Nourish Global Sustainability Business Development Director

Nourish Global Sustainability Business Development Director

Company: IFF Family of Companies

Within IFF’s Nourish business, which includes Flavors and Functional Ingredients, sustainability is a strategic area of focus and can deliver a competitive advantage for the Nourish division. It impacts multiple stakeholders and functions within the business, at all levels. A business-led strategy and execution plan can drive incremental business value, meet key customers’ demands, and create new growth opportunities.

As a Global Sustainability Business Development Director, you will work across the Nourish businesses and functions (R&D, Innovation, Procurement, Regulatory, Commercial, Marketing) to define and execute Nourish Sustainability Strategy aligned with the leadership team and Corporate Sustainability strategy.

Key focus areas will include:

• Build a strategy that articulates a sustainable business model and governance (e.g., Nourish Sustainability Team Committee).
• Integrate sustainability into commercial strategies, ensuring business continuity and unlocking new growth opportunities.
• Lead sustainability pipeline initiatives and development of partnerships for regenerative agriculture implementation within the whole value chain, working with both upstream and downstream stakeholders.
• Define a certifications/claims strategy.
• Drive cross-functional teams to progress initiatives to launch readiness.
• Deliver a sustainability training program designed to support the commercial teams.

Strong influential leadership and collaboration skills are required for cross-departmental interactions with R&D, Procurement, Corporate Sustainability, Sales, Marketing, and Communications across a diverse set of Nourish businesses and customers. This position can drive significant impact both internally and externally, inspiring talents and customers towards a common vision.

This position reports to Nourish VP, Global Key Accounts, with a dotted line to the technical organization. This position is hybrid and can be located across our different offices.

Job Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Vision:

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement sustainable business strategies aligned with organizational goals.
• Embed sustainability across Nourish Global Key Accounts Commercial strategy.
• Serve as the lead for the BU Sustainability Steering Team.

Content Management and Roadmap:

• Create and manage sustainability content for Nourish’s businesses through Subject Matter Experts.
• Define and manage the ongoing roadmap of key initiatives associated with Nourish’s Sustainability Strategy, including goals and KPIs.
• Evaluate the impact of sustainability initiatives and sustainable innovation on business performance aligned with agreed metrics.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to effectively manage resources in potential strategic partnerships.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Partner with companies committed to net-zero emission targets, driving Nourish scope 3 initiatives for accelerated sustainability business development.
• Build and maintain relationships in the agriculture and food industry to advance the company’s business interests.
• Stay up to date on emerging organizations and influencers to find new opportunities and expand the company’s market positions.
• Seek public funding to enable the launch of the sustainability pipeline.

Business Relationship Management:

• Act as a strategic point of contact and vision leader, creating new avenues and markets for the company’s products.
• Generate new leads, identify and contact key decision-makers, and build positive long-term relationships with new and existing strategic accounts.
• Identify and connect with leading food and nutrition brands to progress shared interests in promoting regenerative agriculture practices.
• Screen potential partnerships by analyzing market strategies, deal requirements, and financial impact to the company.

Communication and Advocacy:

• Communicate and promote IFF Nourish Sustainability capabilities and relevant value propositions.
• Be accountable for Internal and External Customer Sustainability Engagements.
• Act as the key point of contact for Nourish sustainability.
• Communicate and educate the company’s organization through regular training and engagement.
• Conduct market research and analyze industry trends to identify growth opportunities.
• Effectively communicate the benefits and future direction of IFF’s initiatives to enable potential strategic partners to evaluate the benefits of partnering with IFF.
• Present and network at conferences to raise awareness of the company’s success in sustainable food solutions and sustainability partnerships.

Job Requirements

• Minimum 10 years work experience with strong preference for experience in flavors industry and/or food ingredients.
• Background in sustainability, food, agriculture, business development, or marketing.
• Ability to quickly understand product and innovate ways for product to benefit potential customers.
• Strong leadership skills and ability to work under pressure and in new environments.
• Proven sales and business development experience in food and agriculture sectors.
• Experience working with large businesses and global corporations at senior leadership levels.
• Experience developing and executing a regenerative agriculture program, scope 3 emission tracking, and public funding applications.
• Ability to translate customer needs into actions and related results.
• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Ability to drive results in a self-motivated manner.
• Ability to interact with multiple and diverse organizational functions: sales, marketing, R&D, procurement.

IFF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic selves to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability. Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more.