Director, Sustainability Strategy & Governance

This is where your work makes a difference.

At Baxter, we believe every person—regardless of who they are or where they are from—deserves a chance to live a healthy life. It was our founding belief in 1931 and continues to be our guiding principle. We are redefining healthcare delivery to make a greater impact today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Our Baxter colleagues are united by our Mission to Save and Sustain Lives. Together, our community is driven by a culture of courage, trust, and collaboration. Every individual is empowered to take ownership and make a meaningful impact. We strive for efficient and effective operations, and we hold each other accountable for delivering exceptional results.

Here, you will find more than just a job—you will find purpose and pride. 

Position Summary

The Director of Sustainability Strategy & Governance provides enterprise-wide leadership to advance Baxter’s sustainability strategy through robust governance, policy development, and program execution. This role manages the governance structure, ensuring seamless coordination between Sustainability Councils and real-time scorecards to track progress against KPIs and milestones. The Director drives the creation and updates of cross-cutting sustainability policies—including Climate, Plastics, and Circular Economy—while leading the EcoDesign program across commercial, operational, and customer-facing areas to embed sustainability into product and process innovation.

Additionally, the Director of Sustainability Strategy & Governance curates customer and internal case studies for external release, elevating Baxter’s brand identity and demonstrating value creation through sustainability initiatives. This position also oversees the annual update to the sustainability materiality assessment, working across the enterprise and scanning industry trends and segment opportunities to expand Baxter’s sustainability program and maintain a leadership position. Success in this role requires strategic vision, strong governance expertise, and the ability to translate sustainability performance into actionable programs.

The person in this role will cultivate relationships across the enterprise, including procurement, segment business teams, EHS, operations, communications, finance, legal, and marketing. Essential to this role is to work well in a collaborative, matrix environment which is nimble with a bias for action.

What you'll be doing:

Governance & Performance Management

• Manage the enterprise sustainability governance structure, ensuring alignment across Sustainability Councils and facilitating cross-functional coordination for accountability and timely execution.

• Oversee real-time scorecards and KPIs, including communication and monthly reviews with Sustainability Leadership Teams to ensure proper follow-up and mitigation plans.

• Monitor progress against milestones and drive continuous improvement in sustainability performance across the organization.

Policy Development & Strategic Frameworks

• Drive creation of cross-cutting sustainability policies (e.g., Plastics Policy, Circular Economy, Climate Policy).

• Ensure policies align with global standards and support Baxter’s long-term sustainability commitments.

EcoDesign Program Leadership

• Develop and manage the EcoDesign program across product development, operations, customer-facing and end-of-life.

• Embed sustainability principles into product design and lifecycle management.

Strategic Program Expansion

• Lead enterprise projects including the annual update to the sustainability materiality assessment, identifying opportunities to strengthen Baxter’s sustainability program.

• Benchmark against industry trends and competitor practices to maintain leadership positioning.

What you'll bring:

• 10+ years of professional experience with 5+ years of leadership experience; preference of this experience within a sustainability function         

• Strong relationship building acumen; ability to understand, articulate and engage on multiple priorities at all levels across a large global/regional organization, and ability to build and maintain relationships with a diversity of external stakeholders

• Excellent leadership, management, organizational, time and project management skills; strong analytical and problem-solving skills and demonstrated ability to drive change and achieve results

• Strong business acumen; possess a working knowledge of related disciplines/other