Sustainability Procurement Advisor

The firm

Shoosmiths is the law firm clients choose for excellent service, incisive thinking and above all for our ability to focus on what matters. From offices across the UK and Brussels, we support some of the world’s most exciting and ambitious businesses; amazing clients making an impact. We empower our people to be their authentic selves and deliver together in supportive teams committed to excellence and innovation. The first top 50 law firm to achieve ‘Platinum Standard’ Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm.

We have an outstanding benefits package to complement our competitive remuneration system. In addition to the competitive salaries, great working environment and high-quality work, we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm through a comprehensive and flexible range of benefits.

To discover more about our benefits, please visit: Benefits Package

The team

Our sustainability ambition is to be a low carbon law firm, delivering excellence for our clients and communities. We are on an ambitious pathway to decarbonise our business with a commitment to reach net zero GHG emissions across the value chain by FY2040. You can find out more about policies and reporting here. You can also read about some of our recent successes in our Impact Report.

We recognise that these efforts must be ongoing and integrated into our wider value chain, not just our own operations. As a member of the Procurement team, you’ll work closely with colleagues across the wider business to embed sustainability into to our supply chain, as well as using your subject matter expertise to innovate and further accelerate Sustainability at Shoosmiths.

Main responsibilities

• Responsibility for the development and delivery of the Sustainable Supply Chain programme within Procurement, taking the initiative on ensuring environmental and social impacts are identified and managed appropriately.
• Collect and use meaningful data from across the firm’s supply chain on sustainability topics and to enable sustainable decision making and efficient disclosure.
• Improve supplier, and internal stakeholder, sustainability knowledge and capability through the identification and delivery of training, best practice guidance and peer to peer knowledge sharing
• Creation and implementation of policies and procedures to enable a governance framework for sustainable procurement
• Integration of sustainability into Procurement processes such as contract management & supplier performance management
• Ensure tenders include sustainability as a key element of supplier requirements and that sustainability is evaluated consistently as part of the tender process
• Coordinate and deliver collaborative projects and engagement programmes with key suppliers
• Drive integration of sustainability in procurement and supplier strategy development and execution
• Build internal relationships within the business to foster buy-in to existing and future Responsible Business strategies and initiatives, acting as an ambassador for Responsible Business to create long-term, integrated change to firm policies and processes within the Procurement function.
• Contribute to regular communications to promote initiatives and update colleagues across the business on Sustainable Procurement best practice through internal and external communication channels such as internal newsletters or social media posts.
• Please note, this role can be based in Birmingham, Manchester or London.

Skills and qualifications

The successful candidate should possess most of the following qualities:

• Can use their passion for Sustainability to engage stakeholders to drive change
• Ability to translate complex information in easily digestible format
• Experience in delivering complex change within either a Procurement or Sustainability environment
• MCIPs or IEMA certified
• Proactive and self-starting
• Ability to analyse complex data sets
• Strong team player
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational ability
• Able to handle sensitive and confidential information discreetly
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Outlook).

Equal opportunities

Our approach to our people is underpinned by our approach to diversity, inclusion and well-being. Our ambition is to build a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and talents, and a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and has a strong sense of community between colleagues.

This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.