The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people – our customers, co-workers, and suppliers. To be able to work close to our Supply Partners all over the world, 7 Purchasing & Logistics Areas (PLA) within a total of 24 PLA offices are established. 

Purchasing and Logistics Area South is one of the total seven Purchasing Operations Areas within IKEA, and our co-workers are based in Istanbul, Bucharest, Milano, and Karachi.

We are currently looking for a Sustainability Specialist (Human Rights) in Sustainability Compliance Team based in Istanbul, reporting to Sustainability Compliance Manager in PLA South.

About the job

Being the Sustainability Specialist, you will support business teams and will work closely with others on a daily basis. You will secure that all IKEA requirements related to sustainability & human rights are met by IKEA business partners in Purchasing & Logistics Area South (PLAS). This will be done by performing IWAY (IKEA Supplier Code of Conduct) and other sustainability compliance verifications, implementation, and support activities in accordance with all relevant working methods.

Purpose of job

• The purpose of the Sustainability Specialist in the Purchasing Operations Area South is to support the business in implementing and verifying sustainability and human rights related requirements
• Support on building awareness and understanding of business responsibility to respect human rights internally and externally with business partners
• As a subject-matter expert, be an internal spokesperson for human rights topics
• A competence reference for knowledge on the local legislative landscape on human rights related areas
• Support the integration of human rights due diligence into PLA ways of working and processes
• Support PLA to deliver on local human rights priorities and social impact initiatives
• Support on local external stakeholder engagement on human rights related topics, e.g. with local government or NGO engagement
• Support local communications teams on human rights and social impact related needs
• Collect and deliver local PLA insights into global human rights matrix
• Support with human rights due diligence reporting (information gathering)
• Support with social impact and community initiatives
• Plan and perform IWAY verification, implementation and support activities, in accordance with IWAY Working Methods and all other relevant mandatory documents at IKEA business partners
• Responsible to gather and analyse information and facts to draw conclusions about compliance/noncompliance, using auditing methods including in-depth interviews with individual and/or group interviews with different parties at the supplier.  Secure timely and accurate verification information in the planning and reporting tools
• Together with the business teams work to set priorities and goals for the Category and specific suppliers to execute sustainability actions/priorities
• Responsible to secure the collection, verification, aggregation and reporting of sustainability, human rights  data and provide relevant analysis to support business decisions for the development of the specific suppliers
• Facilitate sustainability and human rights related trainings for business teams and suppliers
• Act as an ambassador of IKEA values

Your knowledge, skills and experience include:

• Human rights law degree or similar is preferred
• Relevant work experience such as experience working with business & human rights or corporate social responsibility – implementation
• Experience working with stakeholders such as civil society, NGOs, business partners and governments
• Able to lead on global projects and drive change, stakeholder engagement.
• Good knowledge and understanding of sustainability related global and local trends and their impacts on the total business
• Good understanding of different industrial setups, market specific conditions and macro-economic conditions
• Knowledge and experience with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights & OECD guidelines
• Good understanding of IWAY, IKEA Code of Conduct and good verification skills, ability to conduct verification activities
• Good knowledge of Project management tools and methodology
• Have an interest in people’s life at home; energy, drive, and commitment to deliver a better product for the many people
• Fluently speaking English and Turkish; with fluency in French as an added preference
• Are honest with high integrity
• Are highly willing to travel
• Strong analytical skills
• An active driver with a valid driving license

Please submit your application in English as soon as possible however not later than 9th of September 2022.

If you want to be part of creating a better everyday life to the many customers and do it with a great team, this could be the right challenge for you. We are looking forward to getting to know you soon!

Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate.