Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission Director

Background & Purpose of the Job:

The Global Social Mission Director serves as a senior leader for the Company’s Social Mission, which together with the Economic and Product Missions, form the three-part mission that drives Ben & Jerry’s. The Social Mission Director leads a dynamic team overseeing initiatives at global and regional levels to advance Ben & Jerry’s core values of human rights and dignity, social and economic justice, and environmental protection, restoration, and regeneration. The Social Mission team is headquartered in Vermont with team members working across ten other countries, leveraging the company’s influence in society to achieve progressive systemic change.

The Social Mission Director is accountable for all Social Mission subjects including company sustainability; carbon footprint reduction strategy & implementation to meet our science-based targets; sustainable packaging progress, activism campaigns in partnership with NGOs on issues such as racial equity, criminal legal system reform, refugee and asylum seeker rights, climate justice, and LGBTQ rights; supporting our Values Led Sourcing strategy covering programs for key ingredients such as dairy and cocoa,  partnerships with social enterprises and NGOs, achieving our supplier diversity goals; and overseeing organization-wide certifications like B-Corp and the annual reporting of the SEAR (Social and Environmental Assessment Report)

The Social Mission Director reports to the CEO and serves on the company’s senior leadership team. As Social Mission is woven throughout the company, the Social Mission Director liaises and collaborates across all functions. The position manages a core team of direct reports with extended team members based in Vermont, our European HQ located outside of London, and several additional global markets. The Social Mission Director works with the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors which has primary responsibility for protecting and enhancing Social Mission and brand integrity under the unique agreement of Unilever’s acquisition of Ben & Jerry’s in 2000. The Social Mission Director also collaborates regularly with Unilever’s sustainability leadership & teams within the Ice Cream division and across various functions to leverage and grow collective positive impact.

Who You Are & What You’ll Do:

• Serve on Ben & Jerry’s senior leadership team, contributing to overall company policy development and direction, and fostering a culture of equity, inclusion and belonging.
• Develop, nurture and guide a global, multicultural team who lead initiatives to be a force for good through the direct impacts of our business operations and increase our influence with social activism in partnership with partner NGOs working for progressive systemic change. Manage the training, development, and performance of the Global Social Mission team.
• Provide thought leadership for leading-edge strategies and initiatives to keep Ben & Jerry’s at the forefront of progressive business practices. Develop and strengthen Ben & Jerry’s pioneering business model of linked prosperity, working across all business functions.
• Collaborate with NGOs, like-minded businesses, and other partners to develop organizing, policy advocacy, and communications strategies to achieve our Social Mission priorities.
  • Build and sustain robust, trusting relationships, working toward shared power with Black, Indigenous and all People of Color.
• Champion internal understanding of Social Mission activities and issues with employees, scoop shop franchisees, Unilever colleagues and other partners to bring them along on our journey. Support creation of communications & dialog through website, social media, newsletters, etc.
• Liaise with and brief the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors on the progress of global Social Mission initiatives, as well as engage Board for support and help as needed.
  • Bring in new thinking - Develop and nurture key stakeholder and thought leader relationships, across the globe, to keep Social Activism initiatives at the forefront of the way we do business.
  • Serve as a spokesperson and public advocate on Ben & Jerry’s and our Social Mission activities and campaigns.
  • Manage all associated budgets.
  • Other duties may be assigned.

What You’ll Need To Succeed:

• Extensive experience managing comparable programs, including experience developing and implementing advocacy campaigns, as well as with driving sustainability initiatives related to greenhouse gas emissions, packaging, and ingredient sourcing. Deep content knowledge and passionate commitment to racial equity, social, economic, and climate justice.
• Proven ability to ensure Ben & Jerry’s mission, vision and values are integrated holistically into the business.
• Proven track record as a talent-catalyst and collaborative leader. Strong facilitation skills and managing teams through creating trust, psychological safety, and effective delegation & empowerment.
• Demonstrated track record leading teams with a rich mix of race, class, cultures, and languages and ability to manage experts on a team to bring out high levels of performance by nurturing empowerment and shared ownership.
• Experience working in a fast-paced & innovation-driven environment, international working culture and managing work across remote teams and time zones.
• Excellent project management and strategic facilitation skills; demonstrated resilience in managing complex and changing agendas.
• Ability to solve complex problems within multicultural organizations and demonstrated ability to work with and influence senior leaders, executives, and Boards of Directors.
• Strong understanding of the use of social media to build movements and support campaigns.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, complex and changing environment.
• Understanding of food industry, consumer products or other relevant businesses.

Our People Profile

To support our three-part mission, Ben & Jerry’s also has an outspoken people-mission. We look for people with these characteristics to strengthen our team:

• Purpose-driven: passion and drive to make a real and measurable impact through our social mission agenda for the company
• Empathy: curious to collaborate with a variety of personalities and styles and to build excellent relationships with internal & external stakeholders
• Mastery: continuously learn and develop to remain an expert in your functional area
• Autonomy: dare to make choices and take ownership
• Activism: desire to bring about social change
• Equity: recognizing power dynamics and how biases play out throughout society and organizations; awareness & skills necessary so throughout our business we engage respectfully and make decisions fairly.
• Humility: The work of justice & equity is a journey - We all have much to learn and must be open to continual growth.

What We Can Offer You

Meet the Women of Customer Development| Culture for Growth| Top Notch Employee Health & Well Being Benefits| Every Voice Matters| Global Reach| Life at Unilever| Careers with Purpose | World Class Career Development Programs| Check Out Our Space| Focus On Sustainability

------------------------------------

Unilever is an organization committed to diversity and inclusion to drive our business results and create a better future every day for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.  For more information, please seeEqual Employment Opportunity Posters

Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses.