Recycling Strategy Manager

Jacobs Douwe Egberts NL (JDE NL) covers the entire landscape of coffee and tea brands in over 100 countries worldwide. This requires the company to cooperate industry-wide in the Netherlands to reduce the environmental impact when it comes to packaging. This is a challenge for the new Recycling Strategy Manager. They will be the driving force behind the reduction of the impact of used aluminum cups. This is an exciting role for a strategically focused stakeholder manager who likes to chew on a tangled and complex topic with a great impact on society. 

About JDE

For more than 265 years now, Jacobs Douwe Egberts NL has been inspired by the belief that it is amazing what can happen over a cup of coffee or tea. JDE NL promises “a coffee for every cup”. The company has a portfolio of over 50 tea and coffee brands that collectively cover the entire landscape, with brands like Douwe Egberts, L’OR, Senseo, and Pickwick. 

With more than 16.000 employees in 140 countries and active involvement in over 100 markets, JDE is a global household name. At this scale, JDE has a responsibility to work sustainably. The pillars of their corporate responsibility are to address the priority issues in the supply chain, minimize their footprint, and engage employees and communities. 

JDE is now adding a Recycling Strategy Manager to their team who will minimize the footprint of the last part of their supply chain in the Netherlands. They will crack the question of how to reduce the environmental impact of aluminum cups after purchase.

“We are powered by our purpose to unleash the possibilities of coffee and tea to create a better future. The driven Recycling Strategy Manager, who will reduce the environmental impact of our packaging, will have a direct impact on our purpose.” John Brands, General Manager at JDE

Vacancy: Recycling Strategy Manager

The Recycling Strategy Manager is a new role within JDE NL, who will work with the head office and international colleagues to create solutions for more sustainable packaging. Their primary goal is to contribute to a plan for recycling aluminum capsules after customers have used them. The board calls this one of the most pressing and essential challenges within JDE NL’s current sustainability agenda. The role has elements of consumer behavior, marketing, (political) strategy, and sustainability. The Recycling Strategy Manager is excited to take up this challenge and make it their own. 

The intellectual challenge is to align with the waste processing system in the Netherlands, which is currently not set up to facilitate this volume of waste. She/he will work on both a long-term plan and short-term solutions that reduce JDE NL’s footprint. This includes investigations as to how the wheels spin when it comes to information streams, finance, materials, and products in different municipalities and their methods of waste separation. 

The Recycling Strategy Manager will be JDE NL’s internal and external linchpin in this complex dossier. This requires them to think strategically on a high level and to not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and bring new ideas into practice. The Recycling Strategy Manager will analyze, communicate, negotiate and stand their ground in public and internal affairs. 

The Recycling Strategy Manager builds and sustains relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. Departments such as Marketing, R&D, Regulatory Affairs within the company are closely involved. They also cooperate closely with the Communications & Government Affairs Manager to co-create with parties outside of JDE NL, for example with sector associations such as Koffie & Thee Nederland and Federatie Nederlandse Levensmiddelen Industrie. External stakeholder management is key to this position.

This is an exciting and intellectually challenging role with a direct positive impact on society. The role reports directly to the General Manager Retail.

“The Recycling Strategy Manager will explore a new and challenging field that is essential to our sustainability agenda. This is like JDE’s main jigsaw puzzle consisting of 10.000 pieces for the next 2-3 years.” John Brands, General Manager at JDE

Interested? 

JDE NL has appointed Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Imke Peters at imke.peters@topofminds.com.