Undergraduate Food Sustainability Policy Coordinator
Co-op · Manchester, England (hybrid)
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Why this role matters
How close this job is to real sourcing and menu decisions.
This is an entry point, not a seat of power, but it sits inside the Food Sustainability team of the UK's largest convenience retailer, working directly on Co-op's Future of Food commitments and ethical sourcing across Own Brand food and drink. You won't set supplier standards or sign off specifications in this placement, but you will sit close to the people who do, see how decarbonisation objectives and ethical sourcing commitments actually get tracked and reported, and build the stakeholder-management and supply-chain literacy that the people who write those standards started with. For someone serious about a long game in food retail, a year inside this team, watching how commitments translate (or don't) into supplier action, is exactly the kind of credibility-building step that makes the next role, closer to the actual buying and specification decisions, reachable. Those decisions shape what suppliers are held to on climate, nature, sourcing standards and the resilience of the supply chain itself.
Where this role can take you
What this job teaches you, and the jobs it can lead to.
What you'd build
- Supplier and stakeholder relationship-building
- Sustainability project co-ordination
- Data analysis and insight reporting
- Ethical sourcing and supply chain literacy
- Sustainability communications and campaign support
Where it can lead
- Responsible Sourcing Coordinator
- Sustainability Analyst
- Ethical Trade Officer
Roles like these begin to hold real pieces of supplier standards and ethical trade programmes, shaping what suppliers are actually required to demonstrate on sourcing and welfare.
About the role
Co-op is recruiting an Undergraduate Food Sustainability Policy Co-ordinator for a 12-month work placement based in Manchester city centre, starting June 2027, working in a hybrid pattern between home, office and occasional supplier site visits across the UK. The role sits within Co-op's Food Sustainability team and supports activities that help deliver the company's Future of Food commitments across its Own Brand food and drink supply chains. Responsibilities include co-ordinating projects focused on improving transparency across Co-op's supply chains, maintaining project plans, actions and milestones, and building relationships with colleagues, suppliers and partners to develop stakeholder management and influencing skills. The postholder will support the wider Food Sustainability team with project co-ordination, data analysis, reporting and turning information into insights, and will support sustainability communications, colleague engagement and internal campaigns such as World Water Day and Fairtrade Fortnight, including copywriting and content creation. The role also involves working with suppliers to support Co-op's wider ethical sourcing, sustainability and climate commitments, including decarbonisation objectives, researching emerging sustainability, ethical sourcing and food policy topics, and preparing presentations, reports and recommendations to support meetings and working groups. Candidates should have completed their second year of an undergraduate degree in International Development, Sustainability, Geography, Human Rights and Social Ethics, Climate and the Environment, or a related subject, along with a good understanding of current challenges in global food supply chains, good communication and relationship-building skills, a genuine interest in ethics and sustainability, and good analytical and problem-solving skills with working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications including Excel and PowerPoint. The role pays £25,430 (Work Level 6C) plus benefits including an annual bonus, 28 days holiday rising to 32 with service plus bank holidays, a pension with up to 10% employer contributions, a subsidised onsite gym at the Manchester HQ, coaching and training, the Stream app for early pay access, and Grocery Aid support services. Applicants will need to complete an online assessment of around 20 minutes as part of the process, and Co-op notes it may close applications early.
We added this one ourselves, from the employer's own advert.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer is asking for, in their words. Applications are often screened by software looking for exact phrases, so if these describe your experience, use their wording.
- ethical sourcing
- food sustainability
- supply chain transparency
- stakeholder management
- supplier engagement
- project co-ordination
- data analysis
- sustainability reporting
- decarbonisation
- sustainability communications
- content creation
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- food policy research
- problem-solving skills
How to position yourself
The language that works with hiring managers for this kind of job.
Frame your interest around supply chain transparency, decarbonisation and ethical sourcing commitments, the language Co-op itself uses for this role, rather than general environmentalism. Emphasise any coursework or project experience involving data analysis, stakeholder engagement or sustainability reporting, and be ready to speak to current challenges in global food supply chains, which the advert explicitly asks for.
You apply directly with the employer. We just link you to their advert, and we don't see anything you send them.