Director, Environmental Policy & Strategy

About the Role & Team

The Director will support the VP of Environmental and ESG Strategy in the development of company-wide environmental or ESG policies and targets. This requires a core understanding of the company’s business priorities and values in environmental sustainability and ESG, and proactive collaboration with business unit environmental specialists and other subject matter experts to identify and evaluate sustainability strategies for the company.

The Director will also support the VP of Environmental and ESG Strategy in developing a business response to the wide ranging environmental and reporting policies emerging globally. This includes translating those policies for various parts of the business so they can understand what policy changes are coming and assisting impacted business units with developing strategies in response to emerging policies and policy trends.

This role will require strategic thinking and strategy development skills, excellent communication skills, and excellent ability to collaborate across multiple parts of the company.  Additionally, this person will be responsible for developing company-wide sustainability goals and targets and help the company prepare for emerging environmental regulations and stakeholder expectations.

What You Will Do

Business policy development:

• Collaborate with the VP of Environmental and ESG Strategy and business teams to develop business strategies and programs that help the business respond to key emerging policies, expectations and regulations – this could include pre-compliance regimes, business education efforts, new internal policies, etc.
• Proactively identify business and risk mitigation strategies to assist Disney businesses in effectively managing changes in environmental and reporting policies
• Proactively identify opportunities, driven by business strategies, to advance policy goals
• Develop analyses, collect and analyze benchmarks, and conduct interviews to understand and the impact of policy on Disney’s business
• Closely collaborate and partner with internal business stakeholders to design effective internal responses to external policy pressures

Environmental goal strategy development:

• Lead environmental goal development with multiple teams and departments across the business
• Requires extensive project management skills, including the ability to collaborate with multiple internal stakeholders and SMEs to establish timelines and manage projects to meet key milestones
• Proactively collect and organize input from multiple departments, and think strategically and with a solution-oriented approach to problem solve and provide alternatives when facing barriers
• Develop materials for internal audiences, including C-suite leadership, to effectively communicate implementation options, recommendations and supporting rationales
• Work in partnership with finance to build financial models that estimate environmental effort costs and savings

Analyzing emerging issues:

• Tap a high‐caliber network of internal and external experts to help Disney stay current on emerging issues and trends
• Track and understand emerging environmental and ESG reporting issues that may impact Disney’s mid- and long-term business plans
• Analyze potential business implications of emerging legislation, standards, and guidance
• Prepare materials to synthesize key policy trends and business implications

Policy advocacy and stakeholder engagement:

• Represent the company in industry and multi-stakeholder coalitions, working groups, and membership organizations, particularly EU / member state trade organizations with sustainability, ESG or environmental working groups
• Identify opportunities where Disney can meaningfully contribute to the environmental and ESG policy dialogue
• Collaborate with government relations partners to shape legislation, influence dialogue, and establish and maintain strong relationships

Required Qualifications & Skills

7 or more years of progressive experience including in environmental related fields in government, corporate or professional services settings required.

Management consulting experience or other exemplary project management experience required.

• Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including C-suite leadership
• Produces strategic & effective communications that simply convey complicated issues and messages to stakeholders and leadership within the Company
• Self-starter who can proactively identify business and policy needs, and pursue them
• Excellent execution of written and oral communications
• Support strategy and policy development that:
  • Supports strategic use of TWDC resources
  • Advances business priorities and consistently reflect the Company’s environmental goals
  • Protects and enhances brand value
  • Mitigates risks
  • Differentiates TWDC within its multinational peer group
  • Leverages external partnerships to overcome shared challenges

• Able to navigate fast-paced, multicultural, multi-stakeholder contexts
• Forward-looking; able to recognize policy trends quickly and develop effective strategies to influence them
• Possesses an understanding of key environmental and sustainably issues and regulatory frameworks globally
• Experience working with a range of stakeholders, for example NGOs, governments, international organizations, alliance partners and industry groups in the environmental area, and able to effectively represent the company in these arenas
• Proven examples of written content will be required to show in the interview process