Director, Supply Chain Sustainability

Brand Overview

ascena retail group, inc. is a leading national specialty retailer offering apparel, shoes, and accessories for women under the Premium Fashion segment (Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Lou & Grey), Value Fashion segment (maurices and dressbarn), Plus Fashion segment (Lane Bryant and Catherines), and for tween girls under the Kids Fashion segment (Justice). ascena retail group, inc. operates ecommerce websites and approximately 4,800 stores throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Ready to apply?

We currently have an opportunity for a Director, Supply Chain Sustainability to join our team located at our HK office.

Position Overview

The Director of Supply Chain Sustainability based in Asia will work closely with the Vice President (VP) to advance, elevate, align and execute ascena’s supply chain sustainability vision and strategy globally. This position will be a key contributor to the ascena Responsibility – Supply Chain Sustainability function and will design and execute best in class social and environmental programs with ascena’s merchandise supply chain partners globally.

This position will develop relationships with Suppliers globally and drive their compliance with ascena’s Code of Conduct for Merchandise Suppliers. The position will also help to represent ascena Retail Group and our programs with service providers, monitoring firms and participate in relevant social and environmental compliance events, industry associations and brand-collaboration forums. Additionally, this associate will lead the team responsible for the design and execution of ascena’s supply chain social and environmental compliance strategies. This position will lead the Asia-based team focusing on Supply Chain Sustainability, reporting to VP of ascena Responsibility, based in the United States.

This position will sit on the ascena Global Sourcing – Far East Leadership Team and the Responsibility Center of Excellence Leadership Team.

Primary Responsibilities / Accountabilities

1. Leadership

• Partner with the VP, Center of Excellence to execute the supply chain sustainability strategy
• Collaborate with Global Sourcing Leadership, Vendor leadership and compliance officers and brand teams to ensure that execution of ascena’s supply chain sustainability strategy is aligned with corporate sourcing and product strategies

2. Supply Chain Social/Labor Compliance Program

• Monitor the execution of the program for global suppliers; enhance the programs when necessary for ascena and its brands
• Develop vendor compliance empowerment program for strategic vendors
• Drive best-in-class compliance performance among strategic apparel suppliers
• Oversee the Better Work partnership and drive participation and performance in support of ascena’s goals
• Evaluate the performance of third party monitoring firms
• Responsible for measurement, reporting and remediation of Vendor’s supply chain sustainability performance
• Review and monitor the execution of supplier management process supporting new vendor onboarding
• Ensure the accurate reporting of data to support the Center of Excellence reporting strategies

3. Women Empowerment Program

• Partner with strategic vendors to develop the next phase of ascena’s women empowerment activities Identify partnerships to support the implementation of women’s empowerment programs Monitor the performance to support Center of Excellence reporting strategies

4. Environmental Sustainability Program

• Develop long range reduction goal and implementation strategy for Tier 2 (fabric) suppliers and Tier 1 (finished-goods) suppliers
• Drive best-in-class environmental performance amongst strategic suppliers
• Act as liaison with Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and SAC members to identify opportunities to collaborate
• Monitor and report on performance to support Center of Excellence reporting strategies

5. Industry Collaboration

• Engage with industry peers to evaluate collaboration opportunities to drive impact based on ascena’s sustainability goals

Other Requirements include

• 4-year University or Higher Educational degree preferred
• 10 years minimum of related work experience in Corporate Social Responsibility or Supply Chain Compliance Management at multi-national corporations
• Hong Kong based
• Strong English verbal and written communication skills
• Bi-lingual in both Cantonese and Mandarin is preferred
• Strong self-confidence and influence necessary to interact with levels of Senior Management and enforce policies
• Prior experience facilitating conferences is preferred
• Ability to facilitate meetings with internal and external contacts
• Excellent organizational skills; ability to develop reports and recommendations based on a high volume of data
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information
• Proven analytical skills; strong understanding of technology; problem-solver
• Able to handle fast-paced environment and tight deadlines
• Ability to operate in a multi-cultural environment
• International travel is expected

To Apply

Please visit the ascena retail group’s LinkedIn page.