Acre is proud to be working with Mars as we search for their next Senior Director of Thriving People. This appointment represents a significant investment in long-term social sustainability and reflects Mars’ ambition to embed human rights, equity, and livelihoods at the heart of how business is done across its global value chain.
This role has the potential to create meaningful, measurable impact on a global scale and improve livelihoods for millions of people across agricultural supply chains, manufacturing communities, and sourcing regions worldwide. Beyond strategy and compliance, it is designed to drive real systems change, translating ambition into tangible improvements in incomes, dignity, and opportunity across some of the world’s most complex value chains.
Job Purpose / Overview
At Mars, our purpose is: ‘The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.’ Through our Sustainable in a Generation Plan, we focus on three pillars — Healthy Planet, Thriving People, and Nourishing Wellbeing. The Thriving People pillar drives our ambition to ensure everyone in our value chain has the opportunity to thrive — by respecting human rights, improving incomes, and unlocking opportunities for women and communities.
The Senior Director, Thriving People, is a senior global leader responsible for shaping and executing Mars’s human and social sustainability agenda. This role leads the company’s efforts to advance human rights and livelihoods throughout Mars’s extended value chain. The S/Dir. will collaborate with business segments, sourcing teams, suppliers, and external partners to make measurable progress toward the company’s Thriving People commitments.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Define the global Thriving People ambition and strategy within Mars’s Sustainable in a Generation Plan.
- Lead a diverse, high-performing team to develop best practice approaches to human rights and livelihoods challenges and standardize and scale our approach across Mars.
- Embed social sustainability and human rights principles into core business operations, sourcing, and procurement practices.
- Represent the Thriving People agenda in the Mars Sustainability Steering Group and, in partnership with the Chief Sustainability Officer, with the broader Mars Leadership Team and further governance forums where required.
Human Rights Due Diligence
- Oversee implementation of the Mars Human Rights Policy and due-diligence systems across all business segments and geographies.
- Partner with the Sustainability Compliance Director to ensure Mars approaches meet the latest regulatory requirements.
- Ensure Mars Supplier Code of Conduct remains aligned to Mars ambitions and approach and partner with procurement, legal, and supply chain teams to strengthen responsible sourcing practices across key raw materials (e.g., cocoa, palm oil, mint, seafood).
- Influence and ensure alignment with international standards (UNGPs, OECD Guidelines, ILO Conventions).
Economic Empowerment & Livelihoods
- Develop best practice understanding and thinking to increase incomes for smallholder farmers, workers, and suppliers in origin communities.
- Drive partnerships with Mars segment sourcing teams, NGOs, development agencies, and local enterprises to scale social innovation initiatives that deliver both impact and business value.
- Influence external voluntary action on livelihoods, driving towards alignment on Living Wage and Living Income ambition and approaches with peers, NGOs, Key Opinion Formers, Standard Setters, and Regulators.
Measurement, Reporting & Stakeholder Engagement
- Build robust social impact metrics, dashboards, and data systems to track progress and outcomes and ensure SSG, MLT, Board, and Shareholders are clearly informed on progress.
- Lead transparent reporting on social impact as part of the Mars ESG disclosures, in partnership with S&F, Corporate Affairs, Legal, and Sustainability Compliance.
- Serve as senior representative with external partners, coalitions, and sustainability networks (e.g., WBCSD, UN Global Compact, Consumer Goods Forum).
Context and Scope
Serve on the Mars Sustainability Steering Group, made up of the corporate sustainability leadership team and the heads of sustainability from Petcare, Snacking, and Food.
Partner with segments, functions, and business units across the Mars Inc. enterprise to understand and mitigate risk and realise social impact in line with Mars Inc. overall approach.
Represent Mars externally with forward thinking Individuals and organisations, serving on a variety of committees (to be identified) that offer Mars Insight and Influence on Human Rights and Livelihoods.
Lead team of associates responsible for innovating social Impact, standardising across the business, and performance reporting.
Knowledge / Experience
Must
- Deep experience and capability in business partnering, ideally in a decentralized operating model within or akin to Mars.
- Strong line management experience working with diverse, remote teams.
Preffered
- 10+ years in sustainability, corporate responsibility, human rights, or inclusive business, with at least 5 years in senior leadership.
- Proven experience leading global, cross-functional programs that integrate social impact, or equivalent, into business operations or supply chains.
- Experience in designing and introducing transformative new approaches that spark change business impact on society.
- Strong knowledge of international sustainability and human rights standards (UNGPs, SDGs, SBTi, etc.).
- Demonstrated success partnering with NGOs, suppliers, and governments to deliver measurable social outcomes.
- Data fluency: comfort with impact measurement, ESG reporting, and performance analytics.
- Outstanding leadership, communication, and stakeholder-engagement skills across geographies and cultures.
- Diverse range of experiences across business types and regions.
Personal Attributes
- Purpose-driven leader with passion for equity, dignity, and human progress.
- Business-minded strategist able to link social sustainability to commercial value.
If you would like to pursue this opportunity, please apply directly through this link/portal.
We look forward to reviewing your resume.
