sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 3,500 team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we're committed to leaving people better than we found them. We're in the business of feeding people, and we're out to change what that means. 

The Sustainability Manager is based at the Treehouse (Corporate office) in Los Angeles, CA and reports to the Vice President of Supply Chain. The selected candidate must have passion about continued learning and a commitment toward building a more sustainable food system.

The Manager has 5 main Sustainability related responsibilities:

• Supply Chain Innovation: Being a subject matter expert on future sustainability issues surrounding disposables and packaging materials, particularly discovering optimal materials and products to adopt, for items coming inbound, being used by our guests, and being consumed in our support centers. A mindset of zero waste should be adopted.
• Reporting: Designing and distributing reporting which describes and tracks sweetgreen’s sustainability efforts from a data driven perspective. Internal tracking should be updated each period and an annual report will be distributed annually. Facilities analysis to improve energy usage should be included.
• Brand Content: Coordinating with our Brand / Marketing Teams to provide content related to our sustainability efforts. Seeking and championing external collaborations with sustainability related thought leaders.
• Animal Welfare: Enhancing our current Animal Welfare standards, including the creation of a robust externally shared policy/goal structure. Owning the periodic update of the Food Ethos in relationship with animal welfare. Working with current and future sweetgreen suppliers to make real change to the entire supply chain’s animal welfare standards.
• Energy, Water, & Waste: Leading cross-functional initiatives to measure and reduce fleetwide energy and water inefficiencies. Managing the relationship with our waste haulers to optimize diversion and auditing the waste flow. Supporting training and store design to make sure proper segregation is happening. Increasing cradle to cradle opportunities is a primary objective.

Desired Experience

• Three years of sustainability management in connection with the food system
• Bachelor degree in Environmental Science, Materials Science, Agricultural Development or Public Policy
• Involvement in sustainability metric design and reporting, with examples of data analysis evident
• Working with sustainability assessments or improvements to sustainability programs
• Working in a cross-functional environment and with internal and external partners

Desired Traits

• Ability to assess current inefficiencies and provide creative solutions to solve those issues.
• Capability to envision a more sustainable future and to establish the milestones that will allow sweetgreen to be a thought leader in sustainability
• Proficient in honest, open, and effective communication with internal and external partners
• Strong project management skills
• Knowledge of global, national, and regional conservation issues

Some Expected Deliverables

• Ownership of all projects involving sustainability at sweetgreen
• Create a blueprint for the next version of sweetgreen’s animal welfare policy
• Year end reporting on our current waste diversion rates, to establish a baseline for future years
• Set our support centers on a path toward Zero Waste, including the creation of a Green Team

What you'll get:

• Competitive pay + bonus plan granted based on performance
• Health, dental + vision insurance
• Flexible PTO, because we respect the need for work/life harmony
• An opportunity to make a real impact on the people around you, both by growing them and by connecting them to real food
• To live the sweetlife and celebrate your passion + purpose
• A collaborative family of people who live our core values and have your back
• A clear career path with opportunities for development, both personally and professionally
• Our annual Impact Retreat offsite
• Free sweetgreen swag
• Complimentary sweetgreen

Come join the sweetlife! 
sweetgreen provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.