Environmental Manager

As the UK's largest employee-owned business, the John Lewis Partnership is home to our two well-loved retail brands: John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners. We aren't an ordinary business; everyone who works here is a Partner, sharing responsibility for our success and sharing the rewards when we succeed. Everything we do is driven by a unique purpose: Working in Partnership for a happier world. We are currently seeking an inclusive, commercially minded Environmental Manager to champion sustainability within our regional distribution team. If you have a strong understanding of UK waste legislation, including the Environmental Permitting Regulations and the Hazardous Waste Regulations, we want to hear from you.

We are looking for a collaborative thinker who can engage diverse stakeholders and champion circular economy principles. As an Environmental Manager, you will act as the subject-matter expert for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulatory compliance across our 2 Person Customer Delivery Network. You will own end-to-end WEEE obligations, working closely with operations, the central Environment & Sustainability (E&S) team, and supply chain partners to turn regulatory duties into tangible revenue and drive the commercial performance of our recycling and reuse activities.

At a glance

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Partnership Role Title: Environmental Manager

Position: This is a permanent position

Location: Magna Park 1 NDC Milton Keynes

Hours of work: Full-time, 35 hours per week. Working Monday to Friday, 9:00-17:00. There is flexibility with start and finish times within this opportunity.

Please note that you may be required to travel for this position based on business needs (locations of sites you will be required to travel to are listed on this advert).

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Key responsibilities

-Own the end-to-end WEEE compliance process across all Customer Delivery Hubs (CDHs) in accordance with the WEEE Regulations 2013.

-Prepare and submit accurate, audit-ready quarterly returns to the Environment Agency, ensuring 100% on-time compliance.

-Manage commercial relationships with approved waste contractors and reuse partners to maximise value recovery and identify new revenue streams from packaging and WEEE materials.

-Provide hands-on support, training, and site audits for CDH Partners to promote waste segregation, duty of care requirements, and waste minimisation best practices.

-Contribute accurate waste and recycling data to group-wide sustainability disclosures, including SECR and ESOS carbon reporting frameworks.

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Essential skills & Experience you’ll need:

-Experience managing WEEE compliance obligations and preparing Environment Agency returns in a retail, distribution, or logistics environment.

-A strong understanding of UK waste legislation, including Environmental Permitting and Hazardous Waste Regulations.

-A demonstrable track record of managing commercial waste or recycling contracts with measurable value recovery outcomes.

-An IEMA Associate/Full membership or an equivalent environmental management qualification (e.g., NEBOSH Environmental Certificate)

-Stakeholder management skills, critical thinking, and a proactive entrepreneurial mindset

Desirable Skills & Experience you can bring:

-Familiarity with carbon reporting frameworks (SECR, GHG Protocol).

-Experience conducting environmental site audits across multi-site operations.

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.  

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.   

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. 

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.  

Important points to note:  

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.  

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview. 

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