Standards Manager

About Fair Trade USA
Fair Trade USA is an internationally recognized, award-winning leader in the sustainable sourcing and conscious capitalism movements.
Founded in 1998, we are the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. Our unique market-based model for sustainability links millions of farms and factories around the world to over 1,500 leading brands and retailers through more transparent, equitable trading partnerships. Impact is our North Star: to date, we have channeled over $1 billion in additional income to hardworking families and communities around the world.

Fair Trade has emerged as one of the most promising models of conscious capitalism today. We are recognized for improving the working conditions and living standards of farmers and workers while protecting the environment. At the same time, we strengthen global supply chains and enable sustainability to drive profitability for the business community. For the end consumer, Fair Trade is an easy way to align our values with our purchasing decisions, voting with our dollars for a better world.

Our model has incredible leverage: for every $1 that we invest in building the Fair Trade market and movement, we are creating $4 in increased income for farmers and workers. Because of this unprecedented 4x1 “social return on investment” and community impact, we are a four-time winner of Fast Company’s "Social Capitalist of the Year" award and have been recognized as a leading social venture by the Skoll Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, Ashoka, and the World Economic Forum.

The Role
Fair Trade USA is seeking an experienced and dynamic candidate with excellent technical standards writing skills and industry knowledge. 

The Standards team defines program requirements based on Fair Trade principles. In this role, you will join the Standards team to establish and execute strategies for maintaining and growing the programs with credibility. You will work across all Standards and contribute to the Standards program strategy and management, as well as the development of other Standards for Fair Trade USA, with an emphasis on all work related to the Factory Standard. This work includes the creation and revision of Standards, compliance criteria, policies, and related guidance material, and facilitating stakeholder outreach processes on standard content. The Manager also ensures Standards are appropriately interpreted by stakeholders and develops training materials and guidance documents. You will act as the subject matter expert in contributing to overarching program development, ensuring balanced decision-making in determining the final Standard and implementation tools.

Key Responsibilities
Ensure Standards revisions are impactful, inclusive, credible, and aligned to the objectives of Fair Trade:

• Lead and manage ongoing improvement to the FTUSA Standards, to ensure they are impactful, inclusive, credible, and aligned to the objectives of Fair Trade USA.
• Write clear, unambiguous standards and associated documents.
• Develop clear work plans and manage against timelines for delivery of standards, policies, and supporting documentation to meet the strategy.

• Project manage and develop the Standard-specific material of all programs.
• Identify and engage with stakeholders to enrich the standard revision process as well as to ensure team awareness and expertise on key issues, trends, and industry norms.

• Calculate and approve premiums for supply chains.
• Collaborate with team members on the review and update of Standards related to trade, agricultural production, and factory production, supporting harmonization of processes and requirements across programs.

Ensure Fair Trade Standards are accurately interpreted and implemented:

• Lead the development of policies, tools, and guidance to accompany Standards to ensure accurate interpretation and implementation.
• Advise internal and external stakeholders on clarification and interpretation questions.
• Facilitate alignment of standards, certification, and producer support services within Fair Trade USA.
• Benchmark and perform gap analyses between FTUSA’s standards and other sustainability standards and codes.

Represent Fair Trade USA, Standards, across all programs:

• Represent FTUSA with other certifications and ratings organizations, to align social responsibility and auditing strategies and support collaboration.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on our programs with external stakeholders and brands.
• Effectively contribute as a team member, supporting peers by providing insights and solutions to help improve impact, and fostering cross-departmental collaboration.

Experience / Qualifications
Skills, Experience, & Knowledge

• Prior experience working in analytics, stakeholder engagement, technical writing, or international development capacity; preferably in the social, environmental, or supply chain arena.
• Knowledgeable of apparel, footwear, or home goods supply chains, manufacturing processes, industry sustainability strategies, and the related potential for social, economic, and environmental impacts. 
• Demonstrated experience facilitating stakeholder consultations and addressing sensitive topics with diplomacy.
• Proven ability to make recommendations balancing a variety of stakeholder interests, including the ability to pull out key findings and conclusions from complex sets of sometimes disparate feedback.
• Ability to interpret, translate, and synthesize complex data into presentable information that can be communicated to varying audiences in a simple, meaningful way.
• Ability to write about technical topics clearly and concisely, and to write standards and guidance that can be easily understood by auditors and companies implementing the standards.
• Detail-oriented, logical, highly organized, able to problem solve, and often work autonomously in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to work in a flexible, yet fast-paced and deadline-oriented environment, able to meet deadlines and share progress regularly via key performance indicators.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and capacity for communicating and collaborating respectfully and effectively with non-native English speakers.
• Experience and passion for sustainability, ESG, and the promise and potential of fair trade
• Proficiency in additional languages is a plus.

Key Competencies & Leadership Behaviors

• Action and outcome-oriented. Demonstrable vision and strategic focus, with strong bias-to-action and ability to drive initiatives forward to a successful conclusion.
• Driven. Committed to, passionate, and knowledgeable about Fair Trade USA’s mission, vision, and values. Aligned to goals of sustainable, transformational growth and unlocking scale and impact through partnership development and proactive sales/business development.
• Values-based, performance-driven. Recognizes and aligns with Fair Trade USA’s principles of equity and our shared values of Fairness, Transformation, Integrity, Community, and Impact. Recognizes that the journey to equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice is a shared responsibility, both within the workplace and in our programs.
• Continuously Learning. Committed to their growth and that of others; shows a flexible, curious, and dynamic mindset. Holds self accountable for continuous improvement. Shows a growth mindset.
• Highly collaborative team player who can work cross-functionally with all levels of an organization, both internally and externally.
• Adaptable communicator. Strong verbal and written communication and presentation skills - comfortable interacting with everyone from Fortune 100 to small-scale businesses, brands, and retailers. Multilingual communication skills are a strong advantage.
• Problem-Solver. Curious about business problems, great listening skills, able to ask insightful questions to help learn about a partner or prospects’ business.
• Entrepreneurial spirit. Takes initiative to problem-solve and provide innovative ideas and program improvements.

Our Workplace

At Fair Trade USA, we are a mission-driven organization and are deeply committed to fostering an environment that is built on the principles of JEDI; a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive community for all. We are committed to upholding an inclusive workplace where all people feel equally respected and valued, and where we can all thrive. We are a proud equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from every educational background, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, national origin and ancestry, veteran status, marital or family status, and disability.

We believe in empowering our teams to choose to do their best work and grow at Fair Trade USA. We offer a comprehensive compensation approach including salary, performance-based bonuses, and employee recognition awards, and a generous and thoughtful approach to employee benefits which include:

• Fully Remote & Flexible Workplace with monthly Final Friday half days
• Incentive compensation and Bonus awards
• Generous Health, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Up to 5% Employer 401k Match
• Excellent PTO including 12+ Holidays / 15+ Vacations / 9 Sick Leave days annually
• Annual Winter Break Week with Office Closure from 25th December through New Year
• Six Weeks Sabbatical Leave after 7 years’ service
• Parental Leave and Caregiver Programs
• Mental Health and Wellbeing programs
• Employee Recognition Awards
• Employee Perks and Discount programs with Fair Trade Certified partners