Senior Standards Manager

Leather Working Group; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading organization seeks a Senior Standards Manager to develop and manage the Chain of Custody standard, ensuring quality and compliance with regulations. The candidate will facilitate stakeholder collaboration and contribute to sustainability initiatives while working predominantly from home with regular travel for meetings.

Benefits

5% pension contribution

Private medical care

Employee assistance programme

Qualifications

• Experience in managing a standards development process and drafting standards.
• Experience working in multi-stakeholder environments.

Responsibilities

• Establish and develop the Chain of Custody Standard.
• Manage the development of industry benchmarks for chain of custody.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to support the LWG Responsible Leather Sustainability System.

Skills

Expertise in standards in traceability and chain of custody

Knowledge of systems and platforms for traceability

Strong written and verbal communication skills

Strong persuading and influencing skills

Strong organizational skills

Excellent attention to detail

Education

Educated to degree level or equivalent

Job description

Job Title: Senior Standards Manager

Salary: £65,000-£70,000

Benefits: Include 5% pension contribution, private medical care, employee assistance programme

Position: Full time, 37.5 hours a week

Working arrangement: Predominantly home working, with regular travel for in-person meetings

Reports to: Director of Standards

The Role

Reporting to the Director of Standards, you will be responsible for the development and management of the Chain of Custody standard, as well as requirements for the Leather Production standard in the areas of due diligence and social responsibility. You will maintain the high degree of technical robustness and quality in the development and management of the Chain of Custody standard and other requirements. This role collaborates with other Senior Standards Managers, the Assurance Manager and the Sustainability team in the development of the LWG Responsible Leather Sustainability System. You will work with the Technical Training Manager to create implementation guidance and supporting materials.

This role suits a person with strong people and facilitation skills, with an ability to navigate complex stakeholder relationships. You will be able facilitate multiple external stakeholders in a robust process of consensus-building.

Main responsibilities

• Establish and develop the Chain of Custody Standard and other requirements, in alignment with the LWG vision and mission so that they provide the ability to measure and track the positive impact of LWG.
• Manage the development and maintenance of appropriate industry benchmarks for chain of custody, traceability, due diligence and social responsibility.
• At all times ensure that the Chain of Custody Standard and associated documents are consistent with legal & regulatory requirements.
• Support the development of benchmarking requirements for recognition of 3rd party accreditations or certifications.
• Collaborate internally to identify and establish the data requirements that will enable reporting needs, and represent LWG in external data standardization initiatives.
• Contribute to the development of data platforms to support the LWG Responsible Leather Sustainability System.
• Manage the implementation and ongoing use of traceability systems and platforms to support the LWG Responsible Leather Sustainability System.
• On an ad hoc basis respond to technical or operational enquiries related to the content or use of the Chain of Custody Standard and traceability, due diligence and social responsibility requirements.
• Collaborate with the Technical Training Manager in order to support the creation of the technical training programme and creation of the technical content.
• Manage and coordinate the technical subgroups and task teams associated with the development and maintenance of the Chain of Custody Standard and other requirements, as well as provide support to Director of Standards in managing the Programme Board.
• Conduct testing and pilots to ensure the verifiability and robustness of standards requirements in an audit scenario.
• Support the quality assurance processes for audits and certifications.
• Ensure the development and maintenance of the Chain of Custody Standard and other requirements is consistent with the requirements of the ISEAL Code of Good Practice.
• Collaborate with the communications team in order to effectively communicate changes to the LWG Sustainability System and its sustainability credentials.
• Ensure that the assessment tool appropriately reflects and assesses against the Chain of Custody Standard and other requirements.
• Support in the digitalization and streamlining of the assessment tools and process.
• Attend relevant industry events to represent LWG, give presentations and participate in panel discussion on behalf of LWG.

Person Specification

Essential criteria

• Expertise in standards in traceability and chain of custody
• Knowledge of systems and platforms for traceability
• Experience in managing a standards development process and drafting standards
• Understanding of supply chains
• Experience in facilitating meetings
• Experience working in a multi-stakeholder environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong persuading and influencing skills
• Strong organizational skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Educated to degree level or equivalent

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of standards in social responsibility
• Publishing experience

Personal attributes

• Accountable - takes ownership of role within the organization
• Pro-active - takes action in advance to prevent problems or make things happen, rather than reacting after something occurs
• Results-orientated - focused on achieving goals and outcomes
• Critical thinking - analyses information and data and is able to get to the root of issues