Full-time position, flexible/remote location preferably within the APAC region
About the Sustainable Apparel Coalition
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is an industry-wide group of more than 250 leading apparel, footwear and textile, brands, retailers, suppliers, service providers, trade associations, nonprofits, NGOs and academic institutions working to reduce environmental impact and promote social justice throughout the global value chain. Leveraging the Higg Index suite of tools and programs for the standardized measurement of value chain sustainability, the SAC is working to transform business for exponential impact.
The SAC was incorporated as a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization and launched the groundbreaking Higg Index suite of tools in 2011. In May 2019, the SAC spun-off the Higg Index technology platform to Higg, which delivers tools and services that help consumer goods businesses accelerate transformation for a more sustainable future. For more information, visit www.apparelcoalition.org.
The SAC is a fast-paced organization that has an ambitious mission that seeks to reward those who challenge themselves to provide membership and the organization with very high-quality deliverables and engagement in line with our mission. The SAC values trust and strong relationships where team members collaborate effectively and support each other and the work across the organization.
Position Description
The Manager, Higg Index Verification Programs will be responsible for building, maintaining, and improving verification programs for the Higg Index suite of tools. The goal of the verification program is to ensure that the Higg Index and its related tools are trusted and credible measures for sustainability performance and benchmarking, with scores that can be leveraged for performance improvement and public facing communications. This role requires an expert in consumer goods supply chain and a keen understanding of audits and assurance schemes with an interest to meet industry verification needs in a meaningful way. The successful candidate is someone who is a subject-matter expert and is experienced and confident in managing program contractors and facilitating stakeholder engagement.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
- Facilitate member and stakeholder processes on evolving verification protocols and programs for Higg tools (mainly Higg FEM, Higg BRM and transparency program);
- Manage the implementation of verification programs by cultivating a close working relationship with the Verification Program Manager;
- Develop and maintain quality assurance for programs to ensure the credibility of verified scores;
- Develop and implement projects from start to finish which drive tangible program improvements
- Increase program efficacy through training, calibration and other creative solutions
- Identify innovative approaches to improving data accuracy beyond traditional auditing methods;
- Engage with verifier bodies and verifiers regularly to improve program effectiveness
- Resolve support enquiries in consultation and input from multiple functional leads
- Identify user pain points and work closely with technology partner Higg to deliver meaningful platform updates
- Measure program success and communicate the results;
- Ensure Higg verification programs reduce redundancy in assessments while improving social and environmental results on the ground;
- Present complex messages in a simple way in both formal and informal settings including webinars, full-day workshops, and on-stage to 350+ individuals.
SAC seeks a candidate who:
- Is motivated by the mission of the organization and knows that success comes through teamwork and strong relationships with coworkers and members.
- Is solutions-oriented when navigating change and uncertainty.
- Thrives in a fast-paced environment, and aspires to achieve high levels of performance on a team.
- Ability to delve deep into complex structural and/or situational problems and come up with pragmatic solutions
- Is comfortable navigating complex relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders.
- Thinks ahead, creatively, out of the box and proactively seeks to understand the implications of their actions.
- Contributes to the increased professionalism of the organization by working collaboratively with teammates and stakeholders to ensure that processes and systems are robust and executed while honoring SAC’s culture of innovation.
Qualifications, Experiences, and Attributes
- 5-8 years of progressive experience within the apparel, footwear, home textiles industries or consumer goods industries, including supply chain management, audit and assurance programs;
- Experience with management systems audits / certifications (e.g. ISO9001, ISO45001, ISO14001)
- Experience of working with reporting frameworks such as GRI, SASB, CDP UNGC, National Sustainability reporting mandate by Government or stock exchange, market regulator or other comparable standards;
- Project management and analytical skills;
- Ability to make compelling presentations through PowerPoint, and crunch large datasets via MS Excel
- Adept at working with remote collaborative platforms such as Asana, slack, etc.
- Familiarity with SAC and the Higg suite of tools with a clear understanding of the difference in approach between Higg Index and standard audits;
- Experience working with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.
- Excellent (English) written and verbal communications skills.
- Familiarity with SAC and the Higg suite of tools and programs.
- Experience working with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.
- Passion for sustainability.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Sustainable Apparel Coalition “SAC” is committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Our human capital is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and organization’s achievement as well.
We embrace and encourage our employees’ differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique.
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