Technical Manager, Accountability Framework initiative

The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes.

Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people.

As an international nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production.

At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.

Why

To protect nature and improve lives it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we approach the way we use our land and produce food and other products in more sustainable ways. For this to succeed we need to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate and source, and the choices we all make as consumers.

How

Our growing global alliance aims to transform our relationship with our natural resources and each other, to create a better future for people and nature together.

 The Rainforest Alliance encourages diversity and inclusion across the global organization. With this commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ages, disability and any other protected group.

About the Accountability Framework Initiative

The Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) is a collaborative effort, led by a diverse group of 25+ NGOs from around the world, to bring about a “new normal” of agricultural and forestry supply chains that are protective of forests, other natural ecosystems, and human rights. Among other roles, the AFi provides the Accountability Framework as a comprehensive, consensus-based, and practical roadmap to help companies, investors, civil society, and other stakeholders achieve ethical supply chains.

Rainforest Alliance leads the AFi’s secretariat, which is responsible for developing strategy, coordinating AFi coalition activities and decision-making, developing Accountability Framework materials and resources, supporting users to apply the Framework, and leading communications and program administration. For more information, please visit: https://accountability-framework.org.

Position summary:

We seek a motivated, impact-driven, technically-minded, and pragmatic professional to join the AFi secretariat. The Technical Manager will be responsible for curating and strengthening elements of the Accountability Framework over time, and for supporting the Framework’s broad-scale application by its target users. This work will span a range of themes including deforestation and conversion, human rights, traceability, supply chain management, responsible production practices, and monitoring and verification. The Technical Manager will be part of the AFi secretariat and collaborate closely with the AFi’s 25+ coalition members and other high-impact partners.

The ideal candidate will have a technical background in agriculture, forestry and/or land use along with significant experience developing or working with standards, good practices, and metrics for sustainable supply chains and business practices. They will be knowledgeable about the systems that companies use to address environmental and social risk, such as internal management systems, traceability, procurement mechanisms, supplier engagement, investment at origin, monitoring and verification, and reporting and disclosure. They will also have up-to-date familiarity with key mandates and approaches for corporate sustainability, such as certification, multi-stakeholder initiatives, climate and nature targets, reporting and disclosure mechanisms, and supply chain due diligence approaches.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and/or support technical analysis, and stakeholder engagement, and content development in order to expand and refine the Accountability Framework;

•  Synthesize feedback from diverse users of the Accountability Framework – including companies, multi-stakeholder initiatives, consultancies, and NGOs – to understand key gaps and barriers to broader implementation of ethical supply chains and to orient the AFi’s materials to address these gaps;

•  Develop tools and resources that help translate elements of the Accountability Framework for companies and users to apply in designing and improving business practices in support of ethical supply chains;

• Lead and improve the AFi’s set of common metrics for assessing company performance related to ethical supply chains;

• Engage with reporting, disclosure, and assessment initiatives to align methods and corporate accountability processes in line with the Accountability Framework;

• Collaborate with the AFi communications team to support the effective presentation and promotion of AFi materials and resources to reach their intended users; and

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

We seek candidates who are experienced with sustainability standards or metrics and can bring practical experience combined with original thinking to strengthen the Accountability Framework, its use cases, and its positive impacts. Candidates should be highly collaborative and eager to contribute to tight-knit, purposeful and hardworking team. 

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in a sustainability-related field (e.g., forestry, agriculture, natural resource management, geography, or environmental policy); advanced degree preferred;

• At least seven years of progressively responsible experience related to the position, including experience developing or working with sustainability standards or metrics;

• Knowledge of the agribusiness and/or forestry sectors and their respective sustainability risks and solutions;

• Fluency and superior written communication skills in English;

• Experience designing and running successful working groups or multi-stakeholder convenings to develop technical documents, solutions, or other work products;

• Excellent organizational, analytical skills and attention to detail;

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including an ability to interact culturally, linguistically, and diplomatically with diverse internal and external individuals; and

• Willingness to travel approximately 10% of the time nationally and internationally.

Preferred:

• Experience working with producers, companies, and/or sustainability issues in the cattle or soy sectors in South America; and

• Proficiency in Portuguese (proficiency in French, Spanish, or Bahasa Indonesia are also desirable). 

Job Level: 3A

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

Deadline: June 16, 2023

Location: Only candidates authorized to work in the United States, UK, the Netherlands or Brazil will be considered.

Notes: If you have any questions about the job vacancy, please contact the HR department: [email removed - click apply for more details]