Associate Director, Procurement - Sustainability & EPR

Kraft Heinz; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 164,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraft Heinz in Chicago is seeking an Associate Director for Procurement, Sustainability & EPR to lead and shape our North American EPR programs, drive responsible sourcing, supplier inclusion, and sustainable supply chain outcomes.

You will partner with legal, procurement, product, and operations teams to ensure regulatory compliance, monitor policy, and scale innovative takeback or circular design initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in sustainability, environmental policy, procurement, or related field.
• 8+ years in procurement, sustainability, EPR, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Experience implementing EPR programs with regulatory compliance and reporting.
• Proven ability to influence suppliers and internal partners toward sustainable practices.
• Strong knowledge of responsible sourcing standards (e.g., RBA, ISO 20400, SA8000, OECD).
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and manage company-wide EPR strategies and programs.
• Lead EPR policy monitoring, guidance, and compliance activities.
• Collaborate with legal, regulatory, and government affairs on policy development and advocacy.
• Partner with procurement, product, operations, legal, finance, and sustainability analytics teams to embed sustainability in commercial decisions.

Skills

EPR leadership

Policy compliance

Stakeholder management

Sustainability analytics

MS Office

English fluency

Change management

Procurement leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in sustainability, environmental policy, procurement, or related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

MS Office Suite

MS Excel

MS PowerPoint

Job description

As the Associate Director for Procurement, Sustainability & EPR, you will be a key player in our team, responsible for building and maintaining trust to protect our brands’ reputation throughout the North American Zone. You will provide structure, support, and guidance to the North American Procurement team, ensuring a consistent approach to lead and scale our Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs and to drive responsible sourcing, supplier inclusion, and supplier development initiatives across the supply chain. This role combines policy and program management, cross-functional stakeholder engagement, and supplier capacity building to reduce environmental and social risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and deliver measurable sustainability outcomes. The ideal candidate brings subject-matter expertise in EPR and responsible sourcing, strong program management skills, and a proven track record of influencing suppliers and internal partners to adopt sustainable practices.

Essential Functions And Responsibilities

EPR Leadership and Compliance

• Design, implement, and manage company-wide EPR strategies and operational programs to meet evolving regulatory requirements across jurisdictions.
• Serve as the business lead for EPR policy monitoring, interpretation, and internal guidance; ensure timely compliance, registrations, reporting, and fee management.
• Liaise with legal, regulatory, and government affairs teams on policy development and advocacy.
• Partner with procurement, product, operations, legal, finance, and sustainability analytics teams to embed sustainability in commercial decision-making.
• Drive internal stakeholder engagement, training, and communications to ensure program adoption and continuous improvement.
• Measurement, Reporting & Continuous Improvement
• Define KPIs, targets, and dashboards for EPR, responsible sourcing, and supplier inclusion initiatives; report progress to senior leadership.
• Oversee supplier performance monitoring, audits, and corrective action tracking.
• Identify and scale best practices, pilot innovative solutions (e.g., circular design, takeback models), and lead lessons-learned reviews.

Team & Budget Management

• Lead a small cross-functional team and manage external partners/consultants; develop team capability.
• Manage program budgets and vendor relationships to deliver on objectives.

People Management Responsibility

• Team (salaried): 3 direct reports

Expected Experience And Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in sustainability, environmental policy, procurement, supply chain, or a related field. Advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in procurement, sustainability, EPR, responsible sourcing, supplier inclusion, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience implementing EPR programs or comparable extended producer accountability systems, including regulatory compliance and reporting.
• Proven track record of working directly with suppliers to implement sustainability improvements and inclusion programs.
• Strong knowledge of responsible sourcing frameworks and standards (e.g., RBA, ISO 20400, SA8000, OECD Guidelines).
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills across commercial and technical functions.
• Proven record of accomplishment demonstrating the ability to develop, design, and deploy change and transformation across large organizations.
• Ability to influence and coach without direct accountability, supporting NA Procurement teams to achieve results, and possessing excellent relationship management and communication skills.
• Displays high levels of energy and commitment; is relentless in pursuing goals in an environment of complexity, diversity, and ambiguity.
• Advanced and demonstrated change management skills with an eagerness to learn and develop further.
• Advanced user of MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and have a technological understanding of tools that support the responsibilities of the role.
• Professional fluency in English with strong written, verbal, and listening skills is a must; multilingual is a plus.

Work Environment and Schedule

This position is considered a typical office environment with moderate travel to supplier locations, stores, manufacturing facilities, etc.; offices are open workspaces. We are committed to creating a more agile and modern workplace, allowing Chicago/Aon Center-based employees to work virtually for up to two days each week. We also expect them to work in person at their assigned work location at least three days per workweek during the defined core days, ensuring a healthy work-life balance.

Our Total Rewards philosophy is to provide a meaningful and flexible spectrum of programs that equitably support our diverse workforce and their families and complement Kraft Heinz’ strategy and values.

New Hire Base Salary Range

$164,200.00 - $205,200.00

Bonus

This position is eligible for a performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms and governing documents.

The compensation offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors

Benefits

Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, and saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you and your family’s needs. Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.

Wellbeing: We offer events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being lifestyle for our employees and their families.

You’ll be able to participate in a variety of benefits and wellbeing programs that may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors, for example:

• Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments
• Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training
• Emotional – Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs
• Financial – 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

Location(s)

Chicago/Aon Center

Kraft Heinz is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Underrepresented Ethnic Minority Groups/Women/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity and other protected classes. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for protected individuals, applicants that require accommodation in the job application process may contact [e-mail] for assistance.