Senior Leader – Social and Environmental Sustainability

Join to apply for the Senior Leader – Social and Environmental Sustainability role at Yorkshire Building Society.

We have an exciting new opportunity for a Senior Leader to join our Social and Environmental Sustainability leadership team. As the leader of the Social and Environmental Sustainability team, you’ll have the opportunity to make a real difference in a purpose driven organisation. You’ll develop and lead a best in class Social and Environmental Sustainability Strategy. You will also provide expert advice and support to the Board, Executive Committee and the business on sustainability issues to ensure the successful embedding of sustainability across the Society.

This is a hybrid role, where you can blend working from home, with office presence dependent on business and other requirements at our Leeds & Bradford offices.

Please note, this role is a Fixed Term Contract for 12 months.

About the role

• Develop an overall impact driven Social and Environmental Sustainability strategy, which provides clarity on ambition, governance and accountability.
• Lead the development and implementation of a best-in-class social sustainability strategy as well as a Climate and Nature strategy which aligns to our purpose and corporate strategy. This will include ensuring YBS has a code of ethics and responsibility, modern slavery and human rights policy and a programme of work that builds a strong reputation internally and amongst our communities.
• Develop and lead our Charity of the Year partnership, colleague volunteering approach and community investment strategy.
• Conduct ongoing external market horizon scanning to ensure YBS is sighted as best practice, emerging UK and global social and environmental trends, regulation, government policy and thought leadership.
• Build and manage high quality stakeholder relationships internally and externally including with investors, government (local and national), partners and other stakeholders.
• Produce clear, simple and articulate strategy papers to Executive Committee, Board and relevant Committees as required.
• Identify appropriate benchmarks and indices for YBS to participate in (e.g. CDP, Principles for Responsible Business) and provide submissions which position YBS well in the external market.
• Ensure the Society is compliant with all relevant Environmental and Social Sustainability regulatory requirements.
• Lead a high performing team of expert social and environmental experts.

About you

• Experience of leading a high performing social and environmental team in an equivalent or larger organisation.
• In-depth understanding of how to successfully embed sustainability within an organisation aligned to purpose and business objectives.
• In-depth understanding of the UK regulatory landscape with regards to Environmental Sustainability, Climate and Nature Change.
• Detailed knowledge of corporate environmental and social sustainability trends in the UK.
• Understanding of the impact Climate and Nature Change poses to the balance sheet of a UK based mortgage-lender.
• Experience in developing and managing sustainability metrics, such as metrics around carbon emissions, water usage and waste production.
• Ability to translate high level strategy and goals into operational plans.
• Ability to oversee management of budgets and resources.
• Knowledge of relevant sustainability legislation, compliance, corporate governance and quality assurance.

About YBS

At YBS we don’t have shareholders, we have members. We care about people and that includes you. So here, you’ll be respected for who you are, you’ll be able to bring your whole self to work, and you’ll have everything you need to build a long and rewarding career.

Flexibility

We offer a range of flexible working options without unsocial hours, which can help you find a healthy work-life balance. Whether it’s finishing early for an appointment or fitting your studies and hobbies in around your working hours, we can help make it work for you. We’re happy to talk flexible working and you can reach out to us anytime during the recruitment process to discuss this.

Development

We want you to feel challenged here. Whatever your ambitions, we’re committed to helping you develop your skills and move ahead in your career journey. From day one, we’ll set you up for success with a brilliant induction and full training plan, all designed to get you up to speed quickly.

Inclusivity

We’re passionate about creating an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome and able to be themselves. If you’ll go the extra mile to help our members, you’ll fit right in and feel you belong here.

About our Benefits

We offer lots of fantastic rewards that you can make the most of in and out of work, including:

• Holiday. You’ll get 25 days plus Bank Holidays, as well as the option to buy up to a further 5 days.
• Bonus. At YBS we work collaboratively and share in our success together, so when we reach our goals were all rewarded with an on target bonus of 7% of eligible pay (with the opportunity to earn up to a maximum 15%).
• Pension. We know how important it is to save towards the future, that’s why we’ll contribute up 11% into your YBS pension.
• Healthcare. Health and wellbeing are an important part of life at YBS, when you join us you’ll have access to a range of health benefits to suit your life including private medical insurance, dental and healthcare plans.
• My Benefits. When you join YBS you’ll have access to our self-service benefits portal, where you can access a range of retail, hospitality and health discounts.

Ready to apply?

If you’re excited about this role and want to be part of the YBS team, click apply now to send us your application.