FirstGroup is a leading private sector provider of public transport. The Group's businesses are at the heart of local and global communities and provide essential services critical to delivering wider economic, social and environmental goals.
To drive the next iteration of the Group's journey, FirstGroup has partnered with Acre to hire a Director of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility to lead the overarching agenda, deliver the corporate sustainability narrative, and build influence with regulators, policy makers and other key stakeholders to drive systemic change across the transport sector.
Responsible business has always been intrinsic to the Group's operating model and will be key to its future:
Public transport has proven to be critical, long-term green infrastructure, as demonstrated through the pandemic
FirstGroup has a clear social purpose providing easy and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and communities
FirstGroup's operations are already low carbon and support modal shift from cars, taxis and air travel
FirstGroup have already made commitments to transition to an entirely zero-emission bus fleet by 2035
Mobility Beyond Today, launched in summer 2020, is the Group-wide strategic framework for delivering and integrating sustainability into its businesses. Recognising that climate change is the greatest long-term challenge of our times, within this strategic framework, FirstGroup has committed to accelerate the change in the transport sector through leadership in three priority areas:
Innovating for customers
Being the partner of choice for low and zero-emission transport
Supporting it's people
Key Responsibilities
Drive the continual evolution of the Group's sustainability framework and ensure that key sustainability risks and opportunities are assessed and responded to through relevant business plans and strategies
Lead the Group's response to regulatory, investor and stakeholder ESG expectations, including but not limited to; alignment with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Board-approved net-zero transition plans, science-based targets, and leadership in ESG ratings
Guide the development of divisional (and Group-wide) sustainability plans and establish evidence-driven sustainability goals, milestones, metrics and governance in support of these
Drive senior level commitment and support for embedding CR into core processes, short- and long-term business planning, and decision-making
Build advocacy and effective partnerships with relevant external stakeholders to increase the Group's impact and influence on sustainability, and act as the key interface on sustainability with regulators, policymakers, Government, industry associations etc
Assess and respond to emerging trends, risks, policy and legislation on CR topics and provide strategic insight, analysis and advice to divisional and Group leadership teams
The post-holder will be a results-driven self-starter, confident in providing commercially astute advice, guidance and challenge across divisions and senior leadership teams.
You will have
Demonstrable experience in a Director-level post with a proven ability to operate effectively at Board-level, ideally from within a large global company and/or the transport sector
Considerable commercial experience in implementing corporate strategy, with detailed knowledge and skills in the areas of corporate responsibility and environment
Extensive experience managing others and developing teams
Political astuteness with the ability to successfully influence, engage and gain buy-in for change at the highest levels of a large and complex organisation across a range of countries and cultures
Credible subject matter expertise on key sustainability issues, including climate change, air quality, safety, diversity and inclusion, business ethics, social value, community engagement, circularity, environmental stewardship etc
Degree-level education
This is an excellent opportunity to own the strategy for responsible business within a large, multi-national Plc key to enable a socially and environmentally positive future, ultimately steering the organisation towards continued long-term value creation. For more information, apply or contact Tanith Allen via tanith.allen@acre.com.
