Sustainability & Responsibility Director

UK & Ireland Sustainability & Responsibility Director

Your Manager: Distillation & Maturation Director - UK

Team: Distillation & Maturation

Location:  Dumbarton or Elgin, with travel across other sites, as required

Be part of something big

We are Pernod Ricard, a leading company in the global spirits industry with over 19,000 employees globally. We own 16 of the world’s top 100 Spirits Brands and hold one of the most prestigious and comprehensive brand portfolios in the industry with premium brands available in over 160 countries, including: Absolut vodka, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater, Malfy and Monkey 47 gins, Malibu liqueur and Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes.

Here in the UK

In the UK, Pernod Ricard is made up of 4 businesses:

• Chivas Brothers, the largest brand company in the Group, responsible for the production and management of our award-winning Scotch whisky portfolio
• Pernod Ricard UK, which markets, sells and distributes our products in the UK market
• Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail, the global and EMEA home of the group’s duty free, air travel and cruises business.
• The Absolut Group, the brand owner of our global white spirits portfolio, whose Gin brand unit and Business Acceleration team sit in London.

We are an organisation of 2,000 employees in the UK, headquartered in London, in a brand-new office designed with sustainability, ‘conviviality’ and collaboration in mind. We also have offices in Scotland and various distilleries and production sites across the UK from Plymouth to London to Speyside.

Your new team

This position sits in our Chivas Brothers business. At Chivas Brothers, our 1,600-strong team across 27 sites is committed to upholding the heritage of Scotch and ensuring its sustainable future, as well as opening it up to new audiences across the globe.

The scope of Operations stretches from Procurement through conversion (distillation and maturation) and manufacturing (or bottling) to all the downstream Supply Chain activities until the final product is delivered.  In addition, Operations play a very active role in Innovation, Talent Development and Operational Risk Management.

Our Distillation & Maturation function encompasses everything from the distilling of our products, through to Filling, Maturation, Warehousing, and the final Draining & Vatting.  Northern Operations is all our sites across the North of Scotland, this includes 12 Distilleries, Animal Feed and Bio-Plants, Heritage Sites, Bulk Warehousing Sites, Blending and Dispatch terminals, laboratory complex.  This role will also partner with our sites in Ireland, including our distillery in Midleton, Co. Cork.

The Sustainability & Responsibility team sit within this function and support the business to achieve our environmental and social sustainability and responsibility objectives and advise on related business decisions.

Your unique contribution

The Director of Sustainability & Responsibility (S&R) will shape and deliver Pernod Ricard’s environmental and social sustainability and responsibility strategy across the UK & Ireland cluster, as well as coordinating activities across other geographies within the wider global business unit.

This role will drive the strategic roadmap to achieve business goals with regards to carbon reduction, circularity, water stewardship, and regulatory compliance, positioning the business at the cutting edge of sustainable alcoholic drinks.

As a trusted advisor to senior leadership, you will champion a culture of environmental stewardship, ensuring sustainability is embedded in operations, brands, and business strategy, while influencing internal and external stakeholders.

You will have five main areas of responsibility:

Strategic Leadership

• Define and lead the social and environmental strategy for the UK & Ireland cluster in alignment with Pernod Ricard’s global 2030 S&R roadmap and clearly shape strategic requirements by region and site operations (circa 35 sites), covering distillation, maturation, bottling, brand homes & non-industrial.
• Influence senior stakeholders and shape business priorities to ensure sustainability is at the heart of decision-making, delivering the 4 pillars of Nurturing Terroir, Valuing People, Circular Economy & Responsible Hosting.

Governance & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with all UK & Ireland environmental regulations, anticipating regulatory change and guiding the business response.
• Oversee ISO standard systems, ensuring robust governance, risk management, and continuous improvement and act as the accountable owner for the development of responses to environmental emergencies, crisis response, and delivery of clear actions to continuously improve across UK&I cluster and wider global business unit.

Performance & Reporting

• Lead the measurement, analysis, and communication of social and environmental performance at a cluster level and coordinate inputs across the Gold BU, providing clear insights and recommendations on sustainability risks, opportunities, and achievements.
• Drive accountability and transparency through world-class reporting standards and align reporting frameworks across UK&I for group and regulatory requirements.
• Be responsible for data validation across the global business unit according to Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Transformation & Impact

• Be responsible for driving systemic change across all sites, setting energy, water, waste, and carbon reduction goals, championing advanced carbon accounting, forecasting, and data-driven decision-making to accelerate progress.
• Embed sustainability criteria into capital expenditure, supply chain strategy, and innovation.

People & Culture

• Inspire and develop a high-performing team, building internal capability, whilst also fostering a culture of sustainability across the UK & Ireland organisation, ensuring all employees contribute to environmental goals.
• Act as a visible leader for sustainability, engaging colleagues, customers, and communities with the company’s purpose-led agenda.

Who you’ll be working with

Internally, you’ll collaborate with leaders and colleagues across the Gold Business Unit including distillation, maturation, bottling, brand homes & non-industrial.  You will also collaborate with Public Affairs and Communications, being a subject matter expert on all S&R related topics

Externally, you will collaborate with regulators, industry bodies, and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), representing the business externally on sustainability issues and building relationships.

Your blend of talent

This position could be right for you if you:

• Have previous experience in a senior leadership position in sustainability, environmental management or similar disciplines, with a proven track record of leading multidisciplinary teams in support of Company S&R objectives, including coaching and developing talent.
• Have a deep understanding of UK & Ireland environmental laws, and European ESG frameworks and the ability to set long-term sustainability vision and integrate it into business strategy.
• Are a strong communicator with developed influencing skills to engage senior stakeholders internally & externally.
• Have an analytical mindset with the ability to interpret complex data for decision-making and external disclosures and experience in building robust governance structures for monitoring & reporting on progress.

Our mix of benefits

For your health, we offer private medical insurance, income protection and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme.

Our lifestyle benefits include 25 days’ annual holiday (increasing with length of service up to 27) plus 11 public holidays, your employee pension, share incentive plan, share ownership plan, life assurance and more!

You can access lots of gifts & discounts, including an allowance each year to spend on our brands in our staff shop, our reward & recognition scheme and employee discounts from a range of high street retailers.

We have regular events in our very own office bar, employee-run networks, a culture of flexibility and trust and a variety of tools and resources to help you focus on your wellbeing and mental fitness.

Conviviality: the Pernod Ricard Way

We have our own way of doing things. We call it conviviality! It’s our way of being, and something unique you feel and experience when working for Pernod Ricard.

We’re committed to conviviality, and with this, you’ll be Proud to Belong to our Pernod Ricard family. You’ll be Empowered to Perform, supported to succeed, and acknowledged for the value you bring.

We combine all this with our Commitment to Care: we are unlocking the magic of human connection to transform our industry and make a positive impact on the world though our strong focus on sustainability and responsibility.

We’re committed to diversity and inclusion

People are at the heart of everything we do at Pernod Ricard and are the foundation of our collective spirit as ‘Créateurs de Convivialité’.

We promote diversity and inclusion throughout our business and supply chain. In our teams, we proactively foster a diverse work force and an inclusive culture – an environment where we can truly be ourselves. 

We will assess your application for this role based on your skills, experiences and achievements, not your gender, age, ethnic or educational background or any other such factors. Please feel free to leave these off your CV and application form if you so wish.

Similarly, if you would like to discuss opportunities for flexible working or require accommodations or support to complete our application process, please let us know.

Responsible drinking

As ‘Créateurs de convivialité’, we want to turn social interactions into genuine and friendly experiences of sharing and wellbeing.

In our culture, we want to create diverse teams in which our differences contribute to our success. Therefore, all are welcome at Pernod Ricard, regardless of your religious beliefs or personal choices on the consumption of alcohol.

In our business, we work together with industry members, civil society, governments, local authorities and UN bodies to promote responsible drinking. 

Closing Date for Applications:

10th December 2025

Job Posting End Date:

2025-12-11

Target Hire Date:

2026-01-05

Target End Date: