Director, Sustainability & ESG Strategy

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) is one of the world’s leading designers, marketers, and licensors of footwear and apparel; It’s global footprint spans 170 countries and territories. The Company’s portfolio includes Merrell®, Saucony®, Sweaty Betty®, Hush Puppies®, Wolverine®, Chaco®, Bates®, HYTEST®, and Stride Rite®. The Company is also the global footwear licensee of brands Cat® and Harley-Davidson®.

Wolverine Worldwide is driven by a Vision to Make. Every Day. Better. for its consumers, partners, communities, and shareholders.

In 2025, the Company was recognized by Footwear News as Company of the Year, by Forbes as one of America’s Dream Employers, America’s Best Employers for Women, and America’s Best Employers for Company Culture, and by Inspiring Workplaces as one of the Most Inspiring Workplaces Globally.

Wolverine Worldwide is a Certified™ Great Place To Work®.

The Director of Sustainability & ESG Strategy is responsible for developing and driving the company’s enterprise wide sustainability and ESG strategy in a manner that enables growth, strengthens brands, and meets evolving consumer and stakeholder expectations.

This role serves as a strategic enabler—partnering with brand, product, sourcing, operations, finance, and legal teams to translate sustainability priorities into commercial opportunity, innovation, and long term enterprise value. While ESG reporting and regulatory compliance are critical responsibilities, they are executed in close partnership with the Legal and Finance teams and are not the sole focus of the role.

The Director balances strategic vision with execution discipline, ensuring the company’s sustainability agenda is credible, measurable, and growth oriented.

Primary Duties

Enterprise Strategy & Value Creation

• Develop and drive an enterprise‑wide sustainability and ESG strategy aligned with corporate objectives, brand strategies, and consumer expectations.
• Identify and advance sustainability initiatives that support revenue growth, brand differentiation, innovation, and market relevance.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on sustainability‑related risks, opportunities, and emerging trends.
  
  

Brand & Business Partnership

• Partner closely with brand and commercial teams to:
• Identify sustainability opportunities aligned with brand positioning and consumer demand
• Support marketing, product, materials, packaging, and sourcing initiatives that drive value and differentiation
• Translate sustainability goals into actionable, brand‑relevant roadmaps
• Act as a connector across brands to scale best practices and successful initiatives.
• Serve as a subject‑matter expert for internal and external ESG‑related inquiries.
  

Sustainability Targets & Performance

• Establish sustainability and ESG goals, targets, and KPIs in collaboration with cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Drive consistent methodologies for measurement, tracking, and performance management.
• Embed sustainability considerations into enterprise planning, risk management, and decision‑making.
  
  

Reporting, Disclosure & Regulatory Partnership

• Lead sustainability and climate reporting and disclosures for a public company environment, including sustainability reports and investor‑facing materials.
• Partner with the legal and finance teams on other sustainability-related regulatory compliance and governance matters.
• Lead company-wide effort to measure and report the company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• Ensure ESG data and disclosures are accurate, consistent, defensible, and audit‑ready.
• Lead implementation and execution of the company’s climate initiatives and manage other environmental risks and opportunities.
• Support engagement with ESG rating agencies, key stakeholders, and external sustainability assessments.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities Required

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in sustainability, business, law, public policy, or related field preferred.
• 7–10+ years of experience in sustainability, ESG, corporate strategy, or related roles.
• Experience in a public company and/or multi‑brand consumer business strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of climate and sustainability frameworks, standards and reporting requirements, including TCFD, GHG Protocol, CDP, GRI, SASB, EU Ecodesign, EPR, Cascale and the Higg Index.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute enterprise‑level strategies that balance growth, risk, and stakeholder expectations.
• Passion for sustainability, process improvement and project management.
• Excellent verbal, writing, editing, data visualization and PowerPoint skills.
• Strong communicator with executive presence and ability to influence others.
• Comfortable operating at the intersection of brands, legal, finance and operations.
  
  

Working Conditions

Normal office environment. Some travel may be required.

Wolverine Worldwide has a flexible, hybrid work schedule, with three days in office and two days remote.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills which may be required.

Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. is committed to creating a company that is as diverse as our consumers. We value the differences in one another and believe our differences make us stronger. Our diverse and inclusive corporate culture starts with the recruitment process. We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer. We aim to create equal opportunities for our associates, customers, and suppliers regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected characteristic.