Principal Consultant - Commodity Supply Chains

Starting salary: £60,000+ Location: Oxford, Bristol, London, York or hybrid/remote. This is a permanent full‑time vacancy, however 80% part‑time will be considered and it will close on 3 August 2026 23:59 BST.

3Keel is seeking a Principal Consultant to join our Commodity Supply Chain Business Unit and spearhead the further growth and development of our sustainable supply chain work. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in forest risk commodities (i.e. palm, soy, cocoa, coffee, timber etc.) and their associated supply chains in the corporate context, as well as strong consulting credentials. In addition to technical skills, you will have a drive to represent 3Keel’s expertise in this space externally and build a strong future pipeline. Given the rapidly evolving sustainability landscape, you should have the ability and desire to learn quickly, transfer existing knowledge to new situations, and think creatively. Experience in overlapping topic areas – e.g. supply chain due diligence, materiality and risk based assessments – is highly valued. You should have the ability to confidently lead client engagement, manage projects, and motivate and support team members to grow and deliver high quality work creating value and impact for clients and the world.

What you’ll be doing:

• Supporting the delivery of the Commodity Supply Chain business unit’s growth strategy.
• Boosting 3Keel’s external presence in the sustainable supply chain space and building a strong pipeline of future work.
• Providing considerable experience and subject matter expertise to lead and guide client projects alongside other team members.
• Delivering high quality project work for clients and uphold 3Keel’s standards for excellence.
• Developing a suite of clients and managing larger key accounts and projects with a high degree of autonomy and responsibility.
• Engaging in new developments in this fast‑moving area including new frameworks, standards, policies and industry initiatives.
• Managing more junior staff members and providing mentorship and subject matter expertise more widely within the business.
• Contributing to a supportive and open environment for learning and development within the team to help 3Keel staff develop supply chain expertise and critical thinking.

What we’re looking for:

Essential:

• Your approach: Self‑starter and driven, with a passion for finding solutions to complex sustainability problems in a rapidly evolving area.
• Expertise in corporate metrics and technical methods in relation to forest risk commodities (e.g. EUDR, SBTi/FLAG, CSRDD, and sustainable commodity sourcing certifications).
• Supply chain experience: A strong technical and business understanding of raw material supply chain issues in the corporate context, including a good understanding of corporate environmental reporting and the development and implementation of sustainability programmes.
• Strategy development: Ability to pull out key insights, actions, leverage points and trade‑offs to develop and inform due diligence processes and frameworks.
• Cross‑disciplinary: Ability to engage with and work across a range of client‑based teams with different levels of technical understanding, perspectives and needs.
• Business development: Considerable BD and proposal‑writing experience, with a successful track record in winning work with new and existing clients.
• Project management: An organised and systematic approach to work. Experience of leading project teams, planning and delivering high‑quality outcomes within agreed budget and timescales.
• Communication skills: The ability to confidently and clearly present complex information and analyses in written and verbal format in a client‑friendly way to inform decision‑making by non‑technical senior managers within client organisations.
• Client relationship building: Ability to engage successfully with clients at all levels of seniority to develop trusted working relationships, instil confidence, influence outcomes and deliver impactful results that meet business needs.
• Data literacy: Experience of working with data, acquiring and digesting complex qualitative and quantitative information from multiple sources to distil clear strategic insights for clients.
• Flexibility and responsiveness: Willingness and ability to work across other thematic areas as necessary.

Desirable:

• Line management experience.
• Academic background to degree or masters level in a relevant subject area.

Benefits:

• Work with leading businesses, policy makers and decision makers to drive real change in commodity supply chains.
• 3Keel works with some of the most responsible businesses in the world and this is your opportunity to be in the room to help craft impactful strategies and oversee their implementation.
• Experience developing novel innovations and solutions to challenges that haven’t been solved in over thirty years of policies, certification initiatives, and initiatives to develop more responsible production systems.
• Be part of a world‑class team that is consistently praised by clients and our peers as being one of the top management consultancies working on sustainability.
• 25 days’ holiday (rising to 29) with the opportunity to buy.