Responsible Sourcing Lead
Greencore · Hyde Park, Leeds
Our estimate of how close this job is to decisions about what protein a business sources, specifies, buys and serves. How we score
Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
Cage-free egg commitments and sustainable seafood sourcing are named explicitly as programmes this role oversees. That means helping set the KPIs, governance and performance management that determine whether a supplier is actually held to those welfare and environmental standards, or whether the commitment quietly slips. At a business sourcing food for thousands of stores a day, the difference between a target that's tracked rigorously and one that's just a line in a sustainability report is often exactly this kind of role. It's also a genuine credibility-builder: leading supplier engagement and policy delivery inside a £4bn food manufacturer, working directly with Procurement and Technical teams, is the kind of experience that opens doors to more senior category or technical sustainability seats where sourcing standards are set rather than just monitored.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- Responsible sourcing roadmap delivery
- Cross-functional work with Procurement and Technical
- Risk management for sourcing legislation
- Familiarity with certification schemes (MSC, RSPO, FSC)
Where it can lead
- Head of Responsible Sourcing
- Group Sustainability Manager
- Ethical Trade Manager
These more senior roles typically hold final sign-off over sourcing standards and policy, deciding which commitments on eggs, seafood or other supply chains actually become binding contract terms.
About the role
Greencore, a UK convenience food manufacturer formed through its 2026 combination with Bakkavor, is hiring a Responsible Sourcing Lead on a fixed-term basis to lead its Responsible Sourcing agenda. The role supports development and leads delivery of the Responsible Sourcing Roadmap in partnership with Group Procurement and Group Technical teams, covering relevant policies and procedures across the business to enable compliance and continuous improvement, with clear plans at business and site level. The postholder will advise the business on controls to mitigate risks from new or changing legislation, and implement and maintain performance management processes providing insight, governance, data and KPIs — overseeing specific programmes including the 2025 deforestation-free soy, sustainable palm oil, sustainable seafood and caged-free egg commitments. Other accountabilities include coaching to build sustainability capability within the purchasing team, establishing relationships with external regulatory bodies, leading supplier engagement plans focused on ingredient optimisation with high-impact suppliers (environmental impact), and supporting climate risk management with the Group Risk Team and Head of Sustainability. Essential requirements include an undergraduate degree or higher in a relevant field such as Procurement, Supply Chain or Environmental Science; experience in a corporate sustainability environment; experience in data management (collection, analysis, reporting); established project management, analytical and problem-solving skills; intermediate Excel skills including data analysis; and knowledge of relevant responsible sourcing initiatives such as the UK Soy Manifesto, MSC, RSPO, FSC and Rainforest Alliance. Previous experience working in or with Procurement or food retail supply chain is valuable but not stated as essential. The role requires strong communication of complex and uncertain information to varied stakeholders, effective cross-functional influencing, resilience and flexibility, and ability to travel up to 25% of the week. Benefits include a competitive salary, car allowance, annual target bonus, matched pension contributions, share save scheme, private medical insurance and wellbeing platform access.
This is an extract. Read the full advert on the employer's site.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- responsible sourcing strategy
- supplier engagement
- deforestation-free soy
- sustainable palm oil
- sustainable seafood
- caged-free eggs
- MSC
- RSPO
- FSC
- Rainforest Alliance
- UK Soy Manifesto
- performance management
- risk management
- data analysis
- cross-functional influencing
- project management
- stakeholder communication
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Lean into the risk and compliance framing the advert itself uses — legislation, deforestation, and supply chain resilience — while highlighting how cage-free egg and sustainable seafood commitments reduce reputational and regulatory risk as much as any environmental metric. Build fluency in the named initiatives (UK Soy Manifesto, MSC, RSPO, FSC, Rainforest Alliance) and be ready to speak confidently about supplier performance management and KPI governance, since that's the operational core of the role.
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