Principal Consultant (Maternity Cover) - Agri-Food (Dairy Operational Lead)

Location: UK (Hybrid)
Contract: 12-Month Fixed-Term Contract

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced dairy sector professional to join Anthesis as a Principal Consultant (Dairy Operational Lead) within our Agrifood team.

This role sits within the Circularity & Value Chain Transformation (C&VCT) business line and offers the opportunity to lead the day-to-day delivery of one of the world's largest farm-level sustainability data programmes. Working with a major global food industry client, you will coordinate programme delivery across more than 20 countries, supporting thousands of farm assessments annually.

The successful candidate will combine deep dairy sector knowledge with strong programme management and stakeholder engagement skills, ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality, credible sustainability data across a complex global network of teams and partners.

• Lead the operational delivery of a global dairy sustainability programme across multiple countries and markets.
• Coordinate and support a network of regional programme managers and delivery partners.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with client stakeholders, delivery teams and external partners.
• Influence and engage senior stakeholders to drive programme success and continuous improvement.
• Oversee quality management, governance processes and programme reporting requirements.
• Support annual programme planning, farm sampling activities and delivery milestones.
• Lead training and capability-building initiatives for programme partners and client teams.
• Review programme data and work closely with technical teams to ensure data quality, consistency and accuracy.
• Monitor programme risks, identify issues and implement corrective actions where required.
• Support internal and external verification activities by providing evidence and programme documentation.
• Participate in quality assurance activities, including occasional field visits, audits and partner calibration exercises.

Essential

• Strong dairy industry experience.
• Degree in Agriculture or a related discipline.
• Experience managing dairy, agricultural sustainability, certification, assurance, audit or farm data collection programmes.
• Strong understanding of dairy production systems and on-farm assessment methodologies.
• Proven ability to manage and influence senior stakeholders.
• Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience coordinating complex multi-stakeholder projects across multiple geographies.
• Strong programme and project management capabilities.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Ability to work effectively within global, multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.

Desirable

• Knowledge of sustainability frameworks relevant to the dairy sector, including climate footprinting, regenerative agriculture and animal welfare.
• Experience developing and delivering training programmes.
• Experience working with quality management systems (QMS), governance frameworks and risk management processes.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience working with digital data collection platforms and reporting tools.
• Experience reviewing and analysing large datasets.
• Willingness to travel occasionally within the UK and internationally.