfridges