Sustainability Manager – Impact & Assurance

Earlier this year, Unilever announced an agreement to combine its Foods business with McCormick & Company, creating a scaled global flavour powerhouse. The proposed combination would bring together iconic Foods brands, including Hellmann’s and Knorr, with McCormick’s portfolio to create a global leader across spices, seasonings, condiments and complementary food categories, supported by strong retail and foodservice platforms. McCormick brings more than 135 years of heritage, a presence in 150+ countries and territories, and a portfolio of trusted brands. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, with completion estimated for mid-2027. 

Job Title Senior Manager, Sustainability Impact & Assurance 

Function Global Procurement Centre of Excellence – Sustainability 

Reports to ​​ End-to-End Procurement Sustainability Director 

Scope ​​Global 

Country Location and Worksite Details London, United Kingdom; hybrid working in line with local policy 

JOB PURPOSE 

This role exists to safeguard the credibility, integrity and transparency of the Procurement sustainability agenda by ensuring progress against climate, nature, livelihoods and responsible sourcing commitments can be consistently measured, governed and assured. The role will lead the Sustainability Impact & Assurance capability, providing the governance, systems and insights required to support strategic decision-making and build stakeholder confidence. The role is accountable for ensuring sustainability claims, performance data and disclosures are robust, auditable and aligned with evolving external expectations. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

• ​​Lead the Foods Sustainability Impact & Assurance strategy, establishing the governance, operating model, systems and controls required to independently manage sustainability measurement, reporting and assurance across the future Foods organisation. 

• Own sustainability data governance and reporting, ensuring robust processes, controls and methodologies are in place to support climate, nature, livelihoods, regenerative agriculture and responsible sourcing disclosures. 

• Drive assurance readiness and compliance, overseeing internal controls, audit preparedness, evidence management and external assurance activities to ensure sustainability reporting meets regulatory, customer and investor expectations. 

• Establish impact measurement frameworks, defining KPIs, methodologies and performance-management processes that enable credible measurement of sustainability outcomes and business value creation. 

• Provide technical leadership on sustainability claims and substantiation, ensuring all external and internal sustainability communications are supported by appropriate evidence, methodologies and governance processes. 

• Partner with Procurement, Finance, Legal, Corporate Affairs, Digital and Sustainability teams to embed data quality, reporting standards and accountability throughout business processes and decision-making. 

• Lead sustainability reporting transformation, identifying opportunities to streamline systems, improve data quality, automate reporting processes and strengthen decision-useful insights for leadership. 

• Build future organisational capability, ensuring knowledge transfer, documentation, governance frameworks and reporting processes are successfully transitioned from current Unilever structures into the future Foods organisation. 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS 

• ​​Significant experience in sustainability reporting, ESG assurance, impact measurement, sustainability data governance or related disciplines within a global organisation. 

• Strong understanding of sustainability reporting frameworks, assurance principles, sustainability data management and internal control environments. 

• Demonstrated experience leading complex cross-functional programmes involving multiple stakeholders, systems and governance requirements. 

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and translate technical sustainability requirements into practical business processes and decisions. 

• Strong analytical, risk management and problem-solving capabilities, with experience working in highly regulated and rapidly evolving environments. 

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 

• ​​Experience supporting sustainability disclosures, external assurance engagements or regulatory reporting programmes. 

• Familiarity with climate, nature, regenerative agriculture, responsible sourcing or agricultural supply-chain sustainability metrics. 

• Experience designing or implementing sustainability reporting systems, digital solutions, data platforms or performance-management frameworks.