Daily Sustainability Job Post

* The link and job description provided was active on February 3, 2021 – the date this was posted. Please refer to the employer’s website for up to date information. This is not our search, we are providing these links as a service to the community of sustainability and ESG jobseekers.

Position Overview:

The Global Sustainability Project Manager will play a critical role in achievement of and tracking progress towards VF’s Made for Change public commitments including our Science Based Targets (SBTs) and Sustainable Materials Vision. This role will work across VF brands, functions, and regions to develop and manage the end-to-end process of developing the VF’s annual materials footprint in partnership with the cross-functional team of subject matter experts and data providers.

This role will supply the data necessary to benchmark and measure progress against VF and brand-level materials-related goals and commitments; to identify best practices and drive informed decisions about future product creation strategies; to manage process for collection of auditable materials data; and to enable internal and external storytelling around VF’s impact reduction efforts. This role will also manage consultants for measuring progress towards our SBTs and development of LCAs for input to the MSI. This role will oversee industry relationships and facilitate completion of industry surveys including the SAC BRM and the Textile Exchange material survey. This role will report to the Vice President, Global Sustainability, will work closely Sustainable Materials Analyst, and will collaborate across all brands and relevant VF functions.

How You Will Make a Difference:

Measurement / Reporting:

• Develop and manage the end-to-end process of developing VF’s annual materials footprint in partnership with a cross-functional team of subject matter experts and data providers
• Develop and implement plan toward a verifiable/auditable materials footprint dataset
• Provide required training to internal and external stakeholders who contribute data to materials footprint
• Measure performance toward VF’s materials sustainability goals
• Manage VF’s sustainable materials external reporting, including Textile Exchange annual survey
• Provide subject matter expertise and support in the implementation, usage, and interpretation of materials impact measurement methodologies in line with brand sustainable materials strategies.
• Support brand and supply chain teams in the development and implementation of sustainable material strategies through targeted analysis and research.
• Provide technical materials analytics, data and subject matter expertise to drive development of key VF materials sustainability tools and resources.
• Provide input into development of broader organizational process and system improvements around sustainable materials data collection.
• Enable regular and accurate tracking against the company’s materials sustainability public commitments and other goals, including visualization, analysis, reporting, and benchmarking. This includes supporting teams across VF in building sustainable materials tracking and impact measurement into VF’s day-to-day operations.

Internal engagement

• ​Design and deliver training to effectively build sustainable materials capacity and strengthen internal stakeholder’s knowledge of materials sustainability
• Ongoing education and communication with brand partners and cross-functional leads on materials sustainability data collection processes and objectives.
• Facilitate strategic decision-making discussions with brands related to individual brand sustainable materials roadmaps, and overall brand sustainability strategies.
• Coordinate across S&R to identify areas of collaboration including integration of Chem IQ with Higg MSI, identification of social benefits to materials strategies, and continue to build storytelling capability from a quantitative and qualitative perspective.

External engagement

• Engagement with external partners including non-governmental organizations, foundations, universities and industry associations on emerging GHG standards and other key materials-related topics.
• Manages consultant work including annual measurement towards SBTs, and LCA development for key materials for input to the MSI.
• Supports strategic relationships with industry associations and oversees key performance measurement surveys including the SAC BRM and the Textile Exchange annual survey.
• Organizes supply chain partner forums to raise awareness of VF’s sustainability goals and materials data collection process to build a foundational understanding of various materials sustainability topics, and facilitate best practice sharing across functions.

Skills for Success:

Years of Related Professional Experience: 3-5 years

Educational/ Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Proficiency and demonstrated expertise in collecting auditable data
• Experience working in the apparel industry preferred.
• Experience working with the Higg Product tools preferred.
• Familiarity with Scope 3 (value chain) emissions accounting preferred.
• Adept at communicating information clearly and concisely to both specialist and non-specialist end users.
• Ability to balance multiple projects and to conduct appropriately focused and communicated research.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external partners.