Head of Sustainability, Livelihood & Human Rights

ABOUT UNILEVER

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world.

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe that one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

We want our business to flourish, and we know that our success depends on others flourishing around us. That’s why our purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace, and why sustainable, long-term growth is at the heart of our business model.

JOB PURPOSE

Unilever is a global FMCG business committed to addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our day. Sustainability has long been part of Unilever’s core approach to doing business. We have always evolved our sustainability agenda to keep it leading and relevant. As we look to the future, we believe we have an opportunity to evolve for sustainable business leadership.

Our sustainability strategy focuses on four issues: climate, nature, plastics and livelihoods, underpinned by Human Rights. Those core topics were chosen as they are those that are most material to our business and where we can make the biggest impact.

Respecting human rights and improving livelihoods are central to this ambition and are two of Unilever’s key sustainability priority areas. Unilever has a clear role to play in building a more equitable and inclusive society through its operations, supply chain and brands.

The Sustainability Function is responsible for setting the strategy, delivering the global advocacy, implementing the local policy engagement plans, managing the content for issues related to the four topics and leading on the governance and accountability to ensure delivery of our sustainability goals.

This role sets the strategic direction for Unilever’s Human Rights and Livelihoods agenda, ensuring the company delivers on its commitments while shaping the future of social sustainability. It combines strategy, governance, and external leadership, positioning Unilever as both a compliant business and an industry leader on systemic human rights and livelihoods challenges. The role is accountable for embedding human rights and livelihoods into core business operations, managing emerging risks, and leveraging Unilever’s scale and partnerships to drive positive impact.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE?

Strategy Development

• Define and evolve Unilever’s integrated Human Rights and Livelihoods strategy, aligned with overarching sustainability and business priorities. For 2026, this includes reviewing Unilever’s global salient human rights issues and leading the development of post-2026 Livelihoods targets.
• Oversee Unilever’s human rights policies and safeguard quality across the business. For 2026, this includes co-leading the review of the Responsible Partner Policy in collaboration with Procurement.
• Drive the integration of social sustainability principles into business operations, supply chains, and brands to build resilience and enable inclusive growth.

Performance Management

• Oversee Unilever’s approach to human rights due diligence and livelihoods improvement, identifying priority areas for strengthening.
• Lead corporate reporting on human rights and livelihoods, including impact measurement and transparent public disclosure.
• Oversee the development of case studies for Unilever’s website to demonstrate transparency and leadership on specific human rights issues.

Advocacy & Partnerships

• Advance Unilever’s advocacy on priority issues where the company can drive systemic change at scale, including living wage and forced labour.
• Represent Unilever externally as a thought leader on human rights and livelihoods, and identify emerging trends, risks, and opportunities to help the business anticipate and respond effectively.
• Build and strengthen coalitions and partnerships that accelerate collective progress on human rights and livelihoods.

Governance

• Engage regularly with the Board, Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) and other senior business leaders, including through bi-monthly updates to ULE on emerging security and human rights issues, and progress updates on the livelihoods targets.
• Lead the Human Rights Working Group and the Geopolitical Working Group, both of which report to the Sustainability Steerco, to oversee Unilever’s salient human rights issues and geopolitical risks.
• Partner cross-functionally with Procurement, Supply Chain, Legal, Communications, and Corporate Affairs to embed human rights and livelihoods into business decision-making