Senior Director Thriving People

Acre is proud to be working with Mars as we search for their next Senior Director of Thriving People
. This appointment represents a significant investment in long-term social sustainability and reflects Mars' ambition to embed human rights, equity, and livelihoods at the heart of how business is done across its global value chain.

This role has the potential to create meaningful, measurable impact on a global scale and improve livelihoods for millions of people across agricultural supply chains, manufacturing communities, and sourcing regions worldwide. Beyond strategy and compliance, it is designed to drive real systems change, translating ambition into tangible improvements in incomes, dignity, and opportunity across some of the world's most complex value chains.

At Mars, our purpose is: "The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today." Through our Sustainable in a Generation Plan, we focus on three pillars
- Healthy Planet, Thriving People, and Nourishing Wellbeing. The Thriving People pillar drives our ambition to ensure everyone in our value chain has the opportunity to thrive - by respecting human rights, improving incomes, and unlocking opportunities for women and communities.

The Senior Director, Thriving People
, is a senior global leader responsible for shaping and executing Mars's human and social sustainability agenda. This role leads the company's efforts to advance human rights and livelihoods throughout Mars's extended value chain. The S/Dir. will collaborate with business segments, sourcing teams, suppliers, and external partners to make measurable progress toward the company's Thriving People commitments.

• Define the global Thriving People ambition and strategy within Mars's Sustainable in a Generation Plan.
• Lead a diverse, high-performing team to develop best practice approaches to human rights and livelihoods challenges and standardize and scale our approach across Mars.
• Embed social sustainability and human rights principles into core business operations, sourcing, and procurement practices.
• Represent the Thriving People agenda in the Mars Sustainability Steering Group and, in partnership with the Chief Sustainability Officer, with the broader Mars Leadership Team and further governance forums where required.
• Oversee implementation of the Mars Human Rights Policy and due‑diligence systems across all business segments and geographies.
• Partner with the Sustainability Compliance Director to ensure Mars approaches meet the latest regulatory requirements.
• Ensure Mars Supplier Code of Conduct remains aligned to Mars ambitions and approach, and partner with procurement, legal, and supply chain teams to strengthen responsible sourcing practices across key raw materials (e.g., cocoa, palm oil, mint, seafood).
• Influence and ensure alignment with international standards (UNGPs, OECD Guidelines, ILO Conventions).

• Develop best practice understanding and thinking to increase incomes for smallholder farmers, workers, and suppliers in origin communities.
• Drive partnerships with Mars segment sourcing teams, NGOs, development agencies, and local enterprises to scale social innovation initiatives that deliver both impact and business value.
• Influence external voluntary action on livelihoods, driving towards alignment on Living Wage and Living Income ambition and approaches with peers, NGOs, Key Opinion Formers, Standard Setters, and Regulators.

• Build robust social impact metrics, dashboards, and data systems to track progress and outcomes and ensure SSG, MLT, Board, and Shareholders are clearly informed on progress.
• Lead transparent reporting on social impact as part of the Mars ESG disclosures, in partnership with S&F, Corporate Affairs, Legal, and Sustainability Compliance.
• Serve as senior representative with external partners, coalitions, and sustainability networks (e.g., WBCSD, UN Global Compact, Consumer Goods Forum).

Serve on the Mars Sustainability Steering Group, made up of the corporate sustainability leadership team and the…