Head of Sustainability

Inari is seeking a Head of Sustainability to develop and implement sustainability strategies across the organization. This role involves engaging with internal and external stakeholders, shaping sustainability messaging, and managing high-impact initiatives. The position requires collaboration with the ESG board committee and senior leadership. Inari promotes diversity and innovation in addressing food system challenges while protecting natural resources. The job is remote, allowing candidates to work from anywhere.
About Inari...

Inari is the SEEDesign™ company. We embrace the diversity and complexity of nature in every aspect of our business to drive innovation – to push the boundaries of what is possible. Through our unrivaled technology platform, Inari uses predictive design and advanced multiplex gene editing to develop step-change products. We are taking a nature positive approach to unlock the full potential of seed that will transform the food system. The results will lead to more productive acres delivering value creation for farmers and a more sustainable future for our planet.

Our success is dependent on great minds, collaborating to generate bright ideas and deliver exceptional outcomes.

We have over 270 employees, with research sites in Cambridge, MA (USA) and Ghent (Belgium), as well as a product development site in West Lafayette, IN (USA). We’ve deliberately built a team that brings diversity of thought to all aspects of our business, to generate new ideas, approaches, and ways of operating. And we've intentionally combined experience with potential, bringing agriculture industry experts with the desire to innovate together with bright minds from academia, human therapeutics, software, and consulting. If you want to be part of a diverse and inclusive team developing unique solutions to feed the world while protecting our planet’s natural resources, we’d love to hear from you!

In this role, the Head of Sustainability will be responsible for developing and recommending sustainability strategies along with implementation and monitoring of plans, targets, and metrics for the company from Scopes 1 through 4. This individual will internally champion and work across the organization to ensure timely execution of projects and initiatives. As a thought leader, this role is an opportunity to shape the sustainability dialogs to motivate, inspire and provoke (as appropriate) external stakeholders from the perspectives of food system.

The Head of Sustainability will be an active member of the senior leadership group, permanent invitee to the corporate ESG board committee, and regularly engaging with the Executive Leadership Team and board members. The individual will be a key member of the Corporate Affairs function and its leadership team.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Internal and external engagement
• Be the primary management contact for the ESG board committee including working with the chair on agenda, materials, and follow-through.
• Serve as a thought leader internally and externally to help shape Inari’s sustainability message with employees, customers, partners and NGOs, with the ability to distill and effectively communicate highly complex information.
• Cultivate a grassroots culture of sustainability up and down the organization.

Overall strategy and plan
• Develop, recommend, and drive the implementation of the organization’s sustainability strategy and policies – executing plans by closely working with and through all functions.
• Manage value creation through high impact initiatives across the organization, embedding measurement and reporting mechanisms.
• Own SEEDesignTM System Modeling (Inari’s customized dynamic system models) and help guide the tradeoff dialogues while driving Product Stage Gate applications.

Overall execution
• Deliver timely, accurate, and effective sustainability reports by closely working with related functions.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Skills
• Strategic development and execution
• Substantive experience in building comprehensive strategies and the drive to execute results with willingness to be bold and forward looking.
• Sustainability knowledge and skills
• An inherent understanding of the role sustainability plays across all aspects of today's business environment from strategy to operations, and the management of external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated passion for sustainability with a strong interest in building a more sustainable and nature-positive food system.
• Analytical
• Will need to get adept with Inari’s custom dynamic system model – the SEEDesignTM System Model – and champion the work internally and externally.
• Excellence in tracking, reporting, and interpreting of a wide range of data and systems.
• Mobilization and inspiration
• Excellent communication and presentation skills along with the ability to inspire large groups of both internal and external stakeholders.
• Clear passion for sustainability and the value it can bring – thriving in an inclusive culture driven by innovative technology.
• Interpersonal
• Collaborative across boundaries and learning mindset.

Qualifications
• 8+ years of experience in strategy, sustainability, or similar roles; at least 5+ years of direct sustainability experience.
• MBA or similar advanced professional degree preferred.
• Experience working in the food & agricultural value chain.

FOR U.S. CANDIDATES: Please note that we use the resume you submit with your application during our background check process. To ensure an efficient and accurate background verification, we kindly ask that you carefully review and accurately represent your work history, education and other relevant information on your resume. Any discrepancies or inaccuracies found during the background check may impact your candidacy for the position.