Product Sustainability Assistant - Buying

Internal use only – Grade H

About us

We are The Very Group and we’re here to help families get more out of life. We know that our customers work hard for their families and have a lot to balance in their busy lives. That’s why we combine amazing brands and products with flexible payment options on Very.co.uk to help them say yes to the things they love. We’re just as passionate about helping our people get more out of life too; building careers with real growth, a sense of purpose, belonging and wellbeing.

About the team

Reporting into the Buying Manager the Sustainability Champion will help to deliver sustainable initiatives within the own brand product ranges.

They will work with the Supplier Performance team to ensure we can accurately report on our progress on sustainability metrics, which will involve rolling out attribution best practices within the category teams and supporting the category teams with data entry.

They will work with the Buying team on product development to ensure that sustainable materials are used, correct processes are followed, and systems are updated for all product categories.

About the role

They will work with the ESG team to be a subject matter expert with the product category, keeping up to date with latest developments and best practices in sustainability to ensure the Very group remains at the forefront of sustainable initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

Help with the roll out of best practice line level attribution within the product team including:

• Working with Category teams to improve line level attribution “Tagging” including FSC, recycled polyester % and certification flag to ensure accurate roll up..
• Check and chase the data inputs from each product team, working with data and reports to understand each team’s progress.
• Support the buying teams with data input into the board system to improve the quality of sustainability data. Ensuring relevant logos and copy are accurate online as part of the product set up process.
• Work with the relevant analysists to produce MI that reports on progress against each sustainable initiative and supports roll ups of cost and margin impacts of new initiatives.
• Through ESG’s circularity guidance, drive circularity across the ranges and support category teams in monitoring and reporting.
• Support the BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) mass balance tracking process.
• Working with Buying teams to improve line level attribution “Tagging” including cotton % and BCI flag to ensure accurate roll up.
• Support Buying & Sourcing Hubs with the chasing of “BCI Credits” with the own brand supply base when contracts are raised to ensure that we hit the BCI target.
• Be a point of contract for both suppliers and category colleagues who need support with the process, to ensure that any issues are dealt with efficiently and feeding back changes to the process where necessary.
• Be an Eco Champion within the own brand product team supporting sustainable initiatives.
• Product Packaging: Support the monitoring of our transition to sustainable packaging of products – help with the production of reports that help the business track this programme.
• Providing support to other departments such as marketing on campaigns requiring confirmation of lower impact materials certification.
• Monitor competitor’s product sustainability performance and work with ESG on ensuring our ambitions maintain pace with the market.

About you

• Commercial experience within a sustainability role (this could be an internship, work experience, or a permanent role). 
• Be comfortable being able to work with Excel data & reports (Pivots, filtering etc) so areas of focus can be identified.
• Good knowledge of excel.
• Able to produce, analyse and articulate findings from reports.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to establish relationships, internal & external - working cross functionally and collaboratively.
• Desire to understand the Very customer.
• Problem solving/critical thinking.
• Decision making skills.
• Ability to prioritise and manage workload.

Some of our benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model.
• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews
• £250 flexible benefits allowance to suit your needs
• 27 days holiday + bank holidays.
• Udemy learning access.
• Bonus potential (performance and business-related).
• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk
• Matched pension up to 6%
• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.  

What happens next?

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.

You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position:

1st stage - An informal 30-45 minute video call with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have.

2nd stage - A one-hour formal interview where you can expect both competency and technical questions.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you'd like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here.

Equal opportunities

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.