Certification Program Manager - Organic Certifiers

FoodChain ID Group, Inc; United States; Remote; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in organic certification seeks a remote Certification Program Manager to oversee certification services, manage staff, and ensure compliance with USDA standards. This role involves training, audits, and fostering industry relationships to support business development efforts. Candidates must have a strong background in organic production and excellent communication and management skills.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years experience with National Organic Program standards.
• Sufficient expertise in organic production or handling techniques.
• Excellent communication skills in person, on phone, and in writing.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage certification staff to ensure delivery of certification services.
• Facilitates hiring and training of new certification staff.
• Participate in accreditation audits and annual reporting.

Skills

Communication

Management

Supervisory Skills

Organizational Skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, food science, or related area of science

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Job Description

The Certification Program Manager (remote) is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day functions of the certification program and managing certification staff to uphold operational standards and optimize service delivery. Additionally, it involves coordinating hiring, training, and process refinement while collaborating with other departments to address customer concerns effectively. This position requires participation in audits, reporting on staff performance, proposing operational improvements, and actively engaging in industry events to foster relationships and support business development efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversees and manages certification staff to ensure delivery of certification services is in accordance with operational procedures.

• Directly supervise and support Certification Program Supervisors, and other certification staff as deemed necessary by Director of Operations.

• Facilitates hiring and training of new certification staff, as directed by Director of Operations & Director of Compliance Training and Development.

• Provide training, support, and guidance to Certification Program staff as needed for onboarding, continued professional development, and process improvement.

• Facilitate team meetings, along with Technical Compliance Manager for calibration and conveyance of information from the Management Team.

• Works closely with Customer Success Manager and Certification Program Supervisors to effectively address and resolve service complaints. Reporting on issues and assistance may be brought to the Director of Operations.

• Works closely with FCID Finance Team to mitigate any client finance-based issues.

• Manages updates and develops certification program processes (work instructions).

• Manages certification staff workflow through regular auditing and program metrics analyses with Certification Program Supervisors.

• Performs annual Performance Evaluations for Certification Program Supervisors and other assigned staff, with input from Technical Compliance Manager (for quality of technical work performed).

• Reviews monthly reports from Certification Program Supervisors of certification staff desk audit results to share with management team.

• Works closely with Certification Program Supervisors and Technical Compliance Manager to ensure regular quality checks of certification staff work.

• Proposes changes/additional procedures to the Director of Operations.

• Participates in weekly management meetings with Director of Operations and Director of Compliance Training and Development to review department projects for growth and maintenance.

• Monitor ACA List Serve in order to stay up to date on Industry topics.

• Participates in accreditation audits & annual reporting to the National Organic Program (NOP).

• Represent OC/FCID at industry events such as trade shows, conferences, and meetings, fostering relationships with stakeholders and promoting the agency's services.

• Support new business development efforts through program, quality system and certification documentation development.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Must have sufficient expertise in organic production or handling techniques to successfully perform the duties assigned. Sufficient expertise must include knowledge of certification to USDA organic standards and evidence of education, training, or professional experience in the fields of agriculture, science, or organic production and handling that relates to assigned duties.

• Must have the knowledge, skills, and experiencerequired to perform certification review of operations of the scope and complexity assigned and to evaluate compliance with the applicable regulations of the USDA National Organic Program.

• Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, food science, or related area of science.

• Working knowledge and experience with the National Organic Program (NOP) standards and regulations, requires 10 years of experience.

• Excellent communication skills in person, on the phone and in writing.

• Ability to clearly communicate complex and technical concepts.

• Must possess excellent management and supervisory skills including mentoring, team building, and performance management.

• Comfortable using computer for multiple hours at a time.

• Comfortable talking in front of large groups of people.

• Competency in word processing, formatting, databases and email applications including Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel.

• Excellent skills to organize, monitor, and track numerous activities throughout the year.
  
  https://www.organiccertifiers.com/

Training Requirements

Prior to Formal Authorization:

• Initial basic training on policies, forms, files, web-system, etc.

• Standards training as appropriate (NOP, etc.)

• Monitored training period as needed to demonstrate competence.

Yearly Requirements to Maintain Authorization

• All certification review personnel continuously maintain adequate knowledge and skills in the current USDA organic standards, certification and compliance processes, traceability audits, mass-balance audits, and practices applicable to the type, volume, and range of review activities assigned.

• Certification review personnel with less than one year of certification review experience must complete at least 50 hours of training within their first year performing certification review.

• Certification review personnel with one or more years of certification review experience must annually complete at least 10 hours of training if conducting certification review related to one area of operation and an additional 5 hours of training for each additional area of operation.

• Attendance at ACA/NOP Annual Meeting and review of all notifications of industry updates.

• Attendance of update meetings and review of all notifications of industry updates.

• Attendance of Annual OC Training Seminar.

• Attendance of any additional training as deemed necessary.
  
  

  FoodChain ID, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

  This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

  If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to our Human Resources Department at [e-mail].