--- title: Head of CSR canonical: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/lidl-nederland-head-of-csr-k856 locale: en description: Lidl Nederland is hiring a Head of CSR on CSR Jobs. Discover this in-house sustainability role and apply today. updated: 2026-10-24 company: Lidl Nederland country: Netherlands contract: Full time seniority: Senior missions: ESG reporting, Stakeholders engagement, Corporate Carbon Footprint, Responsible communication, Employee engagement job_type: Sustainability Manager, ESG/Sustainability Reporting Manager posted: 2026-10-24 valid_through: 2026-11-23 apply: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4482091221 source: CSR Jobs --- # Head of CSR This role owns Lidl Nederland's corporate sustainability agenda: developing the strategy and policy, keeping the organisation on course against its existing targets, and reporting progress internally and externally. Day to day it means leading a team of three, directing periodic alignment between departments, and staying substantively involved in projects run by Bouw en Vastgoed, HR, Marketing or Inkoop. The weight of the role comes from Lidl's position as a supermarket chain with a large footprint and a public list of firsts: it stopped selling tobacco before its peers, set a quantified target tied to the Schijf van Vijf, runs gas-free stores, and plans fully electric store replenishment by 2027. The holder also carries the external side, maintaining a national network of NGOs and knowledge institutions and coordinating donation policy with the Food Banks. This suits someone who has spent at least eight years in business sustainability, including two leading a team, ideally in food retail, and who can move between strategy and the practical business case while working in Dutch and English. ## Job FAQs ### What are the main missions and responsibilities of this role? The core mission is to develop, implement and continuously improve Lidl Nederland's corporate sustainability strategy and policy, and to monitor and report on progress both internally and externally. The holder keeps the overview so that existing targets stay on course and brings internal and external stakeholders together around the main themes: food waste, climate, raw materials, health and the protein transition. Day to day this means leading a team of three: steering, coaching and developing them, bringing structure and speeding up where opportunities appear. The holder runs periodic alignment between departments, acts as project owner for some sustainability projects and contributes substantive input to initiatives led by others, for example in Bouw & Vastgoed, HR, Marketing or Inkoop. Collaboration with the Kwaliteit & Duurzaamheid department is close, given its work on a sustainable, fair and healthy assortment and future-proof supply chains. On the external side the role maintains a significant national network with societal organisations and knowledge institutions, coordinates the roll-out of national and local donation policy and manages the partnership with the Food Banks, among others. The role also feeds knowledge back into the organisation through internal sustainability programmes and training, and keeps track of emerging and evolving legislation to translate it for colleagues. ### Key learning opportunities for this job The role is a rare chance to learn how sustainability strategy is built at corporate level inside a retailer with around 440 Dutch stores and a European parent. The holder will work on the full cycle: developing policy, implementing it, monitoring progress and reporting internally and externally, which is broader than a typical programme management role. The posting names specific themes the team must master and teach: food waste, climate, raw materials, health and the protein transition. It also expects knowledge of concepts such as the planetary health diet and the donut economy, so the candidate can expect to deepen both conceptual and applied understanding, including emerging and evolving legislation that must be translated for colleagues. Structured learning comes through internal sustainability programmes and training that the team delivers, management coaching offered by Lidl, and exposure to the Schwarz Group ecosystem, including Schwarz Produktion and the circularity work with PreZero. Stakeholder engagement with NGOs, knowledge institutions and the Food Banks adds another layer of learning that is difficult to obtain in a purely internal role. ### How does the ideal candidate look like (experience, skills)? Lidl sets the bar high and quite specific. The candidate should have at least eight years of relevant experience, of which at least two in a leadership role, ideally gained in the food retail sector, and should operate at academic (wo) working and thinking level. Dutch must be excellent and English fluent, since the role reports into the international CSR structure. A driving licence is required. On the softer side, the posting stresses persuasiveness, organisational sensitivity and coordinating strength. In a large organisation with many departments, being right is not enough; the person needs to get other departments to adopt sustainability plans and follow through. Enthusiasm, proactivity, pragmatism and flexibility are named as qualities colleagues appreciate, which suggests a profile that balances vision with execution. Knowledge of concepts such as the planetary health diet and the donut economy is expected, as is an ability to translate them into business cases at both strategic and practical level. Experience with stakeholder engagement and, ideally, with donation or food-waste partnerships would strengthen a candidacy, as would familiarity with the regulatory agenda affecting food retail. ### Advice to stand out and make a successful application Given the seniority, focus your application on scale and outcomes rather than enthusiasm alone. Lidl names distinct firsts (tobacco exit, a quantified Schijf van Vijf target, gas-free stores, electric store replenishment by 2027), so reference comparable achievements where you took a concept into a large operating organisation and measured the result. The role manages a team of three and sits in a four-person Corporate Affairs management team, so show how you coach specialists and influence without formal authority across Bouw & Vastgoed, HR, Marketing and Inkoop. Note the language bar: excellent Dutch and fluent English are stated as a must, and the posting is in Dutch. Prepare your materials in Dutch unless the recruiter signals otherwise, and be ready to discuss planetary health diet and donut economy concepts in practical business terms, not as theory. Interview round 1 is scheduled for 6 November, followed by a digital assessment and a second round in the third week of November, with applications due 1 November, an unusually compressed sequence worth planning for. Use the cover letter to name two or three Lidl topics you would prioritise (for example food waste, protein transition, raw materials) and to address the external side, since national partners and the Food Banks donation policy fall under this role. A concrete view on how you would coordinate with Lidl International and counterparts in the other 31 countries signals that you understand the matrix you would be joining. ### What aspects of the company's sustainability is this role likely to focus on? The focus follows the themes named in the posting. Assortment and health are central: Lidl states a quantified target linked to the Schijf van Vijf of the Voedingscentrum, and the role covers health and the protein transition, so product composition and consumption patterns are in scope. Food waste and raw materials are the two other recurring themes, with donations to the Food Banks as the operational expression of the waste agenda. On climate, the relevant work includes the built environment, since Lidl builds and expands stores and distribution centres sustainably, the fact that all Dutch stores are already gas-free, and the planned switch to fully electric store replenishment by 2027, presented as a world first for a retailer. The role keeps the overview on these commitments and reports progress rather than running every project itself. Governance and reporting matter too. The holder develops policy at corporate level, monitors and reports internally and externally, and tracks emerging and evolving legislation, translating it for colleagues. Collaboration with the Kwaliteit & Duurzaamheid department and with the Schwarz Group ecosystem, including PreZero for residual material valorisation, indicates that circularity and supply chain sustainability are part of the remit as well. ### What are the main challenges someone in this role might face? The biggest challenge is likely the tension between ambition and a discount retail model. Lidl frames sustainability as making healthy and sustainable products affordable and accessible, so the credibility of every proposal rests on whether it survives commercial scrutiny. The holder will need to show the business case, not only the moral one, and to hold course when cost pressure rises. A second challenge is coordination across a large, complex organisation. Sustainability projects sit in this team, but many initiatives originate in Bouw & Vastgoed, HR, Marketing or Inkoop, and the role is described as a director of periodic alignment. Keeping oversight without formal authority over those departments requires organisational sensitivity and persistence. With a team of only three people plus the holder, prioritisation will be constant. Externally, stakeholder expectations are demanding. NGOs and knowledge institutions will press for faster progress, and donation coordination through the Food Banks has operational sensitivities. Reporting on progress also exposes the company to scrutiny, so any gap between targets and results becomes visible. Managing that reputational exposure while maintaining momentum is part of the job. ### How could a typical day look like for someone in this position? A day likely starts with team contact: checking progress on the projects the three team members own, unblocking issues and setting priorities. The holder then moves between internal meetings with other departments, for example a Bouw & Vastgoed session on a store or distribution centre project, a Marketing discussion on how a sustainability claim is framed, or an Inkoop conversation on assortment criteria. Periodic alignment meetings that the holder directs are a recurring fixture. Part of the week involves the Kwaliteit & Duurzaamheid department, where assortment, chain sustainability and health topics converge, and part involves the Corporate Affairs management team, where policy, communications and public affairs are aligned. Reporting obligations create regular blocks of analysis and writing, translating progress on food waste, climate, raw materials, health and the protein transition into internal and external updates. External days look different: meetings with societal organisations, knowledge institutions, the Food Banks or international counterparts at Lidl International and in other countries. The balance shifts with the calendar, since legislative developments and reporting deadlines create peaks, and the role allows one day of remote work per week, with a 36-hour contract possible. ### What are the opportunities for professional growth and development in this role? The stated path is broad. Lidl mentions international growth options, and this role is the Dutch interface to the CSR function at Lidl International and to equivalents in each of the other 31 countries, which places the holder in a visible network beyond the Netherlands. Succeeding here could lead toward a wider corporate affairs or sustainability remit, either within Lidl Nederland or inside the Schwarz Group ecosystem. Being part of the Corporate Affairs management team alongside the Head of Corporate Affairs, Head of Communications and Manager Public Affairs gives direct exposure to the strategic agenda of a large retailer. That positioning is useful for later moves into general management, corporate communications or public affairs, since the holder sees how policy, reputation and stakeholder work connect. The role also builds one asset that is hard to replicate elsewhere: a national stakeholder network spanning NGOs, knowledge institutions and the Food Banks, plus first-hand experience of translating EU and Dutch sustainability regulation into retail operations. That combination is scarce in the labour market and tends to open senior doors. ### The main stakeholders you might be interacting with Internally the closest circle is the Corporate Affairs department, where the holder sits in the management team with the Head of Corporate Affairs, the Head of Communications and the Manager Public Affairs. The holder manages three team members and coordinates with the Kwaliteit & Duurzaamheid department, which works on assortment and supply chain sustainability. Frequent contact points also include Bouw & Vastgoed, HR, Marketing and Inkoop, since many sustainability initiatives sit there while this team tracks the overall course. Beyond the Netherlands, the holder is the Dutch contact for the CSR department at Lidl International and for peers in the other 31 countries where Lidl operates. That makes the Schwarz Group ecosystem a standing stakeholder, including interfaces such as Schwarz Produktion and PreZero, where residual materials from the operation are valorised. Externally the role maintains a significant national network: societal organisations, knowledge institutions and partners involved in the donation policy, including the Food Banks. The nature of those interactions mixes negotiation, joint programme design and public accountability, so the holder needs to represent Lidl credibly while listening to criticism. --- Source: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/lidl-nederland-head-of-csr-k856