Social Sustainability & Human Rights IP Review

I support my manager in the Livelihoods team to meet our targets of helping 2.5 million SMEs in our retail value chain grow their business and 250,000 smallholder farmers in our supply chain access livelihood programmes. This involves supporting on partnerships, advocacy and global strategy to ensure we meet these goals by 2026.
I also support the Human Rights team to tackle our salient issues such as forced labour, bullying & harassment and fair wages. This has involved updating our strategy for each issue and how we identify and action each problem within our supply chain.

I have supported on many high importance tasks such as speaker notes for major international events such as the World Economic Forum and the UN General Assembly on behalf of the head of my team. So I have had a lot of responsibility, not necessarily personally externally facing but behind the scenes.

I have learnt lots of corporate skills such as communication, verbal and non-verbal, writing skills, public speaking and presentation skills, teamwork, relationship building, planning, executing and overseeing projects, and the ability to analyse and think critically.
I have also developed skills that I have also developed at university, such as prioritising tasks, managing deadlines and maximising productivity.
Specifically, within my team in the Sustainability function, I have learnt green skills such as understanding and implementing practices to create social and sustainable impact, track and analyse sustainability metrics, Human Rights Due Diligence, legal compliance, advocacy and risk management.

A lot. I had 1 to 1s with both my line managers each week who were very engaged with my professional and personal wellbeing and development. I was always encouraged to ask questions and ask for guidance when necessary.

A fairly informal and chill culture with lots of opportunities to network and meet people. You have a lot of freedom and time for yourself.

I have enjoyed my placement. I have made a lot of friends and strong professional relationships and learnt many valuable skills. I am glad I chose to undertake a placement as I now have more of a wider picture of what I like / dislike about the working world and have lots to speak to in future interviews.

Yes