Lead - Sustainability

Main Purpose: The Head of Sustainability - India will be responsible for supporting the execution of The Brand's sustainability strategy. This role works closely with the Global Head of Sustainability and The Brand's many functional teams to further integrate positive social and environmental impacts across the brand's value chain. This includes owning sustainability outcomes for India, governance and management systems, operations, sourcing, partnerships, customers, and communities. This role carries decision authority, risk ownership, and external accountability for manufacturing, supply chain, and brand impact under Sustainability for India. This role is an opportunity for an entrepreneurial, passionate, and collaborative individual to roll up their sleeves and help implement the Sustainability, Supplier Working Conditions (SWC), and Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) strategy of a leading Global Footwear brand & manufacturer.

Core Accountabilities:

• Own and be accountable for the Brand's sustainability strategy, including supplier working conditions and EHS, while shaping relevant Sustainability and SWC/EHS KPIs and driving their effective implementation.
• Set India sustainability priorities and execution strategy , translating global direction into locally relevant, cost-aware, and regulator-ready roadmaps working closely with cross-functionally with key stakeholders.
• Lead resolution of critical safety, labor, environmental, and regulatory issues, ensuring sustained compliance through strong regulatory knowledge and judgement. Engage key stakeholders to embed sustainability priorities across materials, manufacturing, energy, waste, safety, and worker well-being, while influencing leadership decisions on sourcing strategy, factory expansion, vendor rationalization, and capex by clearly articulating risks, trade-offs, and long-term impact
• Own sustainability governance in India and leverage internal and external data sources for data-driven sustainability and social impact decision-making, reporting, system development, metrics, and KPIs to drive progress toward goals, streamline related data collection and reporting, facilitate communication around the progress to goals, and elevate risks and opportunities.
• Assess and analyzes company policies and processes to identify areas and processes to which improvements can be made in accordance with the organization's commitment to sustainability.
• Anticipate emerging risks and regulatory changes, advising India leadership proactively rather than reactively.
• Be accountable, together with the team, for implementing EHS and supplier working conditions governance systems, while balancing business requirements with the responsibility to protect and improve local and global environments.
• Evaluate the efficacy of sustainability/EHS/Working conditions programs; recommend and implement improvements as necessary.
• Drafts and prepares reports, presentations, and proposals; presents proposals and recommendations to related key stakeholders. Lead the development and implementation of related training, and employee engagement initiatives.
• Manage our partnerships with sustainability/SWC enterprises.

Resource Accountabilities:

Financial (Direct and Indirect):

People (FTE - Direct and Indirect):

1-3 Field Staff

Other Measures (e.g. Revenue/Equipment/Property):

Key Relationships:

• In-House Manufacturing, Retail, Distribution Centres/Warehouse & Office Teams
• Sourcing Teams
• Product Development Teams
• External Vendors (Tier 1 & 2)
• Heads of Sourcing/ Manufacturing
• Product Leadership
• Innovation Staff
• Other related Senior Management Roles

Desired Skills & Experience:

• Relevant experience of 7+ years in sustainability, EHS, or responsible sourcing, preferably within footwear, apparel, or manufacturing-led supply chain environments
• Bachelor's / College degree and advanced degree required in a related field (Business, Environmental Studies, etc.), or equivalent professional experience in lieu
• Motivated self-starter, with the ability to work both independently as well as collaboratively with a team-player mindset. Ability to work resourcefully at developing programs/functions and teams.
• Entrepreneurial, "roll up your sleeves" attitude
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to multi-task
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Highly developed PowerPoint and Excel skills
• Proficiency in analyzing and synthesizing quantitative data

Competencies:

• Functional Expertise - demonstrated metric improvements through strong strategy development and deployment skills, and credibility across functions. Strong problem-solving, facilitation, and business intuition skills
• Customer and consumer focus - understands and anticipates the impact of sustainability decisions on both customers and consumers
• Decisiveness and collaboration - Demonstrated effectiveness as well as a proven track record of results delivery through analysis and business intuition.
• Personal credibility - demonstrated through strong communication skills, achieving results, and trusted relationships with others
• Strong Negotiating and Influencing Skills - Excellent communication and presentation skills are essential for the role and the ability to communicate succinctly with leadership
• Managing across Local, Regional, and Global Environments - Well-versed in the differences in related working practices and culturally aware.