Director Sustainability

Join a mission-driven organization where your leadership directly impacts business growth, community engagement, and environmental sustainability. In this strategic role, you will lead the vision and execution for donation acquisition, inventory management, sustainability initiatives, and operational excellence across the organization. You'll build partnerships, drive innovation, optimize resources, and lead large-scale projects that increase donated goods, reduce waste, and strengthen long-term organizational performance. If you're a forward-thinking leader with experience in operations, strategy, change management, and team development, this is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference while shaping the future of a growing organization.

Develop long- and short-term business strategies (3-5 years) and oversees execution for Inventory & Sustainability Operations, including the acquisition of consumer and business donations, donation acquisition channels, secondary markets, inventory management, and sustainability initiatives.

Responsibility Level

Develop long- and short-term business strategies (3-5 years) and oversees execution for Inventory & Sustainability Operations, including the acquisition of consumer and business donations, donation acquisition channels, secondary markets, inventory management, and sustainability initiatives. Leads efforts to maximize donated goods utilization, improve operational efficiency, advance sustainability objectives, reduce waste, and support organizational growth. Develop departmental procedures, performance metrics, and operating strategies. Forecasts and plans annual operating and capital budget, implements cost-savings measures. Maintains and adjusts operating budget, manages expenses and COGS based on changes in internal or external factors, and communicates budgetary performance. Typically leads projects and initiatives that span 2-5 years. Responsible for integration of systems, systems metrics and analysis.

Principal Duties

• Develop and implement strategies and partnerships that increase the quantity and quality of donated goods, strengthen inventory availability, promote responsible resource stewardship, and support organizational sustainability objectives
• Assess industry trends, market conditions, and emerging opportunities to develop strategies that enhance inventory performance, expand donated goods supply, improve operational effectiveness, advance sustainability initiatives, and support long-term growth.
• Navigate municipal regulations, sustainability initiatives, and public policy opportunities that support responsible donation collection, material diversion, recycling, and community environmental partnerships.
• Support organizational initiatives that increase donated goods generation, improve inventory utilization, reduce waste, enhance resource efficiency, and advance environmental and business performance objectives
• Partner with Retail, Supply Chain, Facilities, and Mission teams to identify opportunities for process improvement, inventory optimization, environmental impact reduction, operational efficiency, and responsible resource utilization
• Identify appropriate training and professional development opportunities for self, members of management and the inventory team. Determines requirements for employee training initiatives are developed and meet the needs of the employees. Including staying informed of new technology and processes as well as industry initiatives to drive innovation and efficiency within the operation.
• Develop and implement long-range inventory, sustainability, and operational strategies that optimize inventory performance, strengthen resource utilization, improve organizational efficiency, and ensure inventory-related functions achieve or exceed established financial, operational, environmental, and growth objectives.
• Leading and Developing Talent: Manages organizational design for area of responsibility and directs talent planning, hiring, development and training of staff. May participate in succession planning discussions. Networks and sources for positions throughout the organization.
• Project and Change Management: Serves as project owner for high complexity department, cross-functional or multi-location projects and improvement initiatives. Set project direction including project scope, timeline and resources. Accountable for making decisions and project success. Manages change through effective planning, communication and coaching. Builds and participates in leadership coalition supporting and implementing organizational change.
• Community Engagement: Actively engages with community partners and links activities to business performance.
• Responsible for completing other duties/responsibilities as assigned.
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor s Degree or experience equivalency, and a minimum of 8 years experience.
• Extensive experience in positions of progressive responsibility in operational management including strategic planning, project management, change leadership and budget development is preferred.
  
  

Leadership Competencies

• Business Insight: Demonstrates thorough business/industry knowledge and can synthesize business information and respond to changing market dynamics effectively. Proactively monitors external factors and policies that may affect the organization. Uses knowledge to plan work and guide decision making.
• Courage: Fosters a culture that supports people taking well-reasoned risks, regardless of outcome and appropriately advocates for decisions that are for the good of the organization. Confronts actions that are inconsistent with the Guiding Principles and demonstrates the ability to provide leadership through high-stakes situations, crises, or conditions of uncertainty.
  
  

Core Culturalcompetencies

• Customer Focus: Fosters a customer service-focused environment with a sense of urgency and importance of meeting the customer s needs. Establishes organizational partnerships with key customers and ensures resources and support are focused on meeting customer needs.
• Values Differences: Cultivates an environment that makes all people feel valued and that encourages and supports diversity and inclusion. Sponsors and mentors people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Applies understanding of cultural differences to create value and help meet business goals.
• Communicates Effectively: Promotes a free flow of information throughout the organization and demonstrates candor and openness when discussing major organizational initiatives. Creates venues for constructive dialogue and ensures organizational information is cascaded to a wide variety of audiences at all levels.
• Situational Adaptability: Demonstrates flexibility in a changing, competitive environment and initiates change in response to the cues in the external environment. Adapts leadership style in response to a broad range of situations and challenges that ingrains flexibility within the organizations structures, systems and culture.
• Drives Results: Drives organization to achieve results that have a direct impact on business performance. Pushes the organization to move forward in difficult circumstances and eliminates obstacles that affect organizational performance.
• Ensures Accountability: ensures the organization meets commitments and holds leaders accountable for team performance. Sets and monitors goals that align with organizational strategy creating an environment of accountability for meeting agreed upon expectations and performance expectations.
  
  

Physical/Sensory Demands

Job requires the following: remain stationary for sustained periods of time; ability to move about to accomplish tasks; must be able to operate a computer or similar technology, which typically involves substantial motions of wrist, hands and/or fingers; visual acuity to perform activities such as preparing data, operating equipment or review thoroughness of work; ability to communicate with others and exchange information. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

When determining placement within the salary range for this position Goodwill Greater Milwaukee & Chicago considers education, experience, internal equity, market demands and other qualifying criteria. It is not typical for individuals to be hired at or near the top of the rage for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on facts and circumstances of each case.

Certain roles are eligible to participate in an incentive plan. Participation in this plan does not guarantee an incentive payment and is subject to the terms and conditions of the plan, which are subject to change.

In addition to compensation, we offer a competitive benefit program that may include medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, retirement plan, paid time off (PTO) and more. The specifics of each benefit package will vary depending on factors such as full or part time jobs, contracted, temporary, or other job categories.

Equal Opportunity Employer

(SEW)