Job Requisition ID: 160431Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group's entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every dayOverview of the roleRegional Sustainability lead secures the integration and implementation of the IKEA Al Futtaim sustainability strategy - People & Planet Positive, by both putting demands on the business and being a competent sustainability business partner, while securing localised relevance. The voice and influencers of sustainability both internally and externally, sitting close to the business where decisions are made. Enable the transformation and growth of the IKEA business by being a business partner and within applicable areas of the organisation to secure and future proof a sustainable business. The Regional Sustainability lead will contribute and support others in the consistent and effective execution of the Al Futtaim IKEA sustainability People & Planet Positive strategy.What you will do

• Collaborate and align with applicable country functions and internal as well as external stakeholders to secure sustainability is integrated across all country functions in delivering their sustainability contribution to the agreed frameworks and strategies.
• Secure local country adaption of the global direction and ambitions, to drive sustainability initiatives, processes and projects that deliver to the total business agenda and a more People and Planet Positive IKEA
• Ensure that alignment, budget, and resources are in place to move the sustainability agenda forward in applicable areas within your country - progression through agreed methods and tools and closing the performance gap.
• Enable and follow-up sustainability performance and progress based on the country business plans, Group tools and methods.
• Facilitate the integration and implementation of sustainability by supporting the country functions with the right information, best practice solution, tools & methods, and ways of working.
• Develop a strong understanding of specific sustainability situation in your country and contribute to country business agenda, to feedback and share across sustainability matrix.
• Proactively identify challenges and opportunities and/or supporting units to overcome challenges and optimize opportunities.
• Documenting and evaluating initiatives and activities with a view to capitalize on learning, sharing and promote continuous improvement.
• Collaborate and align with applicable regional functions and internal as well as external stakeholders to secure sustainability is integrated across all regional functions in delivering their sustainability contribution to the agreed frameworks and strategies.
• Secure local country adaption of the global direction and ambitions, to drive sustainability initiatives, processes and projects that deliver to the total business agenda and a more People and Planet Positive IKEA.
• Ensure that alignment, budget, and resources are in place to move the sustainability agenda forward in applicable areas within our region- progression through agreed methods and tools and closing the performance gap.
• Enable and follow-up sustainability performance and progress based on the regional business plans, Group tools and methods.
• Facilitate the integration and implementation of sustainability by supporting the regional functions with the right information, best practice solution, tools & methods, and ways of working.
• Develop a strong understanding of specific sustainability situation in our region and contribute to regional business agenda, to feedback and share across sustainability matrix.
• Proactively identify challenges and opportunities and/or supporting units to overcome challenges and optimise opportunities.
• Documenting and evaluating initiatives and activities with a view to capitalise on learning, sharing and promote continuous improvement.
• Inspired by our vision "to create a better everyday life for the many people"
• Passion for sustainability and highly motivated about making IKEA People and Planet Positive
• Eager to learn and develop new skills
• Result oriented and change driven
• Strong desire to lead business and people
• Share and live the IKEA culture and values

Required skills to be successful

• Planning & Organising- Coordinates and directs activities to help achieve business objectives
• Driven for results - Accomplishes goals, completes tasks, and achieves results.
• Relationship building - Develops virtual and other collaborative relationships to facilitate current and future objectives
• Teamwork - Collaborates with others (incl. virtual) to achieve goals.
• Dealing with ambiguity- Comfortably handles unclear or unpredictable situations
• Flexibility- Changes direction as appropriate based on new ideas, approaches, and strategies
• Inspiring others- Motivates others to accomplish organisational goals

What equips you for the role

• Minimum 5 years of work experience in sustainability and/or business preferably retail
• Preferred: Retail market experience
• Preferred: Knowledge of the Brand, culture, values and way of working

About Al-Futtaim RetailAl-Futtaim Retail has established itself as one of the leaders in Retail across the Middle East, Africa & Asia over the past 30 years. We have developed partnerships with some of the biggest and most respected Brands in the world including IKEA, ACE and Toys R Us in the Middle East and the Inditex Group of Brands (Zara, Mango, Bershka and P&B) across Asia. We are also one of the largest Global partners of Marks and Spencer's in both regions with over 75 stores offering both fashion & food options.Most recently we have been responsible for bringing brands to the Middle East for the first time with the exciting launches of Watsons and B&Q and we aim to continue to be agile and adaptive to our markets with new launches and further development. For this to be possible we aim to recruit the best talent from all backgrounds who will continue to challenge and develop our diverse workforce which includes over 100 nationalities across 12 countries. Join us today and make a difference

Al-Futtaim