Director of Sustainability

Ōura•San Francisco, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Oura is seeking a Director of Sustainability to lead the company's enterprise sustainability strategy and build the necessary systems. This is a new, dedicated sustainability leadership role within the Supply Chain department, chosen due to the significant impact of materials, suppliers, manufacturing, logistics, packaging, returns, recycling, and product end-of-life on sustainability decisions. The role has company-wide responsibility, collaborating with various departments including Manufacturing, Sourcing, Logistics, Quality, Finance, Legal, Marketing, and Customer Experience to implement the strategy. The Director will define Oura's sustainability perspective, influence product roadmaps, design choices, materials, manufacturing, and supplier strategies in partnership with Product, Industrial Design, Hardware Engineering, and Supply Chain technical leaders. Key responsibilities include setting a practical roadmap, defining progress metrics across environmental sustainability, responsible sourcing, product lifecycle impact, regulatory readiness, and social/governance topics. The ideal candidate will be adept at setting direction, managing details, and building cross-functional relationships, capable of making informed decisions with incomplete information and clearly articulating trade-offs. This is a hybrid role based in San Francisco, requiring 2-3 days per week in the office.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in sustainability, responsible supply chain, product sustainability, environmental strategy, manufacturing, operations, or a related field.
Significant experience working with hardware, consumer electronics, wearables, or another product-based business.
Experience defining and executing an enterprise sustainability strategy with product and technical teams.
Experience building a new function, operating model, or cross-functional program.
A strong understanding of product lifecycle impact, manufacturing, contract manufacturing, sourcing, logistics, materials, packaging, reverse logistics, and end of life.
Experience with carbon accounting, emissions reduction, lifecycle assessment, supplier sustainability, environmental and social due diligence, and sustainability reporting.
Working knowledge of frameworks and regulations such as the GHG Protocol, EPR, WEEE, RoHS, REACH, UFLPA, ISO 14001, SA8000, EcoVadis, Dodd-Frank, CDP, GRI, or SASB.
The ability to evaluate tradeoffs across cost, quality, schedule, resilience, customer experience, brand, and environmental impact.
Strong executive communication skills and the ability to turn complex topics into clear recommendations.
Experience working directly with Product, Industrial Design, Hardware Engineering, Supply Chain technical teams, and other functions across geographies.
Experience hiring, developing, or leading people and building capability through external partners.
Experience working with suppliers, customers, retailers, industry groups, NGOs, or regulators.
A practical and evidence-based approach to sustainability.
Willingness to travel internationally up to 25–30% as needed.

Nice To Haves

Experience shaping product strategy and adding sustainability requirements to product development, design reviews, sourcing events, supplier contracts, or manufacturing readiness reviews.
Experience with repairability, circularity, e-waste, recycled materials, packaging, freight emissions, or renewable energy in manufacturing.
Experience responding to retailer, customer, investor, or regulatory sustainability requests.
Experience building sustainability data models, dashboards, or reporting controls.
Graduate degree in sustainability, environmental science, engineering, supply chain, public policy, business, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Set Oura’s enterprise sustainability strategy, including principles and a multi-year roadmap, with input from technical leaders.
Establish prioritization criteria for sustainability initiatives based on impact, relevance, regulatory exposure, business value, feasibility, and supplier leverage.
Recommend investment areas and provide clear reasoning to senior leadership.
Track changes in regulations, customer expectations, supplier capabilities, and industry practices.
Set targets, measures, decision forums, and investment requirements for sustainability.
Build the operating model for sustainability, integrating it into product requirements, design reviews, sourcing, supplier selection, manufacturing, logistics, packaging, returns, and end-of-life planning.
Define ownership for sustainability-related functions and create a scorecard and review cadence for stakeholders.
Develop a team and capability plan for the sustainability function, including standards, templates, and training.
Reduce product and supply-chain impact by establishing a baseline footprint (including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions) and identifying opportunities for reduction in emissions, waste, and resource use.
Partner with technical teams on material choices, durability, repairability, recyclability, and lifecycle impact.
Collaborate with Manufacturing and contract manufacturers on energy use, renewable energy, waste, and environmental performance.
Work with Logistics to address freight emissions, service levels, and landed cost.
Set a clear policy for the use of carbon credits or offsets.
Own the supplier sustainability and corporate responsibility program, setting expectations, onboarding requirements, scorecards, and corrective action plans.
Utilize standards like EcoVadis, SA8000, ISO 14001, Dodd-Frank to improve supplier performance and manage risk.
Build a supplier partnership program including training, data sharing, and remediation.
Lead supplier assessments covering environmental performance, labor and human rights, ethical sourcing, and responsible minerals.
Integrate sustainability performance into category strategy, supplier selection, contracts, and business reviews.
Manage measurement, compliance, and reporting for sustainability, including data and controls.
Ensure compliance with regulations such as EPR, WEEE, RoHS, REACH, UFLPA, and CSRD-related requests.
Review sustainability claims, supplier requirements, customer responses, and external disclosures for accuracy.
Prepare sustainability updates for employees, customers, retailers, senior leadership, and the Board.
Report progress, gaps, tradeoffs, and areas for capability building.
Serve as Oura’s enterprise sustainability leader and senior internal advisor.
Set the sustainability agenda for senior leadership and guide decision-making.
Represent Oura with external stakeholders including suppliers, customers, industry groups, NGOs, and regulators.
Build relationships with experts and peer companies to stay current on sustainability approaches.
Communicate Oura’s sustainability priorities and progress clearly and with evidence.