Global Manager, Agriculture Partnerships & Impact

Role Background

AB InBev is the world’s leading brewer with over 500 brands sold in more than 150 countries. As a truly global brewer, the company is committed to healthy natural environments and thriving communities so we can brew beers that bring people together for the next 100+ years.

Having achieved all our sustainability goals over the past decade, this year we announced our most ambitious sustainability goals yet within the areas of agricultural development, water stewardship, circular packaging and climate action. We also launched the 100+ sustainability accelerator which will bring together scientists, technologists and budding entrepreneurs around the world and support promising ideas and innovations which are in line with our sustainability goals.

Within agriculture, we have committed to support 100% of our direct farmers to be skilled, connected and financially empowered. Globally our direct sourcing programs reach nearly 50,000 farmers in more than 15 countries across 5 continents – including both commercial farmers and smallholders. Nearly half of our agricultural raw materials are purchased through these direct programs. Our priority crops include barley, rice, hops, corn, sorghum and cassava.

This role is part of the Sustainability team which is embedded within the Global Procurement & Sustainability organisation. The role is based in New York City with frequent travel.

Key Purpose Statement

The Agriculture Partnerships & Impact Manager is responsible for driving the identification and delivery of strategic partnerships, multi-stakeholder approaches and impact measurement initiatives required to advance AB InBev’s agricultural sustainability agenda globally. This will enable achievement of a major new goal within AB InBev’s new sustainability ambition:

To support 100% of our direct farmers to be skilled, connected and financially empowered.

The purpose of our 2025 goal is to harness the key enablers of knowledge/skills, technology and financing mechanisms to help farmers across the world measurably improve their productivity, environmental stewardship and livelihoods.

This role will lead the development of global partnerships for funding and implementing our strategy and will lead engagement with targeted stakeholders & influencers to strengthen AB InBev’s impact and reputation. They will be responsible for aligning and guiding the agricultural sustainability agenda across the organisation and ensuring our approach remains up to date with emerging trends and external opportunities. The position holder will work closely with the global Raw Material Sourcing, Agriculture Development and Sustainability teams and will also help coordinate with other functions such as Corporate Affairs and Marketing.

They will engage extensively with zone agriculture teams to help identify, assess, align and implement supply chain partnerships that enhance the value delivery of our agriculture development activities to AB InBev and to society. This is a global role; however it will include a specific focus on our regions with smallholder programs (e.g. Africa, India, Mexico)

The position holder will be required to advise and engage senior leadership teams on best practices within agriculture sustainability and smallholder development. They will also be responsible for implementing processes required for systematic impact measurement and external reporting to demonstrate progress on our goal.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of global partnerships for funding and implementing AB InBev’s agricultural development strategy.
• Engage at senior level with major public and private sector donors, multilateral banks and financial institutions to build relationships and create new opportunities for partnership and co-financing
• Facilitate supply chain partnerships that strengthen the value proposition of our agriculture programs to AB InBev, farmers and communities– with a focus on markets with smallholder programs
• Work with zone/market teams and build their capacity to develop partnerships which meet local needs and are aligned with global strategy
• Help embed the agricultural sustainability agenda into our agricultural development programs and raw material sourcing strategies
• Support the zone agricultural development teams to shape the design of farm development programs to ensure they deliver commercial, social and environmental impacts and are in line with AB InBev’s 2025 goals
• Partner with AB InBev’s sourcing teams to engage third party suppliers on agricultural development. Develop our approach to address material sustainability risks and opportunities across third party supply chains
• Lead engagement with global external stakeholders and influencers to ensure AB InBev remains updated on evolving best practice in terms of social and environmental issues in agriculture and that these are integrated into our programs. This includes but is not limited to issues such as soil health, water stewardship, food security, women’s empowerment, living wages & human rights
• Lead measurement and external reporting against public goals related to agricultural sustainability including supporting data collection/analysis from the zones
• Coordinate with AB InBev Communication and Brand teams to proactively identify opportunities for amplifying our agriculture narrative, engaging stakeholders & consumers and improving reputation
• Support the development of AB InBev’s water strategy within agricultural value chains including the development of partnerships in high-risk watersheds
• Support the roll-out of Responsible Sourcing policies within agricultural supply chains including the development of projects to address material human rights risks
• Represent AB InBev at external meetings, conferences and forums and help position AB InBev as an industry leader within the agriculture development space

Required Experience & Skills

• Previous experience of working in a similar role within a multi-national organisation, ideally in the food or beverage secto
• Strong understanding of the commercial priorities within FMCG companies and the ability to balance sustainability and commercial objective
• Proven track record of developing effective multi-stakeholder partnerships and co-funding agreements with clear value propositions and result
• Industry-leading programmatic skills and relevant expertise, including:
  • agricultural development programme experience particularly within smallholder context in developing economies
  • international development project management or similar experience
• Solid understanding of development issues and key social and environmental themes (e.g. smallholder incomes, food security, climate resilience, women’s empowerment, human rights)
• Good communications experience and the ability to build credibility with a wide range of stakeholders (internal commercial & sustainability teams, NGOs, governments, donors etc)
• Ability to understand complex issues and translate them into business relevant strategies
• Project management and analytical problem-solving skills including the ability to juggle multiple complex projects within tight timescales
• High empathy, excellent interpersonal and relationship management skills
• High need for achievement, self-starting with deep intrinsic drive to deliver on targets
• Flexible working style, able to respond quickly to changing requirements and energetic to respond to urgent requests
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently (around 40% of time)
• Must be eligible to work in USA

To Apply

Please visit the Anheuser-Busch InBev LinkedIn page.