Rainforest Alliance/New York, NY
The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Based in New York City, with offices throughout the United States and worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers.
Position Summary:
The Director, Claims, Traceability, & Trademarks will be responsible for overseeing strategy, operations, and general management of Rainforest Alliance's Supply Chain Integrity program through direct management of the Traceability, Trademarks, Chain of Custody, claims based system, and related components. S/he will also be responsible for ensuring the integrity of the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ (RAC) seal by overseeing the implementation of policies and guidelines provided to registered companies using the seal for their certified products. In addition, s/he will ensure that all strategies and activities of the business unit are fully coordinated with SAN, pursuant to policies and agreements for mutual governance and oversight of the SAN-RA sustainable agriculture certification scheme. S/he will coordinate closely with the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), and internal teams including Accounting, Information Technology, RA-Cert, Markets Transformation, Sustainable Agriculture, and Legal to provide oversight of systems and policies in place to trace Rainforest Alliance certified products throughout their supply chain. S/he will also interact externally with clients/stakeholders.
Responsibilities:
Traceability
• Oversee overall management of the Traceability team; including ensuring systems, policies and procedures are in place and communicated;
• Lead development of new claims-based supply chain integrity system; and
• Lead the strategy, research, development and implementation of traceability systems for new crops.
Trademarks & Market Support
• Oversee overall management of the Use of Seal approval processes and monitor ongoing claims, and use of trademarks;
• Guide the management of ongoing development and adaptation of policies related to seal use, and coordinate communication to internal and external stakeholders regarding changes in process or policy;
• Improve processes and systems to ensure that all companies using the RAC seal have signed license agreements and that companies responsible for paying Participation Agreement royalties sign master license agreements,
• Oversee implementation of sanctions for lack of compliance with SAN/RA requirements, and
• Oversee analysis to confirm the need and establish the requirements for centralizing the trademarks system across all sectors RA works with.
Chain of Custody
• Manage the overall coordination of Chain of Custody implementation with SAN; and
• Lead in close collaboration with Markets and SAN teams, Rainforest Alliance's development of Ag Chain of Custody new policy and standards.
Operations and Systems Management
• Work closely with IT, Markets Transformation and other internal stakeholders on the development, maintenance and utilization of traceability and other systems;
• Ensure external stakeholder support systems, trainings and tools are in place to provide a high quality user interface;
• Oversee supply chain analysis and reports on trends, volumes sold etc., to Rainforest Alliance teams to guide existing and future market development and projections, sourcing plans, and project development;
• Establish functional QA/QC system for the Supply Chain Integrity unit based on clear standard and performance benchmarks;
• Lead development of a plan to anticipate and manage risks, and
• Communicate with SAN on ongoing developments related to the participation agreement and other supply chain information that could impact SAN systems and operations.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
S/he will supervise staff.
Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor's Degree required; Master's degree or equivalent in professional experience preferred;
• Minimum 10 years' experience; demonstrated experience in market-based conservation, change-management, certification and traceability;
• Background in financial systems management;
• Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office and Internet) required; comfort working with database programs required;
• Strong people management and customer service skills; proven ability to manage and lead an international team;
• Understanding of global value chains for commodities;
• Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to ethical business practices and sustainable business practices;
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to interact culturally, linguistically, and diplomatically with diverse internal and external individuals;
• Must have excellent writing and verbal communications skills in English; verbal and written Spanish language proficiency preferred;
• High degree of organizational and time management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and work under tight deadlines; and
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.
Salary:
Commensurate with experience. Competitive benefits package provided.
To apply:
Please apply online at https://home.eease.adp.com/recruit/?id=9298421. Combine cover letter and resume as one single document and upload.
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