Social, Ethical and Compliance Auditor in Chester House, Epsom Ave, Handforth, Cheadle, Greater Manchester, SK9 3DF Remote Working with required travel to Handforth Support Office

Location: Remote Working with required travel to Handforth Support Office

About Us

At Pets at Home, we want to ensure that our Group protects human rights and minimises the environmental impact across our supply chains and business operations.

Our Group includes over 450 stores, over 310 Groom Rooms and 440 First Opinion Vet Practices. It’s fast-paced, innovative and fun and it's our people that make the difference.

Joining our team means you’ll play a crucial role in developing the strategy for the Group which will cover risk assessment, contractual controls & policies, due diligence, training & awareness and analysing the effectiveness of all of these measures.

About your role

As a Social, Ethical & Compliance Auditor, you will be accountable for ensuring that the Pets at Home supplier base is producing both goods and services in a manner which aligns to our values & purpose and complies with our quality aspirations around health & safety, environmental impact and the protection of human rights.

You will manage our suppliers ethical and environmental audit programme for both Food and Accessories, ensuring that we achieve Social and Ethical and QMS compliance to defined standards (within Pets at Home Quality Manual).

Overall responsibilities will include;

• Leading on the implementation of the Pets at Home Audit Strategy
• Working with and managing independent 3rd party audit verification bodies to develop a scheduled and robust verification procedure
• Managing the collation of all records from suppliers to demonstrate compliance with Pets at Home standards
• Ensuring effective and unbroken traceability of process with all suppliers
• Ensuring that paperwork used to demonstrate compliance is fit for purpose and maintained effectively
• Regularly liaising with the relevant internal teams to inform on supplier performance

About your experience

You’ll be highly organised with the ability to form strong relationships using your communication and interpersonal skills. You’ll be able to lead suppliers and drive continuous improvement of standards, communicating clear decisions, next steps and accountability.

Key experience required includes:

• Extensive experience of working within an ethical or human rights role
• A good understanding of international human rights frameworks including the United Nations Guiding principles on Human Rights (UNGPs) and the ILO conventions
• Detailed experience of managing ethical audit programmes in a large organisation
• Experience of developing an ethical strategy in a complex business with global operations
• Experience on moving from a 3rd party audit approach to build internal capacity to conduct internal ethical assessments and reduce reliance on 3rd party
• Experience of developing or running capacity building programmes with suppliers
• Experienced at multi stakeholder approached including collaborating with NGOs and other industry bodies
• Experience of leading or contributing to mandatory reporting on ethical matters for example the annual MSA statement
• Knowledge of end to end manufacturing from raw materials, through product, packaging, storage and distribution
• Knowledge of supplier processes and ability to understand lean manufacturing principles
• Knowledge of HACCP and product safety management systems

Far more than a retailer, Pets at Home Group is the UK’s leading pet care specialist, fulfilling every possible pet and owner need, from food and accessories to grooming and vet services. Since 1991, we’ve been building a business around pets and their owners and we’ve set our sights on becoming the best pet care business in the world. Join us now and you can be part of that journey, developing your future as we develop ours. This is a place where you can take pride and passion in your work within an inspiring, professional team that’s focused on supporting pets and their owners to live happier lives together.

We’re driven by the wellbeing of pets and we make sure we look after our people too. We depend on your commitment and innovation, and reward it with competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. Together we’ll create the future of pet care.