Principal Consultant: Agri-Food

Anthesis Group; Leeds; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A sustainability consultancy in the UK is seeking a Principal Consultant specializing in agri-food and regenerative agriculture. You will engage with global clients to address sustainability challenges, manage projects, and provide strategic insights. The ideal candidate has 7+ years of experience in the agri-food sector, strong project management skills, and a degree in related fields. This full-time role offers a competitive salary and benefits aimed at promoting sustainability initiatives.

Benefits

Flexible working

25 days holiday

2 volunteering days off

Commission up to 40%

Car allowance

Employee incentive plan

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in arable/livestock/fresh produce sectors.
• Practical experience in project or programme management.
• Working knowledge of sustainability challenges impacting agri-food value chains.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic solutions on sustainability challenges.
• Prepare project proposals with operational and commercial estimates.
• Manage project teams to deliver high-quality projects.

Skills

Experience with food sustainability

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Analytical skills

Sustainability legislation knowledge

English language proficiency

Education

Degree in Agriculture, Sustainability or Environmental Science

Tools

Excel

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• General Work with major global retail and FMCG clients to provide strategic solutions and direction on key sustainability challenges across a broad range of commodity supply chains.
• Drive business development in this service area, by upselling to existing clients and sourcing new opportunities, using your established network would be advantageous.
• Prepare detailed project proposals including operational and commercial estimates working with a variety of team members across the wider business.
• Lead and be responsible for client facing deliverables, such as workshops, interviews, research, data analysis and reporting writing.
• Create insightful and client ready outputs and give clear briefs to colleagues who contribute to and help shape our response to client challenges and briefs.
• Support the junior team to project manage clients on a variety of projects, acting as a key point of contact for relevant clients, as well as a senior voice across others to ensure efficient and high‑quality project delivery.
• Build strong, trusting relationships with clients and gain an understanding of their business.
• Manage yourself and project teams to drive project profitability and account growth, ensuring projects are delivered with commercial success as well as impact.
• Work with key clients as part of a global team to provide ongoing sustainable agriculture and food expertise and project delivery.
• Review primary supplier engagement data across a variety of sectors and projects to support client decarbonisation opportunities.
• Input into training collateral to support engaging and upskilling key clients, their supply chains and other key stakeholders.
• Support clients with expert advice with the setting of and delivery of progress against SBTis and client decarbonisation journeys in agricultural supply chains across sectors, including FLAG.
• Hold 1:1 meetings, interfacing with key internal Anthesis teams, client stakeholders and third parties to provide insight and support on production systems and sustainability hotspots.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable experience with food, decarbonisation and regenerative agriculture. This includes the key sustainability challenges and opportunities associated with farming. They will have practical knowledge of the role farming plays in the wider agriculture system and the commercial, operational and technological levers to effect change.

A degree / relevant qualification in a related field (Agriculture, Sustainability, Environmental Science).

• Demonstrable experience (7 + years) of working in arable/livestock/fresh produce/commodities sectors.
• Practical experience in project or programme management, either in house, as a consultant or an NGO environment.
• Strengths in working in multi‑stakeholder environments, including with senior stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of the sustainability challenges impacting agri‑food value chains with a particular focus on greenhouse gas emissions reductions and removal opportunities and regenerative agriculture.
• Working knowledge of SBTi and Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
• Experience in delivering high quality and professional reports, in multiformat and for various audiences.
• Experience of business development and building a pipeline of commercial opportunities relevant to expertise.
• Line management experience of junior colleagues.
• Strong analytical skills and commercial acumen, with advanced Excel skills.
• Demonstrable experience of sustainability legislation and reporting affecting food system organisations.
• English language.

Personal Attributes and Qualities

• Passion for improving sustainability.
• Output driven and accountable.
• Flexible and innovative.
• Self‑motivated and collaborative.
• Organised, prepared and professional.
• Skilled communicator.
• Ambitious and willing to develop.

About Anthesis

Anthesis is the sustainability activator. Proud to be a B Corp, we seek to make a significant contribution to a world which is more resilient and productive. We do this by working with cities, corporates, investors and other organisations to drive sustainable performance. We develop financially driven sustainability strategies, underpinned by technical expertise and delivered by innovative collaborative teams across the world. At Anthesis Group, we are truly committed to putting people and our planet at the heart of all we do.

Our Value Chain Team operates across the private, not for profit, and public sectors with a focus on the full supply chain of a product, from raw materials up the value chain. The team consists of three core areas: Responsible Sourcing & Due Diligence, Supplier Engagement and Social & Environmental Management Systems. We are seeking a Principal Consultant with a specialism in agri‑food and regenerative agriculture to start within the UK Value Chain Transformation Team to support our existing client projects and to help to deliver our ambitious strategy for the agri‑food sector. This role exists to support our clients on regenerative agriculture strategies and results‑focused supplier engagement, with a particular emphasis on helping our global food and agriculture clients (including world‑leading food and beverage clients and those with other agricultural commodity supply chains) to deliver regenerative agriculture and decarbonisation programmes.

Benefits

• Work within a highly motivated team in an innovative and rapidly growing global company.
• Opportunity to have a direct impact and be a key part of the growth and development of the business and the team.
• Work solely on projects that have an impact on the sustainability and climate change goals/challenges for clients.
• Opportunity to work with, collaborate with and learn from sustainability SME's who are passionate about the work they do and the impact Anthesis can have.
• Exposure to a wide range of clients and projects on a global basis.
• Competitive salary in line with experience and skills.
• Competitive benefits including flexible working, 25 days holiday and two volunteering days off and a day off for your birthday.
• An opportunity to participate in the Anthesis Employee Participation Plan (EPP), an industry‑pioneering employee incentive plan that allows all employees to be rewarded for the growth in the equity value of Anthesis.
• Cooperative, supportive and open working atmosphere.
• Basic Salary: £35,000‑£45,000 + Uncapped Commission (up to 40% of billings) + £4,800 Car Allowance + Paid Car Parking + Private…