Director of Sustainability

Director of Sustainability

The Director of Sustainability leads Land O’Lakes’ enterprise sustainability strategy, partnering with business units, corporate functions, and experts across the enterprise to address evolving customer requirements, regulatory obligations, emerging risks, and natural resource and supply chain resilience opportunities.

The role also oversees complex, multi-state sustainability regulatory reporting, compliance, and internal governance, convening stakeholders to ensure accuracy. The Director represents LOL in industry and national sustainability forums to stay current on best practices, and collaborates with internal and external partners on measurement, verification, and standard reporting practices.

Located at Land O’Lakes headquarters in Arden Hills, MN (in office Tuesday–Thursday each week)

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Strategy & Governance

• Define the enterprise sustainability strategy, goals, and roadmap to support business growth and align with industry trends.

• Define and refine internal governance; convene groups for education, collaboration, and action planning.

• Brief executive leadership with clear options, quantified impacts, and recommendations.

Regulatory Compliance, Risk, and Disclosure

• Lead state-by-state sustainability compliance; quantify enterprise cost exposure and ensure reporting methodology and data.

• Govern public goals, progress statements, and disclosures with business unit, supply chain, legal, and communications teams.

Carbon Accounting, Measurement, and Verified Reporting

• Advance carbon-accounting capability: system-based emissions accounting, custom LOL emission factors, and product carbon footprint and intervention models.

• Audit carbon-accounting processes and controls; strengthen the annual emissions verification cycle.

• Monitor, interpret, and participate in evolving standards; advise leadership on cost, feasibility, and timing.

• Partner with supply chain to integrate business efforts and sustainability goals.

• Own enterprise metrics and progress reporting.

Customer and Member Value, Industry Leadership, and Supervision

• Help business units meet customer sustainability requirements, including improved metrics and industry partnership commitments.

• Build customer-facing quantification tools and opportunity analyses with third-party partners; support business unit growth.

• Represent Land O'Lakes in industry groups, peer networks, and technical working groups to benchmark and shape practical carbon-accounting methods.

• Direct and coach the Senior Sustainability Manager accountable for EPR, regulatory reporting, and packaging goal measurement; secure needed analytics and technical resources.

Required Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

• Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, environmental, engineering, or a scientific discipline required; advanced degree preferred.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in sustainability, regulatory compliance, or a related enterprise function, including leading enterprise-wide initiatives in a matrixed organization.

• Proven ability to lead strategic initiatives across an enterprise.

• Agricultural industry experience highly desired.

• Working knowledge of carbon accounting and environmental reporting standards (GHG Protocol, SBTi and FLAG, LCA methodology, third-party verification and assurance) and environmental regulation.

• Ability to translate technical, regulatory, and data-heavy topics into clear executive recommendations, quantified tradeoffs, and defensible external statements.

• Proven influence without authority across business units, Legal, Finance, Government Relations, Supply Chain, Communications, and Data & Analytics; credible representation with customers, industry bodies, and members.

• Strong governance, facilitation, and program leadership skills, with experience building capability and coaching senior individual contributors.

$163,520-$245,280.  In most cases, candidates offered employment can expect to be hired at a pay rate near the middle of our salary ranges. 

About Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Join us and be part of a Fortune 500 company, farmer- and member-owned cooperative that is reimagining the business of food. We have been named #17 on Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators 2026 list and recognized as a winner in the Skilled Laborers category, as well as a Top Workplace by Indeed and LinkedIn, and included on the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

We provide a broad portfolio of benefits to keep you and your family at your best. Land O'Lakes is Where Your Future Takes Root.

Land O’Lakes and our global entities support diversity in employment practices.

Neither Land O’Lakes, nor its affiliates or search firms, will ever contact you and ask for confidential information over the phone or in email. If you receive a call or email like this, please do not provide the information being requested.    

If you need to submit a reasonable accommodation request to complete the employment application process, please call the HR Solution Center at 844-LOL-HR4U (844-565-4748) M-F 8:00am-4:30pm CT.