Sustainability Assistant - Supply Chain

Job Title: Sustainability Assistant (Supply Chain)
Location: Head Office, Leicestershire
Salary: £Competitive plus bonus & benefits

About the Role

As Sustainability Assistant (Supply Chain), you’ll be at the heart of NEXT Group’s sustainability efforts—supporting the full journey from raw materials to final product, and helping ensure we meet our environmental goals across NEXT and our wider brand family (Lipsy, Joules, FatFace, Reiss, and Total Platform partners).

You’ll work alongside the Sustainability Manager to roll out supply chain strategies addressing chemical compliance, climate risks, biodiversity, and water stewardship. This hands-on, data-driven role is perfect for someone passionate about creating real change in fashion supply chain operations, with scope to grow responsibilities as the team and sustainability initiatives evolve.

What You’ll Be Doing

• ZDHC Programme: Manage daily operations of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) programme, extending implementation beyond textiles to leather tanneries and synthetic leather supply chains, collaborating with internal tech teams and external wet processors, handling data uploads and analysis via the ZDHC Gateway.
• Worldly Programme: Oversee daily operations, work closely with Tier 1 to Tier 3 manufacturers and NEXT technology teams, support data collection and uploads.
• Supply Chain Strategy & Implementation: Help develop and deliver strategies on impact reduction, water, nature & biodiversity, decarbonisation, traceability, and transparency. Support product teams and suppliers at all stages, manage the supplier database (Tier 1–Tier 5), create/update supply chain manuals and policies, and deliver training.
• Research & Tracking: Monitor NGO activities and emerging risks related to climate, biodiversity, and restricted substances, support responses to regulatory changes in UK, EU, and global markets.

What We’re Looking For

Essential

• A degree or equivalent in textile technology, leather/footwear tech, sustainability, environmental science, or related field
• Awareness of environmental impacts in textile, leather, or footwear industries
• Strong research and summarising skills; curious, methodical, confident in exploring new topics
• Advanced IT skills, especially in Excel/Google Sheets
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines accurately
• Genuine interest in sustainability and making a measurable difference

Desirable

• Experience in a technical or sustainability role within fashion, textiles, leather, or footwear
• Knowledge of or experience with the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero and/or Worldly
• Understanding of chemical compliance or willingness to develop in this area
• Experience with textile/leather testing or third-party labs
• Strong commercial awareness of the fashion product lifecycle
• Experience creating or delivering training content
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally

#LI-DC1

#J-18808-Ljbffr