Sustainability and Responsibility Director

Pernod Ricard is a worldwide leader in the spirits and champagne industry, blending traditional craftsmanship, state-of-the-art brand development, and global distribution technologies. Our prestigious portfolio of premium to luxury brands includes Absolut vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin, Malibu liqueur and Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes. Our mission is to ensure the long-term growth of our brands with full respect for people and the environment, while empowering our employees around the world to be ambassadors of our purposeful, inclusive and responsible culture of authentic conviviality. Pernod Ricard’s consolidated sales amounted to € 10,959 million in fiscal year FY25. 

Pernod Ricard Gold Brand Unit

Pernod Ricard’s Gold Brand Unit is the Group’s Aged Spirits & Champagne division, bringing together the prestigious portfolios of Irish Distillers, Chivas Brothers, Martell Mumm Perrier‑Jouët and North American Distillers. With a global team operating across over 40 sites, and brands spanning Irish, Scotch and American Whisk(e)y, Cognac, Champagne and wine, the division unites exceptional craftsmanship and deep expertise across iconic terroirs in Ireland, Scotland, France and North America.

Its portfolio, rooted in heritage and provenance, embodies Pernod Ricard’s commitment to excellence from Premium to Ultra‑Prestige, delivering some of the world’s most celebrated and enduring spirits and champagnes.

About the role

The Director of Sustainability & Responsibility (S&R) will shape, deliver and embed Pernod Ricard’s Global environmental and social sustainability and responsibility strategy across the UK and Ireland , as well as coordinating activities across other geographies within the wider Pernod Ricard Aged Spirits & Champagne portfolio. This role will drive the strategic roadmap to achieve business goals with regards to carbon reduction, circularity, water stewardship, and regulatory compliance, positioning the business at the cutting edge of sustainable alcoholic drinks. As a trusted advisor to senior leadership, you will champion a culture of environmental stewardship, ensuring sustainability is embedded in operations, brands, and business strategy, while influencing internal and external stakeholders.

Strategic Leadership

• Define and lead the social and environmental strategy for the Aged Spirits & Champagne portfolio in alignment with Pernod Ricard’s global 2030 S&R roadmap and clearly shape strategic requirements by region and site operations (circa 35 sites), covering distillation, maturation, bottling, brand homes & non-industrial.

• Influence senior stakeholders and shape business priorities to ensure sustainability is at the heart of decision-making, delivering the 4 pillars of Nurturing Terroir, Valuing People, Circular Economy & Responsible Hosting.

Governance & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with all Irish, UK, French and North American environmental regulations, anticipating regulatory change and guiding the business response.

• Oversee ISO standard systems, ensuring robust governance, risk management, and continuous improvement and act as the accountable owner for the development of responses to environmental emergencies, crisis response, and delivery of clear actions to continuously improve.

Performance & Reporting

• Lead the measurement, analysis, and communication of social and environmental performance at a cluster level and coordinate inputs across the global business unit, providing clear insights and recommendations on sustainability risks, opportunities, and achievements.

• Drive accountability and transparency through world-class reporting standards and align reporting frameworks for business group and regulatory requirements.

• Be responsible for data validation across the global business unit according to Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Transformation & Impact

• Be responsible for driving systemic change across all sites, setting energy, water, waste, and carbon reduction goals, championing advanced carbon accounting, forecasting, and data-driven decision-making to accelerate progress.

• Embed sustainability criteria into capital expenditure, supply chain strategy, and innovation.

People & Culture

• Inspire and develop a high-performing team, building internal capability, whilst also fostering a culture of sustainability across the organisation, ensuring all employees contribute to environmental goals.

• Act as a visible leader for sustainability, engaging colleagues, customers, and communities with the company’s purpose-led agenda.

Your background

• Have previous experience in a senior leadership position in sustainability, environmental management or similar disciplines, with a proven track record of leading multidisciplinary teams in support of Company S&R objectives, including coaching and developing talent.

• Have a deep understanding of UK & Ireland environmental laws, and European ESG frameworks and the ability to set long-term sustainability vision and integrate it into business strategy.

• Are a strong communicator with developed influencing skills to engage senior stakeholders internally & externally.

• Have an analytical mindset with the ability to interpret complex data for decision-making and external disclosures and experience in building robust governance structures for monitoring & reporting on progress.

Our mix of benefits

For your health, we offer private medical insurance, critical illness cover and an optional healthcare cash plan and dental insurance. Our lifestyle benefits options include 28 days’ annual holiday, your employee pension, share incentive plan, family care, season ticket loans, free mortgage advice, payroll giving and more!

You can access lots of gifts & discounts, including an allowance each year to spend on our brands in our staff shop and employee discounts from a range of high street retailers. We have regular events in our very own office bar, employee-run networks, a culture of flexibility and trust and a variety of tools and resources to help you focus on your wellbeing and mental fitness.

Conviviality: the Pernod Ricard Way

We have our own way of doing things. We call it conviviality! It’s our way of being, and something unique you feel and experience when working for Pernod Ricard.

We’re committed to conviviality, and with this, you’ll be Proud to Belong to our Pernod Ricard family. You’ll be Empowered to Perform, supported to succeed, and acknowledged for the value you bring.

We combine all this with our Commitment to Care: we are unlocking the magic of human connection to transform our industry and make a positive impact on the world though our strong focus on Sustainability and Responsibility (S&R).

We’re committed to diversity and inclusion

People are at the heart of everything we do at Pernod Ricard and are the foundation of our collective spirit as ‘Créateurs de Convivialité’. We promote diversity and inclusion throughout our business and supply chain. In our teams, we proactively foster a diverse work force and an inclusive culture – an environment where we can truly be ourselves.

We will assess your application for this role based on your skills, experiences and achievements, not your gender, age, ethnic or educational background or any other such factors. Please feel free to leave these off your CV and application form if you so wish. Similarly, if you would like to discuss opportunities for flexible working or e accommodations or support to complete our application process, please let us know.

Learn more about working with Pernod Ricard

www.pernod-ricard.com 

Pernod Ricard in Ireland

Chivas Brothers

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