Location
Central London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Competitive salary - accredited Living Wage employer

About the Role
This newly created role of Sustainability Manager - Circularity & Waste is pivotal in delivering and shaping apetito's sustainability strategy. apetito aims to be one of the UK's leading companies in ethics and sustainability, creating competitive advantage by gaining support from current and potential customers to drive business growth. The role involves managing and influencing sustainability initiatives across packaging, food waste, and water usage, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and advancing circular economy principles.

Key responsibilities include developing a forward-looking Packaging policy that promotes circular economy principles, managing the Project Boomerang PET tray recycling system across both B2B and D2C businesses with ambitious return rate targets, identifying reusable packaging opportunities, and minimizing packaging usage. The role also involves conducting Life Cycle Assessments to optimize packaging materials, ensuring compliance with packaging taxation and reporting regulations, and owning the food waste reduction program including managing partnerships such as Fareshare.

Additionally, the role will develop and implement a water strategy focused on sustainable sourcing and reduction, support new site developments like Kitchen West and the Customer Service and Distribution Centre to maximize sustainability outcomes, and represent apetito in key industry forums and external events. The Sustainability Manager will work closely with internal teams and external stakeholders to embed sustainability across the business and communicate progress effectively.

apetito is proud of its multiple sustainability awards including the 2024 Kings Awards for Enterprise - Sustainable Development, its strong Net Zero commitments validated by the SBTi, and pioneering closed-loop packaging recycling systems. This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to one of the UK’s most ambitious sustainability journeys within the food sector.

Experience
- Successful track record in a sustainability influencing role, ideally 3+ years
- Experience implementing sustainability projects with a results-oriented focus
- Proven ability to work collaboratively within teams and deliver through others
- Strong communication skills with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders
- Subject matter expertise across packaging, food waste, water, and circular economy principles

About you
- Strategic thinker with the ability to challenge and influence business strategy
- High level of intellectual ability and strong influencing skills
- Passionate about ethical and sustainable issues with real-life experience
- Thrives in building strong cross-functional partnerships to deliver impact
- Professional and confident representation of the company at internal and external events

Qualifications
- Degree-level or equivalent qualification or experience
- Desirable: Sustainability-related qualification
- Desirable: Experience working within circular economy areas of packaging, food waste, and water
- Desirable: Strong network or good understanding of key industry bodies and effective approaches