Director, Corporate Sustainability & ESG

About the Role

The Director of Corporate Sustainability & ESG (“Director”) is responsible for building and implementing HARMAN’s ESG strategy and corporate global sustainability program. This includes measuring and reducing HARMAN’s climate impact, implementing best practices to identify and mitigate climate-related risks, overseeing due diligence related to social matters such as human rights, and ensuring compliance with all regulatory reporting requirements. The Director serves as HARMAN’s lead subject matter expert on ESG and sustainability, collaborating with internal stakeholders and senior leadership to develop and progress HARMAN’s strategic sustainability goals and program. The role also involves identifying trends, opportunities, and potential threats to meeting HARMAN’s corporate sustainability and ESG objectives.

Your Team

The Director leads a team of direct reports and multiple dotted-line sustainability professionals, and is responsible for coaching, mentoring, performance management, and professional development.

Responsibilities

• Strategy and Governance
  • Build and implement HARMAN’s long-term corporate sustainability and ESG strategy and goals, based on a regular impact, risk, and opportunities assessment process.
  • Lead and accelerate the company’s progress toward each ESG initiative and goal, including the efficacy of HARMAN’s decarbonization strategy and progress toward established GHG reduction goals.
  • Advise and inform the HARMAN ESG Committee and other internal leaders on the priority of sustainability issues and overall sustainability program performance.
  • Drive consideration for ESG matters in corporate enterprise risk management processes and ensure action plans are in place to mitigate identified risks.
  • Lead the budgeting process for HARMAN’s corporate sustainability program, including the development of business cases, adherence to assigned annual budget(s), and opportunities to enhance spend efficiency.
  • Manage HARMAN’s relationship with external sustainability strategy and reporting consultants.
• Cross-departmental Collaboration
  • Align internal stakeholders such as Business Division Sustainability Leads, Supply Chain Risk Management, Procurement, and Manufacturing to track and accelerate the progress and efficacy of HARMAN’s sustainability program.
  • Create and manage global ESG program governance forums and mechanisms to drive progress toward sustainability initiatives, ensuring regular and effective cross-functional coordination, communication, and visibility into sustainability strategy and priorities.
  • Enhance employee engagement through training and communications initiatives across divisions and functions to educate on sustainability best practices and drive a culture of sustainability within HARMAN.
  • Serve as the dedicated interface between HARMAN and parent company Samsung on ESG and sustainability program synergy and alignment opportunities.
• Compliance
  • Collaborate across the business to ensure appropriate supply chain and internal due diligence mechanisms are in place regarding social matters such as human rights (e.g., child/forced labor, working conditions), and ensure compliance with all related disclosure regulations.
  • Identify, advise on, and ensure compliance with all global sustainability and ESG disclosure laws and regulations.
  • Maintain a view of industry and peer best practices and regulatory requirements to ensure sufficient coverage and action across HARMAN’s current and future sustainability and ESG policies.
• Reporting
  • Lead all external ESG reporting and disclosure activities.
  • Oversee the continuous improvement of data quality and reliability, efficiency of data collection systems and processes, internal controls, and audit/verification processes (as applicable) for all ESG data.
  • Develop HARMAN’s expertise and accuracy with regard to environmental data and carbon accounting practices, including the management of corporate environmental dashboards to enhance decision-useful visibility into collected data (e.g., trends, site-level comparisons).
  • Lead the production (content, standards/framework alignment, design, and timeline) of HARMAN’s annual voluntary sustainability report, including cross-departmental collaboration and data collection methodologies, and selection/oversight of support resources.
  • Lead corporate engagement and disclosure activities with strategic ESG assessment organizations (e.g., CDP, Ecovadis, and others).
  • Support internal and external inquiries regarding ESG and sustainability strategy and performance data, such as from internal business units and customers.
• Thought Leadership
  • Oversee HARMAN’s internal and external sustainability communications.
  • Lead HARMAN’s relationships with membership-based sustainability organizations (e.g., RBA).
  • As the lead representative of HARMAN’s ESG and sustainability program, communicate the strategy and priorities in external community networks, broader industry forums, and engagements (e.g., conferences, webinars).

Requirements

• At least 7-10 years’ experience working in large, global, highly matrixed, and dynamic organizations.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of global and industry sustainability trends, challenges, and opportunities.
• Demonstrated experience building and scaling a corporate sustainability and ESG program and decarbonization strategy, including meaningful goals and KPIs against which the company can measure sustainability performance.
• Ability to assess and translate sustainability frameworks, standards, regulations, and other pressures/trends into business cases and corporate action plans, and secure division, business unit, and leadership buy-in.
• A proven track record of successful cross-functional collaboration and leadership, ability to build consensus, and implementation of concurrent, complex strategic sustainability initiatives and programs.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills. Experience communicating with internal and external stakeholders, with the willingness to represent the company’s sustainability interests in public forums and at the highest levels, including executive leadership and the Board.
• Experience fostering and managing partnerships with private sector partners, NGOs, governments, and multilateral organizations.
• Familiarity with best-in-class sustainability, sourcing, and procurement practices.
• Ability to analyze complex data and create internal controls to ensure data integrity.
• Experience managing external counsel, agencies, and/or contractor support.
• Be willing to travel up to 10%, domestically and internationally.
• Be willing to work onsite at a HARMAN US office.
• Successfully complete a background investigation and drug screen as a condition of employment.

Qualifications

• Graduate-level business, sustainability, engineering, or law degree is a plus.
• Certification in the field of sustainability, corporate responsibility, project management, or similar.
• Understanding of the Automotive and/or Consumer Electronics industry and manufacturing processes is a plus.

Benefits

• Access to employee discounts on world-class products (JBL, HARMAN Kardon, AKG, and more).
• Extensive training opportunities through HARMAN University.
• Competitive wellness benefits.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• “Be Brilliant” employee recognition and rewards program.
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that fosters and encourages professional and personal development.
• Paid vacation and holidays, paid sick leave, volunteer leave, and paid bonding and caregiver leave.
• Eligibility to participate in comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, fertility support and adoption assistance, Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plan with employer match, short- and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more.

Pay

$161,250 - $236,500. Dependent on the position offered, other forms of compensation are also available, such as bonuses or commission. Pay is based on a wide range of factors, including, without limitation, skill set, experience, training, location, and business need.