Sustainability Manager

The Sustainability Manager is responsible for executing and refining the company's comprehensive sustainability and climate action roadmap. Key operational missions involve overseeing material verification schemes (including GOTS, GRS, FSC, and Better Cotton), setting up systematic data capture to track progress against climate targets, and monitoring sustainable fibre adoption across collections. From a regulatory and compliance standpoint, the role spearheads readiness projects for impending European legislation such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), Digital Product Passports (DPP), and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). This involves assessing data gaps, tracking compliance metrics, and preparing strong evidence for the company's annual impact reporting and B Corp recertification cycles. Additionally, the manager will lead internal advocacy and operational alignment, mentoring junior team members like the Responsible Sourcing Assistant. They ensure marketing and product claims comply with anti-greenwashing rules, create internal training resources for store and head office teams, and represent the brand in collaborative industry working groups.

This role offers an exceptional vantage point for mastering emerging European circular economy and product compliance frameworks, including DPP and PPWR, which are reshaping the textile and apparel sector. The successful candidate will gain deep operational experience in enterprise-wide B Corp management, navigating complex recertification audits, impact scoring, and material-level traceability standards like GRS and GOTS. They will also sharpen their analytical capabilities by developing automated reporting dashboards, linking product lifecycle metrics with commercial merchandise planning. Furthermore, the position offers direct exposure to cross-functional change management and people leadership, providing opportunities to build management skills through line responsibility and direct collaboration with executive leadership.

The ideal candidate brings established experience within sustainability, quality, or compliance, ideally gained inside a fashion retailer, ethical brand, sustainability consultancy, or existing B Corp environment. A solid grasp of apparel textiles, sustainable raw materials, and emerging textile legislation is essential. On the technical side, candidates should exhibit advanced Excel skills, data modeling proficiency, and practical familiarity with supply chain auditing systems or ESG data platforms. The role requires someone who loves dissecting complex data sets to extract actionable commercial insights. Interpersonally, the profile demands an adaptable, diplomatic communicator who can translate technical compliance language into inspiring guidance for designers, buyers, and store staff. A proactive mindset, comfort with managing multiple concurrent deadlines, and genuine enthusiasm for sustainable retail are vital attributes.

To stand out, tailor your application around concrete experience with sustainable supply chains and textile certifications. Highlight specific examples where you managed data flows for certifications such as GOTS, GRS, or FSC, or where you helped prepare an organisation for upcoming directives like DPP or PPWR. Demonstrate your data aptitude clearly. Instead of general statements about passion for sustainability, show your analytical achievements, such as building traceability trackers, modeling carbon footprints, or preparing audit-ready datasets under pressure. Lastly, familiarize yourself with JoJo's identity as a purpose-driven B Corp. Show that you understand the commercial reality of baby and children's retail, explaining how you would support creative design and buying teams without introducing excessive administrative friction.

The primary focus of this role lies at the intersection of sustainable materials, circular design, and regulatory compliance. The manager will spend considerable effort increasing the share of certified preferred fibres, eliminating hazardous packaging, and reducing product footprint across the lifecycle. A significant workstream involves carbon accounting and climate action planning, monitoring Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and driving supply chain decarbonisation in tandem with the sourcing department. Governance and communication transparency represent another major pillar. Maintaining rigorous audit trails behind environmental claims prevents greenwashing and ensures the company's B Corp standing remains impeccable and externally validated.

A central challenge will be maintaining momentum on sustainability initiatives amidst the fast-paced, margin-sensitive realities of the retail calendar. Balancing commercial deadlines with strict compliance checks requires tact, persistence, and efficient processes. Managing data availability across extended international supply tiers presents another hurdle. Gathering accurate, primary certification data for diverse product ranges, from apparel to wooden toys, can involve substantial operational friction and supplier chasing. Finally, keeping pace with an evolving legislative environment (such as the EU Green Claims Directive and ESPR) will demand continuous horizon scanning and the ability to turn complex legal mandates into pragmatic, day-to-day buying guidelines.

A typical morning might begin with analyzing material adoption reports in Excel, checking the proportion of certified organic cotton or recycled fibres booked for upcoming seasons, followed by a check-in with the Responsible Sourcing Assistant to review ongoing audit tasks. Midday could involve collaborating with the Buying and Design teams to discuss circular packaging alternatives, test recycled material viability, or ensure that a new line's marketing claims have verifiable transaction certificates. In the afternoon, the manager might participate in a project meeting focused on Digital Product Passport readiness, draft sections of the upcoming B Corp impact report, or deliver a short briefing session to customer-facing teams explaining JoJo's latest climate initiatives.

This role positions the professional as a senior technical authority within sustainable retail. Given the impending wave of mandatory ESG regulations in the UK and EU, acquiring hands-on mastery of DPP, PPWR, and supply chain governance makes the candidate highly valuable. Within JoJo Maman Bébé, the candidate has a path to expand their mandate across broader corporate strategy, potentially leading responsible sourcing, supply chain compliance, or heading the wider ESG function. Externally, success in this position establishes strong credentials for leadership roles such as Head of Sustainability or Director of Responsible Sourcing within consumer goods, retail groups, or sustainability consultancies.

Internally, primary interactions take place with the Design, Buying, and Technical teams, collaborating closely to source certified materials and design out waste. The role reports directly to the Head of Quality, Technical and Compliance and will liaise regularly with Finance and Executive Leadership on Climate Action Plan metrics. The manager will also interface with Marketing and E-commerce to validate external messaging and green claims, as well as Human Resources and Learning & Development to rollout staff training modules. Externally, key stakeholders include overseas suppliers and vendors, certification bodies and auditors (such as Textile Exchange or B Lab), packaging suppliers, and industry working groups shaping textile circularity standards.