Sustainability Anchor Karur Home Textile Cluster

Company Description Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) is a not-for-profit centre of excellence that promotes responsible business strategies, policies, and practices to support harmonious workplace relationships and sustainable growth. CRB works with a wide range of stakeholders across value chains, including national and international brands, local manufacturers and suppliers (SMEs), civil society organizations, and governments. The organization focuses on building capacities for designing, developing, and implementing self-regulatory social and environmental standards that foster responsible business conduct. CRB emphasizes the impact of its interventions on workers, working conditions, factories, farms, producers, businesses, and the environment. Established in 2011 following a 2010–2013 partnership between GIZ, SAI, and BSCI in India, CRB has grown into a recognized leader in business responsibility and voluntary standards.

Location : Karur , Tamil Nadu

Background

The Karur home textile cluster is a major manufacturing and export hub supplying home textile products to domestic and international markets. As global buyers increasingly demand greater transparency, traceability, decarbonisation, circularity, and compliance with emerging sustainability regulations, the cluster needs dedicated capacity to understand evolving requirements, assess implications for businesses, and support collective action.

To strengthen the clusters sustainability ecosystem, a Sustainability Anchor will be deployed in Karur. The position will be jointly supported by the Karur Textile Manufacturers Exporters Association (KTMEA) and the UNEP InTex India Project (until September 2027). The Sustainability Anchor will serve as a focal point for sustainability-related initiatives within the cluster and support industry stakeholders in navigating emerging sustainability challenges and opportunities.

Objective

To establish a dedicated sustainability support function within the Karur home textile cluster that enables enterprises to understand emerging sustainability requirements, build sustainability baselines, strengthen data management systems, and identify opportunities for improving environmental and social performance while enhancing market competitiveness.

Duration - Initial contract until September 2027, with the possibility of extension based on performance and availability of funding.

Key Responsibilities

1. Sustainability Intelligence and Knowledge Support

• Develop and disseminate a monthly or quarterly sustainability newsletter/briefing for KTMEA members covering key global regulatory developments (ESPR, DPP, CSDDD, etc.), emerging buyer expectations, industry best practices, relevant tools/resources
• Organise awareness sessions, workshops, and consultations on sustainability-related topics including but not limited to evolving global regulations, traceability solutions, recycled content, market access etc.

3. Sustainability Data Management and Reporting

• Design, operationalize, and maintain a cluster-level sustainability data management system to collect, monitor, and track key environmental, social, and governance indicators, including energy consumption, water use, waste generation and management, emissions, material use, and workforce metrics.
• Support participating enterprises with regular data validation and develop dashboards that enable tracking progress for data-driven decision-making across the Karur cluster.

4. Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination

• Serve as the primary point of contact for sustainability-related discussions within the cluster.

Maintain regular engagement with relevant stakeholders including, KTMEA members, Exporters and manufacturers

• Government agencies
• Technical institutions
• Brands and buyers
• Development partners

5. Support to InTex India Project Activities

Until September 2027, provide support to the implementation of InTex India project activities in Karur, including:

• Contribute to the development of the Karur Sustainability Roadmap by engaging with cluster stakeholders, consolidating inputs and priorities, preparing draft roadmap documents, presenting draft recommendations for stakeholder validation, and incorporating feedback into the final roadmap 
• Facilitate KTMEAs participation in the India Textiles Cluster Exchange Mechanism (CEM), ensuring that Karurs sustainability priorities and best practices are effectively represented, while promoting knowledge exchange, peer learning, collaboration, and the adoption of sustainability solutions across the cluster
• Support CRB towards the design, coordination, and delivery of circularity-related training programmes for cluster enterprises and academic institutions

6. Project Development and Resource Mobilisation

• Identify priority sustainability projects for the Karur cluster and support their development through stakeholder engagement, preparation of concept notes and funding proposals, facilitation of partnerships with technical experts and financial institutions, and follow-up on implementation and resource mobilization opportunities including government schemes and available financing options.

Deliverables

The Sustainability Anchor shall be expected to deliver:

• Half yearly sustainability intelligence and regulatory updates.
• Cluster sustainability baseline report.
• Sustainability data collection and management framework.
• Stakeholder engagement and consultation reports.
• Support documentation and reporting for InTex India project activities.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Masters degree in Environmental Management, Sustainability, Textile Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Energy Management, Development Studies, or a related field.
• 8–10 years of professional experience in sustainability, environmental management, ESG, circular economy, resource efficiency, or related areas.
• Understanding of sustainability challenges and opportunities in the textile and apparel sector.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and multi-stakeholder coordination.
• Strong analytical, communication, and facilitation skills.
• Proficiency in data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Ability to communicate in Tamil and English.

Desirable

• Experience working with textile manufacturing clusters and familiarity with home textile value chains.
• Understanding of life cycle assessment (LCA), carbon accounting, traceability, ESG reporting, and sustainability standards.
• Experience working with industry associations, exporters, brands, or development programmes.

Key Competencies

• Strategic understanding of sustainability and market trends.
• Ability to translate complex sustainability requirements into practical business actions.
• Strong relationship-building and facilitation skills.
• Data-driven decision-making and analytical capability.
• Self-driven, proactive, and solution-oriented approach.
• Ability to work effectively with MSMEs, industry leaders, government agencies, and international partners.

Indicative Level

This role is expected to function at a mid-to-senior professional level, combining technical sustainability expertise, stakeholder engagement capabilities, and project coordination skills, while serving as the clusters trusted resource on sustainability-related matters.