CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Thank you for your interest in the role of Chief Executive at the Sustainable Restaurant Association. It is an important and exciting time for the organisation and the Board are looking forward to working with a new leader to bring our vision to life.
to the whole market – we need to be relevant to every food service business in this country and beyond. To achieve that we need to bring the diners with us too.
Organisations evolve: making it through the first year; establishing themselves and finding their place; becoming the go-to market leader etc. The SRA is at an exciting point in its evolution and is ready to take its next step. We have found our place and we know the impact we can have, but we need to take our vision beyond those organisations that are already with us emotionally
The next leader of the SRA needs to harness their, and the Board’s, passion for a more successful, more sustainable food service sector: leading the way in delivering delicious, well sourced food through responsible management outlets, and by supporting the customers, staff and community around them.
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This will be a challenging assignment. Passions run high in prioritising social and environmental issues affecting the restaurant sector; tensions exist in challenging businesses to think beyond today, and to see the long term benefits of being a more sustainable operation. Managing a not for profit business is never easy – we need a mix of funding to survive – and we need to maintain our entrepreneurialism, our belief in our approach, our ability to collaborate and unite with others and with Government to bring about change, leading the sector in the right direction. However the world is moving towards us; diners want to know more, and increasingly we can prove that those that do care, succeed.
Our President Raymond Blanc and the rest of the Board are fully committed to supporting the new Chief Executive to achieve our vision of delivering real sustainable change through the food service sector here and abroad. I hope this pack helps you see the opportunity here, and that your unique talents fit the challenges we face in the coming years. I look forward to meeting you. Yours sincerely Giles Gibbons
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OUR 14 KEY FOCUS AREAS ABOUT US The Sustainable Restaurant Association works with restaurants, suppliers and the public to promote and raise awareness of best practice in sustainability. We offer a combination of membership, certification and advisory services and work directly with a range of businesses to tackle the many sustainability issues that any modern food service operation faces. Much of our work is based around our widely respected sustainability framework, created to simplify the complexity of sustainability for the industry and built on the three pillars of Sourcing, Society and Environment.
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ABOUT US Our membership and supplier programmes ensure that businesses are demonstrating their commitment to sustainability. Alongside our accreditation and sustainability rating and to further support the industry, we provide training and consultancy services and have a wealth of experience working with small and large foodservice and hospitality businesses.
SOME OF OUR MEMBERS
Our knowledge across the industry can help a foodservice to tackle specific obstacles that currently stand in the way of operating their business sustainably. Well trained staff can lead to greater innovation and efficiency, and are an essential component of any hospitality business looking to operate more responsibly.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
We expect the 2016 winners to be just as diverse as in previous years, representing a smorgasbord of talent from across the hospitality industry. Past winners include: River Cottage, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Geronimo Inns, The Savoy, Wahaca and Feng Sushi. The 2016 awards will be by far the biggest and best yet and many of the UK’s top chefs, restaurateurs, suppliers and journalists will come together to honour those that have excelled as they receive their awards from SRA President Raymond Blanc OBE, on March 22. As part of the Food Made Good Awards, we also encourage the public to nominate their favourite restaurant for the People’s Favourite Award.
Food Made Good: Participating in the Food Made Good programme is about more than getting a business Star Rated. We provide businesses with the bigger picture of their foodservice operation, so that they can make strategic improvements to their all round sustainability with the support of one of our Account Managers. The Food Made Good Sustainability Rating is a 3 star rating that shows customers that businesses are passionate about serving great quality food in a way that isn’t costing the earth. The rating is based on a holistic assessment of the business, covering the 14 key-areas that consider a businesses’ society, sourcing and environmental practices.
Food Made Good Awards:
Supplier Programme and Directory:
Now in their fifth year, our Sustainable Restaurant Awards - newly dubbed the Food Made Good Awards - continue to celebrate everything exciting about British restaurateurs, chefs and suppliers doing the extraordinary to make food good – delicious, ethical, sustainable. Past winners make up a diverse cross section of the British and international food-service industry. With winners hailing from the south coast of England to the northern tip of Scotland and beyond, our Members’ passion for good food that doesn’t cost the earth is widespread, and ever growing.
Our approved suppliers undergo a rigorous audit assessment. Being an approved supplier demonstrates a business’s sustainable credentials and allows it to carry our logo, recognised industrywide. We also provide a listing in our Supplier Directory where we promote them to our 5,500+ member sites that include restaurants, cafés, pubs, hotels, universities, cookery schools, airlines and contract caterers, all of whom are looking for suppliers who match their values. This programme reassures our members, knowing they will only be recommended with the very best suppliers already vetted and rated by our in-house experts.
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THE NEXT FIVE YEARS... ABOUT US Progress and growth over the last 5 years has been excellent and The SRA is now established as a credible and progressive player in the industry.
The board’s ambition for the next 5 years is to build on this credibility, to extend our reach both in the UK and globally and to ensure we are having a powerful, measurable impact on all dining outside the home. By 2020 we aim to be working with 15,000 member sites, to have established a presence in 10 other countries, to be recognised as a campaigning brand and to be making a quantifiable and significant difference to the sector. Food will continue to be a touch point for sustainability issues in the coming years, with the power to ignite consumer passions in a way that is both exciting and challenging. The SRA is perfectly positioned to be an authoritative voice and sustainability thought leader in the sector. By guiding businesses towards more responsible choices and promoting their efforts to customers we can play a leading role in achieving healthier food for all, reducing waste, improving animal welfare, decreasing resource consumption and delivering real and lasting social impact.
Our Background: The Sustainable Restaurant Association was founded in 2010 as a not-for-profit organisation by Giles Gibbons, Simon Heppner, and two restaurant owners, Henry Dimbleby MBE (Co-Founder of Leon, Co-Author of the School Food Plan and Founder of StreetFeast) and Mark Sainsbury (Founder of Moro, The Zetter Group & Grainstore). For a full timeline on our developments, successes and awards please click here.
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OUR GOVERNANCE President
Non Exec Directors (
)
Vice President (not yet announced)
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ORGANISATION CHART CEO
Marketing & Coms
Sales & Marketing
PR & Coms
Sales exec
Awards
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Training
Admin
Ops
Ops
Ops
Ops
Ops
Ops
Ops
Ops
Projects
OUR FINANCES As a membership organisation on a rolling membership year, the SRA has a turnover of circa ÂŁ825,000. Of this, our income is derived from different streams including 55% from membership; 27% from contracts and commercial work and 18% from trusts and project grant funding. Our expenditure is broken down into 57% for salaries, 32% to other operating costs and 11% to sales and marketing costs.
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JOB DESCRIPTION PROFILE Job Title: Chief Executive
Reporting to: Chair of the Board
Responsible for: All activities of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, through the senior management team
Location: London, with some travel
Salary: Circa £70,000
Purpose: Provide clear and mission driven strategic leadership to drive the Sustainable Restaurant Association forward. Position the organisation as a strong voice in foodservice sustainability and increase our reach and influence.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Leadership and Strategy • Provide strong and focused leadership to the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) • Implement, review and, where necessary, further refine SRA’s long-term vision, strategy, goals and objectives and ensure they are imbedded throughout the organisation • Be an inspirational leader, ensuring collaboration, accountability and high levels of performance throughout the organisation • Develop and deliver key performance indicators for SRA, ensuring the organisation delivers on agreed strategic goals, the annual plan and budgets • Motivate, develop and support the Senior Management Team, ensuring ongoing performance monitoring and analysis • Ensure that we know the impact of our work and can articulate it and learn from it
External Relations • Cultivate strong ongoing relationships with SRA’s partners, funders and other stakeholders • Ensure clear messaging to our members and external audiences • Develop and deliver a strategy for Food Made Good’s consumer engagement • Oversee SRA’s external profile, building our brand and recognising and creating opportunities for engagement and building influence in the industry and with consumers • Review press releases, write blogs, cultivate an active social media profile and represent SRA in interviews with the media, building a reputation for thought leadership • Represent SRA at conferences, trade shows and seminars and chair and present events • Represent SRA at groups/committees such as the London Food Board
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JOB DESCRIPTION Funding and New Business • Ensure SRA has sustainable sources of sales and grant income to fulfil its objectives, and minimise risk • Ensure that relationships are maintained and strengthened with donors, including regular communication, engagement and timely and effective reporting • Support the sales team to ensure opportunities are maximised and leads are converted; proactively seek new partners and funders • Seek and develop new commercial opportunities for the organisation • Create strategic links with other relevant networks and organisations to strengthen SRA’s work and reach in the UK and internationally • Ensure continued strong and positive relationships with our members and support the expansion of our membership base • Support staff in business development and prepare proposals
Finance, Operational Management and HR • Be responsible to the Board for the financial health and performance of SRA, ensuring open communication in a timely manner • Ensure that budgets are prepared and approved by the Board, and expenditure is controlled • Ensure effective management of the SRA team and resources to deliver our strategy through the annual business plan and budget • Lead the Senior Management Team in ensuring that all aspects of human resources, finances and operations are to a high standard and in line with best practice • Ensure the Senior Management Team manage and develop their team members effectively, enabling all staff to fulfil their potential • Ensure continuous quality improvement and effective learning culture across all our work
Governance
High Value Project Oversight
• Develop a strong, productive and transparent working relationship with the Chair, Board and President
• Maintain ongoing review of core products and services
• Meet all statutory and regulatory requirements and promote good governance
• Direct delivery and account management of high value projects • Provide oversight and input into high profile activities including the annual awards
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PERSON SPECIFICATION Experience
Knowledge and Skills
• Senior leadership experience in a commercial or beyond profit organisation in the hospitality, food services or sustainability industry
• Strategic and inspirational leadership abilities, demonstrates sound judgement and diplomacy
• Experience in campaigning/successful communications to raise an organisation’s profile with a variety of audiences • Experience of navigating and influencing a range of stakeholder relationships • Proven track record in successful people management and organisational development • Strong commercial acumen and financial management experience including monitoring organisational performance through business analysis and planning • Proven track record in business development, income generation and partnership building • An understanding of good governance and working successfully with a Board
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• Outstanding presentation and communication skills • Excellent networking and interpersonal skills • Ability to inspire and influence • Effective project management and organisational skills • Ability to work collaboratively across all sectors at all levels with a wide range of people • Resilience, and a robust approach • Knowledge and understanding of the restaurant industry
Other • Willingness and ability to travel on occasion
HOW TO APPLY To apply for this position, please upload a comprehensive CV and a supporting statement of no more than two pages of A4 on our website. Please ensure that your application fully addresses the appointment criteria in the person specification. You should give the names, positions, organisations and telephone contact numbers of two referees, one of whom should be your current/most recent employer. References will only be taken once your express permission has been granted. We ask that you complete the equal opportunities information online when you submit your application via our website. The information collected will be treated as confidential, used for statistical purposes only, and will not be treated as part of your application. We would also be grateful if you could let us know if you will require any special provision as a result of any disability should you be called for interview. Finally, please ensure that you have included mobile, work and home telephone numbers, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the indicative timetable. Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at: https://prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details hq00163629
TIMETABLE Closing date: 9th March Initial interviews with Prospectus: 14-23 March Panel interviews: 5th April This dates may be subject to change and applicants will be advised in advance should this happen.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS Should you decide to make a formal application, you will receive outcome within seven working days of the closing date. Shortlisted candidates may be required to undertake an additional assessment prior to the final interview.
QUERIES
If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information or would like to have an informal discussion, please contact Ami Jenick or Stella Pedersen on 020 7691 1920 or via email at: ami.jenick@prospect-us.co.uk stella.pedersen@prospect-us.co.uk
Applications can also be posted to: Sarah Hill Prospectus, 20-22 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LR
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PLEASE CONTACT Prospectus Ltd 020 7691 1925 www.prospect-us.co.uk Created by the Prospectus Advertising & Design team