Job DescriptionThe Senior Principal Advisor of Animal Welfare is responsible for the development and continued evolution of Animal Welfare standards across Whole Foods Market. This role develops and leads cohesive programs and policies for all animal-based products, including Meat & Poultry, Eggs, and Dairy. Working closely with teams and leaders across WFM including Quality Standards, Merchants, Legal, PR and Marketing SVPs and VPs, as well as suppliers, NGOs and certifiers, the Senior Principal Advisor is the driver of Whole Foods Market’s advocacy, efforts and programs. They are responsible for leading the execution of various projects to support continuous improvement of Animal Welfare standards (both 3rd party and proprietary), as well as other animal raising and handling standards including Grassed and slaughter policy. This role is expected to monitor emerging science, industry trends and policy, articulating impacts on and solutions for the business to company leadership. They work with stakeholders across the business including Legal and Quality Assurance to ensure accuracy of claims and regulatory compliance. This Team Member applies their knowledge and expertise in support of Team Member education, customer facing messaging and industry awareness, leading both proactive and reactive messaging to support PR.

Responsibilities:

• Lead standards development and evolution addressing numerous animal welfare factors in multiple and complex supply chains including Meat, Poultry, Dairy, Eggs and other commodities as needed, including:

• Farm standards for all meat species, including chicken, pork, beef, lamb, turkey, bison and venison.

• Maintenance of WFM proprietary Laying Hen Standards.

• Farm standards for dairy cows

• Slaughter standards for all species

• Work cross-functionally with leaders to set strategies and with teams to implement successful programs that continuously improve our standards with stakeholders, including Exclusive Brands and Merchandising Teams.

• Act as Whole Foods Market subject matter expert and point of contact both internally and externally including PR within industry speaking events, media response (proactive and reactive).

• Build strong, strategic relationships with organizations, suppliers certifiers and NGO partners to understand and address welfare issues affecting the industry.

• Engage with key stakeholders across Whole Foods Market including Merch, Marketing, PR, Quality Assurance, Legal and Amazon. Align stakeholders to shared objectives.

• Lead efforts to assess risks and opportunities, advise WFM VP, SVP and EVPs, and make recommendations to develop and evolve policies.

• Partner with Legal to address key policy issues and execute long term initiatives including state and federal regulations.

• Participate in cross-team Quality Standards development efforts including agriculture, social responsibility, and sustainability.

• In alignment with QS approach, lead efforts for Grassfed policy in meat and dairy.

• Support team with cross-department standards work.

• Align resources according to strategic objectives. Coordinates workloads with the team to ensure timely completion of all tasks across the organization.

• Define policies and own development of SOPs related to the ongoing execution of Whole Foods Market Animal Welfare Standards and policies including Grassfed and slaughter.

• Drive clarity and visibility to project performance (status, risks, dependencies) with leadership, and business partners communicating appropriately with each group.

• Set and achieve annual goals that support our Purpose and business objectives. Lead long term strategic planning for Animal Welfare and animal related policy / claims at WFM.

• Continuously evaluate and identify areas of opportunity for improvements in processes to support standards, including 3rd party benchmarking and annual review of proprietary Lay Hen Standards.

Qualifications:

• A four-year degree in a related discipline or applicable work experience.

• 8 to 10 years direct experience developing standards in animal welfare, transparency, and integrity in consumer grocery product supply chains.

• Advanced understanding of animal product supply chains for retail grocery and proficiency in the development of executable and measurable business programs specific to animal welfare in food supply chain.

• In depth experience working with 3rd party certification programs and standards.

• Proven record of effective program leadership that includes the ability to teach and mentor others in the Animal Welfare space.

• Proven ability aligning different stakeholders to execute deadline driven initiatives, fostering collaboration between teams and organizations.

• Ability to effectively collaborate with diverse business partners, including company leadership, merchandisers, marketers, suppliers, certification bodies, NGOs, and governmental entities.

• Proven experience in actively listening to and understanding diverse perspectives, effectively disagreeing, and devising solutions that benefit the business and all stakeholders involved.

• Previous successful experience presenting in front of senior executives.

• Proven experience planning and managing high-impact and confidential projects.

• Extensive experience representing, verbally and in writing, complex decisions, tough trade-offs, and potential solutions clearly to leaders to help them understand the decisions they have to make and what options they have.

• Proven experience synthesizing and dispersing information into effective strategies and innovative insights, translating complex ideas into simple, actionable recommendations.

• Proven ability to work under pressure, prioritize work, and balance a portfolio of programs.

• Customer focused, long term thinker, excellent communicator with strong business acumen and the ability to influence without authority.

• Resourceful self-starter, team player, creative thinker with a win-win-win, solutions-based approach.

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 25% of the time.

  At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

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Who are we? Well, we seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add to that the excitement and fun we bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what we’re all about. Oh yeah, we’re a mission-driven company too.

Whole Foods Market attracts people who are passionate - about great food, about the communities they live in, about how we treat our planet and our fellow humans - and who want to bring their passion into the workplace and make a difference.

Learn more about careers at Whole Foods Market here (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers) !

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