Ethical Sourcing Operations and Governance Manager - Victoria, Hawthorn East
HybridHawthorn East, Victoria, Australia
Job Summary
Provide oversight across ethical sourcing activities in retail, setting priorities and maintaining visibility across delivery, reporting obligations and program evolution. Partner with the Lead Specialist to build a coordinated interface with retail business units, creating clear requests, ownership and escalation pathways while reducing duplication. Work closely with the program team to strengthen governance, data, systems and reporting, embedding consistent frameworks and processes across investigations, audits and retail delivery. Stay close to the changing modern slavery, human rights, regulatory, media and supplier risk landscape, assessing how emerging developments intersect with retail innovation and translating these insights into practical priorities. Lead, coach and develop the specialist team, strengthening accountability, cross-skilling and sustainable workload planning while using data trends to improve program effectiveness.
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years' experience across ethical sourcing, human rights, modern slavery, social compliance or related governance and risk disciplines
- Significant experience in retail, FMCG or another fast-paced corporate environment
- Strong understanding of commercial drivers
- Ability to balance risk and business priorities
- Strong systems thinking
- Analytical and critical thinking skills
- Ability to connect diverse issues
- Ability to identify interdependencies
- Ability to distil data and emerging risks into clear recommendations
- Strong follow-through to drive coordinated action and outcomes
- Deep expertise across supplier assurance
- Deep expertise across social audit programs
- Deep expertise across risk assessment
- Deep expertise across investigations
- Deep expertise across remediation
- Deep expertise across governance
- Deep expertise across reporting
- Deep expertise across data-driven decision-making
- Proven experience leading high-performing specialist teams
- Bringing clarity, accountability and a focus to continuous improvement
- Exceptional stakeholder engagement and communication skills
- Confidence and credibility to influence senior leaders
- Ability to present issues clearly
- Ability to represent the business internally and externally
- A polished and pragmatic leadership style
- Judgement to navigate ambiguity
- Ability to respond to emerging issues
- Ability to help shape the evolution of a mature Human Rights and Ethical Sourcing program
- A relevant tertiary qualification in human rights, law, business, sustainability, risk, supply chain, procurement or a related discipline
Desired Qualifications
- Experience in food, agriculture or Australian fresh produce
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