Director of Sustainability

The core mission is to turn the end-of-life stage of donated goods into both an environmental and a financial win. That means directing the strategy for salvage, waste and recycling across all Goodwill Houston locations, owning the P&L for the function, and being directly accountable for revenue targets, expense control and landfill diversion. In practice, the Director sets annual operating plans and budgets, monitors commodity markets, and makes recommendations to senior leadership on where to invest or expand. Operationally, the role oversees the Salvage department itself, the Salvage Operations Manager and Coordinators report up through this position, ensuring safe, efficient and profitable processing, accurate records of inventory, sales, weights and schedules, and tight coordination with transportation on load planning and routing. A significant share of the work is external: building and expanding relationships with vendors and buyers, negotiating terms, developing new outlets for hard-to-place commodity streams, and benchmarking against other Goodwill agencies to make sure Houston is capturing maximum value. The longer-term objective is continuous improvement of the whole value chain: reducing waste volumes and disposal costs year over year, growing the vendor network, and embedding a culture of accountability and development in the salvage and sustainability team. Every improvement in value recovery funds Goodwill Houston's workforce development mission, so the role is measured on both operational and mission-supporting outcomes.

This is a rare chance to learn the circular economy from the inside. Working directly with commodity markets, buyers and processing partners gives deep exposure to how secondary materials (apparel, textiles, electronics, hard goods) are priced, sorted and sold, and how those markets shift over time. The Director will build real fluency in commodity trading dynamics, vendor negotiation and market development that is hard to acquire in a purely corporate sustainability setting. The P&L ownership is another major learning axis. Managing revenue, expenses, hauling costs and receivables for a multi-site operation sharpens financial and analytical skills well beyond what a typical sustainability role offers, with strong Excel and data-analysis work built in. Because the role spans roughly 85 locations, there is also substantial learning in logistics, load planning and transportation optimisation. Finally, the leadership dimension is significant: coaching the Salvage Operations Manager and Coordinators, running huddles, and mentoring a team provides hands-on people-management experience. Exposure to environmental, safety and transportation compliance adds a regulatory skill set that transfers well to any operations or ESG leadership path.

The ideal candidate likely combines operational depth with strategic range. A bachelor's degree is required, with a master's in sustainability, environmental science, business, operations management or supply chain strongly preferred, and five or more years of progressive experience in salvage, waste management, recycling, sustainability or related operations. Experience managing a team, owning a P&L and running vendor relationships is repeatedly flagged as valuable, so someone who has already been accountable for numbers and people will stand out. On the technical side, the role calls for strong analytical and problem-solving skills, the ability to translate data into operational improvements, and solid Excel and data-analysis capabilities. Excellent written and verbal communication matters because the Director must influence retail and aftermarket leadership, negotiate with external buyers and report to senior management. A valid Texas driver's license and the ability to travel between sites are practical requirements, and the physical demands (lifting, standing, working in varied temperatures) mean comfort in a warehouse environment is genuinely necessary. Perhaps most important is mindset: someone who sees landfill diversion and revenue generation as two sides of the same coin, and who can keep a safety-first, mission-aligned culture in a fast-moving, hands-on operation.

Because this is an operations role dressed in sustainability language, the strongest applications will lead with measurable operational results rather than sustainability principles. Quantify what you have owned: tonnes diverted, revenue recovered, waste costs reduced, vendor networks built, P&L size. The KPIs here (beating regional commodity benchmarks, cutting trash percentages year over year, expanding vendor networks, improving load planning) tell you exactly what the hiring panel will probe, so mirror that language in your CV and cover letter. In the cover letter, connect the operational work explicitly to Goodwill Houston's mission of changing lives through the power of work. Demonstrate that you understand the model: donations fund job training, and salvage performance directly underwrites that mission. Referencing familiarity with thrift, reuse or secondary-commodity markets, or even other Goodwill agencies' practices, signals you have done your homework on how this sector actually works. For interviews, prepare to discuss a specific turnaround or improvement you drove in waste, recycling or salvage, the problem, the data, the interventions, the result. Be ready to talk about negotiating with buyers, handling hard-to-place material streams, and leading teams in a physically demanding, multi-site environment. Note the no-sponsorship policy and Texas driver's license requirement early to avoid surprises.

The sustainability focus here is intensely practical and circular-economy centred. The primary environmental lever is landfill diversion, ensuring that donated goods which cannot be sold in stores are recycled, reprocessed or sold into secondary markets rather than thrown away. Reducing trash volumes and hauling costs year over year is an explicit KPI, which makes waste reduction a core environmental objective rather than a side initiative. Value recovery is the financial twin of that environmental goal. By maximising commodity sales, apparel and other materials, above regional benchmarks, the role keeps goods in productive use and generates revenue that supports Goodwill Houston's employment programmes. This is sustainability embedded in the business model: the better the salvage operation performs, the more the organisation can invest in its social mission. Governance and compliance also sit within scope, since the Director must ensure operations meet local, state and federal environmental, safety and transportation regulations and maintain accurate reporting on sales, weights and costs. In ESG terms, this role is unusually strong on the environmental and social pillars simultaneously, sitting at the intersection of waste reduction, resource efficiency and workforce opportunity.

The most immediate challenge is likely the dual bottom line. Commodity markets for used textiles, apparel and hard goods are volatile and price-sensitive, so hitting revenue targets while simultaneously reducing waste volumes and disposal costs requires constant balancing and quick adaptation. The KPIs, beating Goodwill South's commodity sales benchmarks and lowering trash percentages every year, set a demanding bar that leaves little room for complacency. Operationally, coordinating salvage flows across nearly 50 stores and more than 85 locations is a genuine logistics puzzle. Load planning, routing and timely shipment depend heavily on partnership with transportation leadership, so the Director must influence teams they do not directly manage. Accurate record-keeping of inventory, weights and sales across that many sites adds another layer of complexity and demands disciplined systems and follow-through. There is also a people and culture dimension. Leading a hands-on salvage team in a physically demanding environment, with safety and compliance obligations, means balancing productivity pressure with coaching and morale. And because the function is financially visible to senior leadership, the Director will need to communicate market trends and investment cases persuasively, sometimes with imperfect data.

A typical day probably blends desk analysis with floor and site presence. Mornings might begin with huddles or operational meetings to share updates, reinforce safety and align the salvage team on priorities, load schedules, pending shipments, or issues at specific locations. From there, the Director could spend time reviewing production reports, commodity sales figures, weights and hauling costs, comparing performance against targets and identifying where value recovery is slipping. A significant portion of the week involves external contact: calls or meetings with vendors and buyers to negotiate terms, explore new outlets for hard-to-place materials, or resolve performance and payment issues in coordination with Accounts Receivable. Internally, there will be cross-functional work with Transportation on routing and load planning, and with Retail and Aftermarket leadership on how donated goods flow to end-of-life handling. Travel between Goodwill Houston locations is part of the rhythm, including time in warehouses where lifting and standing are routine. No two days are likely identical. Commodity price movements, equipment or staffing issues, compliance matters and seasonal donation peaks all create variability, so the role rewards someone who can switch between strategic analysis and hands-on problem solving several times a day.

The role reports to the Senior Director of Post Retail Operations, which places it squarely in the operational leadership pipeline of a large non-profit. Strong performance on the P&L and diversion KPIs could position the Director for broader post-retail or operations leadership, or for expanded responsibility across other Goodwill Houston functions. Because the function is financially and environmentally visible, successes here are easy for senior leadership to see. Beyond promotion, the role builds a transferable portfolio: commodity market expertise, multi-site logistics, vendor negotiation, budget ownership and team leadership. These skills open lateral moves into circular-economy businesses, waste and recycling companies, retail operations or broader ESG and sustainability leadership in other sectors. The regulatory and compliance exposure adds further optionality. There is also a mission-driven growth path. As Goodwill Houston continues to emphasise sustainability and workforce development, a Director who can articulate the link between salvage performance and mission impact may find opportunities to shape organisational strategy well beyond the salvage department, potentially influencing how the whole network approaches circularity.

Internally, the closest working relationship is with the Senior Director of Post Retail Operations, who sets direction and to whom the Director reports. Directly below, the Salvage Operations Manager and Salvage Coordinators are the core team, requiring daily coaching and performance management. Cross-functionally, the Director partners with Transportation leadership on load planning and routing, with Retail and Aftermarket leadership on the flow of donated goods, and with Accounts Receivable on collections. Externally, vendors and buyers are central stakeholders. These relationships are commercial and ongoing: negotiating terms, monitoring performance, developing new outlets for hard-to-place commodities, and ensuring timely payment. The Director also likely engages with other Goodwill agencies and regional bodies such as Goodwill South to benchmark commodity performance, and with regulators or compliance contacts around environmental, safety and transportation requirements. The nature of these interactions varies widely. Some are transactional and fast-moving, a load that needs rerouting, a buyer query. Others are strategic and relationship-based, building a multi-year vendor network or presenting market trends and investment recommendations to senior leadership. Balancing internal influence with external negotiation is a defining feature of the role.