Agriculture Manager - Dairy, Beef and Lamb

About the role
The John Lewis Partnership is firmly committed to sustainability and creating a happier world. We're searching for an Agriculture Manager to join our Ethics & Sustainability department's Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries team. This role will oversee our Dairy, Beef, and Lamb supply chains. The ideal candidate will play a critical role in implementing and accelerating our sustainability initiatives within JLP, with a particular focus on executing our Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Strategy in Waitrose. The Agriculture Manager will collaborate with our Dairy, Beef, and Lamb suppliers to drive positive outcomes for animals, farmers, and the environment, while supporting our commercial goals. The wider Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fisheries team, including the dedicated Administrator, will provide support.

• Location - This is a hybrid working role, based out of our Bracknell Head Office, however your time will be split between working from our Bracknell office, our London office, supplier sites and working from home. There will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises.
  

Key responsibilities

• Collaborate with Partners and suppliers to achieve the Agriculture plan's objectives, including promoting and enhancing animal welfare standards, sustainable agriculture practices, championing our farmers, and creating long-term commercial resilience within our supply base.
  
• Build and manage collaborative relationships with supply partners and producer groups to deliver our commercial, sustainability, technical, and Farming For Nature program goals.
  
• Partner with the Ethics and Sustainability team to implement their objectives within our supply base.
  
• Establish and maintain direct relationships with farmers through industry events, farm visits, and farmer events.
  
• Identify commercial value through tender and value chain analysis.
  
• Stay informed about industry developments and communicate them across the business.
  
• Develop and communicate messages, with our communications team, to demonstrate our values across our supply chains to customers.
  
• Represent the partnership in external forums to drive positive change in the food and farming system.
  

Essential skills/experience you'll need

• Relevant qualification or experience in a specialist area, such as agriculture or sustainable supply chains
  
• Demonstrable understanding of agricultural supply chain operations
  
• Professional experience in livestock supply chains
  
• Ability to interpret and communicate agricultural data
  
• A strong interest in and passion for sustainability, animal welfare and regenerative agriculture
  
• Experience in leading the delivery of successful strategic projects
  
• IT and data management skills
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication
  
• Excellent organisational skills
  

Important points to note:

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.