Head of Ethical Sourcing and Responsible Trading

From Merchandising and Marketing - Product Development and Design, through to Supply Chain and Space Planning - our mission is to bring stylish wardrobe, home, and beauty essentials to our customers via an easy, inspiring shopping experience online and in store that will delight them every time.

Are you passionate about driving ethical practices and protecting human rights across global supply chains? At M&S, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and responsibility in everything we do. We’re looking for a visionary and strategic leader to join us as Head of Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trade – a critical role that will shape and deliver our Ethical Trading and Human Rights strategies across our global sourcing network.

In this role, you’ll be at the forefront of identifying and addressing salient human rights risks, ensuring our suppliers align with M&S’s Global Sourcing Principles. You’ll lead our Human Rights Due Diligence efforts, oversee a robust auditing and compliance programme, and champion impactful supplier initiatives that strengthen our position as a global leader in ethical trade.

You’ll also inspire and lead our UK and Sourcing Office Compliance teams, creating an inclusive, high-performing environment where colleagues thrive and contribute to transforming M&S into a business that is not only trusted but admired for its ethical leadership.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

What’s in it for you

Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever, and however they want to shop with us.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

• After completing your probationary period, you’ll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
• Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
• Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
• A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
• A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
• Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
• Industry-leading parental, adoption, and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
• Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
• A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

What you’ll do

Your key accountabilities will include

• Work closely with suppliers to deliver relevant supply chain programmes and initiatives that address supply chain and global ethical issues, to provide continual improvement for our factories and help find solutions to resolve Industry wide social and ethical issues while addressing salient risks, in tier 1 & 2
• Represent M&S externally with NGOs, Trade Unions and Governments and on UK & Global multi-stakeholder forums to work collaboratively with other Brands and Retailers to resolve Global Supply Chain issues such as Gender, Living Wages, Worker Voice, and Just Transitions
• Manage challenges to brand integrity and potential media issues and risks within the supply chain by working with PR team and Sourcing Offices. Communicate with Investors as requested to promote our ethical standards and initiatives in the supply chain that go beyond compliance and demonstrate M&S’s leading best practice.
• Manage the Ethical Trading programme: Including setting standards of auditing, compliance ranking of suppliers and due diligence audits and implementing continual improvement & human rights programmes in the FH&B supply chains that go beyond compliance and auditing. Ensure monthly management reports on supplier ranking are produced for BU Directors and Heads of Regions.
• Providing expertise on external worldwide Ethical policies and initiatives to all FH&B BU’s ensuring a consistent approach to compliance and ethical trading across all BU’s. And advise all other plc areas including Retail, GNFR/NMP, International and Retail on ethical trading, human rights, supply chain compliance and auditing.

Who you are

Your skills and experience will include

• Ability to direct, manage and motivate people to support implementation of strategy and drive success
• Ability to ensure ethical standards are upheld while achieving the commercial needs of the business
• Expert in the field of ethics, compliance, and auditing with a wide knowledge of global supply chain issues to shape future strategies.
• Ability to provide ethical leadership and direction across F,H&B BU’s, supply base and global Sourcing Offices
• Able to develop & manage innovative programmes to resolve supply chain and worker ethical issues addressing salient risks
• Building trust with customers and external stakeholders to maintain leading ethical retailer position

Everyone’s welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating, and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted, and admired by our colleagues, customers, and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

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