Food Programme Lead - Water for Resilient Food Production in Cardiff

Job type: Full-time, 18-month fixed term contract

Location: Banbury, London, Cardiff, or Belfast - you will be contractually based in the office nearest to you with hybrid working. Hybrid working: You will be able to work from home and come into the office to collaborate with your team(s) when required. We have flexible core hours, and we don't believe in a culture of presenteeism. We will discuss what is important to you during the recruitment process.

Salary & Benefits: £60,000 + 10% pension, 25 days annual leave + bank holidays, 35-hour working week, up to 13 flexi-days, private medical insurance, life assurance, and much more!

Closing date: 24 August 2027 at 09:00 BST. WRAP reserves the right to close this role early in the event of a large volume of applications.

Who are we? WRAP is a global environmental action NGO transforming food, packaging, textiles and resource use systems in pursuit of circular living. WRAP are the people who do. We convene. We evidence. We solve. We deliver. For over 25 years, WRAP has innovated to meet the problems of the day. We prevent waste and pollution to save money, improve living standards and protect natural habitats. We reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water stress to strengthen resilience and help meet environmental goals. We improve resource use to increase productivity and growth. Across the world, we bring more than 1,000 businesses together with governments and civil society to tackle environmental challenges that require the collective action of many. Join us at WRAP and you'll drive important change to embed circular living in every boardroom and in every home.

The role: Water is at the heart of food security resilience. This summer, drought conditions have contributed to supply disruptions in the UK and around the world and river pollution is threatening freshwater ecosystems. These are not isolated incidents - they are vivid illustrations of how water stress and poor water management ripple through food supply chains, affect farmers and reach dinner tables. Climate change is making these pressures more frequent, more severe and harder to predict. The need for coordinated action on water for resilient food production has never been more urgent. WRAP’s Water for Resilient Food Production programme works at this intersection - bringing together food and drink businesses, governments, NGOs and local partners to protect critical water resources at catchment level, across the UK and internationally. Through the UK Food and Drink Pact Water Roadmap and collective action projects in Kenya, Peru, Spain, South Africa and the UK, we are demonstrating what coordinated action can achieve.

This is an exciting inflection point for the programme. We are looking for an exceptional leader to take the helm of our water team, deliver against our current commitments and build a compelling growth strategy for the UK and EU. You will lead a specialist team, grow and deepen our partnerships with food and drink businesses, funders and governments, and develop and secure the funding that will take this programme to the next level.

As our Food Programme Lead: Water for Resilient Food Production, you will:

• Lead the delivery and development of an ambitious, evidence-based programme strategy across the UK and EU, working closely with colleagues in programme delivery, partnerships and business engagement to maximise impact and income.
• Build and grow strong senior-level partnerships with food and drink businesses, governments, funders and NGO partners to deliver against programme targets, position WRAP’s work and develop new opportunities.
• Lead, inspire and develop a specialist water team, creating a high-performance, inclusive environment where experts can do their best work.
• Work with senior leaders across WRAP to shape the future direction, priorities and measurement of our water work across multiple geographies.
• Support and lead the development of funding bids and business development conversations, playing an active role in identifying and securing the income that will grow the programme’s reach and impact.

What are we looking for? You Will Bring:

• Programme leadership and delivery in a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Experience of designing, developing and implementing ambitious, impact-focused programmes across government, business, NGOs and funders - working with high personal autonomy and thriving in complexity.
• A track record of engaging food and drink businesses and other organisations to drive change. You know how to build trust with senior stakeholders, convene diverse actors around shared goals, and translate technical evidence into compelling propositions that secure commitment and action.
• People leadership that brings out the best in specialist teams. You develop others, create clarity, and build the conditions for a high-performing team to deliver and grow.
• Experience of securing and growing funding. You understand the landscape of government grants, corporate partnerships and trust and foundation funding relevant to food and water, and you have experience of developing fundable propositions and building the relationships that make them succeed.
• A strong grasp of water in the food system. You understand the pressures, the levers and the stakeholder landscape - and you can guide a team of experts to translate that understanding into strategies that shift practice at scale.

If you are motivated by impact, energised by working collaboratively to make change and ready to lead a programme at a genuinely exciting moment in its development, we would love to hear from you.