Sustainability Graduate

The Sustainability Graduate will provide administrative, research, reporting, and project support to the Sustainability Director and Subject Matter Experts, including the Social Responsibility Lead, Environmental Specialist, Value Chain Development and B-BBEE Managers. The role supports the delivery of the organization's social, environmental, and economic sustainability objectives and initiatives.

Primary responsibilities

Sustainability Projects and Functional Support

• Provide support to the Sustainability Subject Matter Experts in coordinating key sustainability activities and projects.
• Prepare, compile and collate data and information that provides insights and guides informed decision-making. 

Research

• Conduct desktop research on sustainability initiatives, innovations, and corporate reporting practices.
• Analyze, summarize, and interpret research findings.
• Compile benchmarking reports on selected local and international retailers and their value chains to support business decision-making.

Administration

• Provide administrative support to the Sustainability Director.
• Schedule cross-divisional working groups and task team meetings.
• Prepare meeting materials and relevant information.
• Take meeting minutes and track the completion of action items.

Secondary Responsibilities

Environmental Sustainability

• Monitor updates of relevant environmental legislation.
• Conduct research on stakeholder expectations, industry trends, and competitor practices to support strategic decision-making.
• Schedule quarterly environmental working group meetings.
• Provide support to the Environmental Specialist in developing and monitoring action plans to manage environmental risks and integrate sustainability practices across all trading divisions. 
• Assist with the implementation of internal and external environmental initiatives and programmes.
• Assist in preparing, analyzing and maintaining environmental data and monitor performance against environmental targets. 

Social Responsibility

• Conduct research and participate in social compliance working group meetings.
• Take meeting minutes and support the development of procedural documentation.
• Monitor social compliance audits across divisions for accuracy and consistency and provide feedback and information to the Social Compliance Lead.

B-BBEE

• Assist in capturing BEE data on scorecard elements such as preferential procurement and enterprise development. 
• Assist b-BBEE Manager in monitoring progress of all scorecard elements against targets and objectives.

• BSC in Environmental Science or a related field

• A post graduate qualification would be advantageous

• Part-time work experience in retail or environmental industry preferrable, of at least 1 year.