Head of Certification - London, United Kingdom - Better Cotton

Better Cotton

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

1 week ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Head of Certification

Starting Date:
As soon as possible

Contract type:
Full-time and open-ended

Salary:
if hired in London - 72'100 GBP, if in Geneva - 109'500 CHF, if in New Delhi - 3'710'500
INR, if in Lahore - 6'968'500 PKR, commensurate with relevant experience and skills
New Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan will be considered

Application closing date:14th March 2024***
About the Job
Are you purpose-led and ready to embark on a journey to shape the future of sustainable cotton?

If you also have good experience as a team leader with strong technical knowledge and good

strategic thinking skills, then join us at Better Cotton as
Head of Certification and lead a global

team responsible for the development of new certification processes and systems, building on

our existing assurance models. This new certification system will help maintain the credibility

and scalability of the world's largest cotton sustainability initiative.

We support more sustainable farming practices and farm livelihoods for nearly 3 million farmers

in the Better Cotton network in 23 countries around the world. Almost a quarter of the world's

cotton is now grown under the Better Cotton Standard System. Better Cotton's certification

teams oversee the auditing of farmers against our field-level sustainability standard (the

Principles & Criteria), as well as the auditing of supply chain companies against our Chain of

Custody standard.

As Head of Certification, you play a key role in helping Better Cotton to analyse and oversee

current assurance and audit-related procedures, and develop new procedures and systems

needed under a third-party certification model. This will be a busy and challenging role with plenty

of opportunities to work on diverse tasks and projects.**
Your role and responsibilities
We are seeking a motivated Head of Certification to join our team. In this role, you will serve as a
key liaison between the certification team(s) and Better Cotton's senior leadership. You will be

responsible for the following workstreams:

_Drive the overall strategy and processes for certification. _

In this area, you will:

Lead a consultative, inclusive process to design/ update Better Cotton's third-party

certification scheme and related processes, in line with best practice, relevant legislation
and key frameworks (e.g. ISEAL, ISO 17065, etc). This includes certification approaches

1 Head of Certification - February 202

for Producer (farm level) and relevant Supply Chain actors, as well as other users of Better
Cotton claims and labels

Ensure that the certification approach is aligned with, and informed by, Better Cotton's

overall strategy and business model

Strategize to identify key risks and opportunities related to certification and assurance.

With the support of the team, propose actions or mitigations, and escalate issues when
necessary to Better Cotton senior leadership

Oversee the development of new shared certification IT systems and tools as required,

and ensure these are project managed and resourced effectively

Work closely with communications, traceability, membership and claims to assure

transparency and consistency of messaging relating to the certification model and its
transition

_Ensure that certification team(s) and work areas are represented effectively at Better Cotton _

_leadership level, in terms of planning, resource allocation, and decision-making_.**In this area, you will:

Establ

ish regular communication channels upwards with the _Director of Standards, _

Certification and MEL _and other senior leadership to inform of key decisions, milestones,

and implications

Cascade information and insights from senior leadership to the certification/ assurance

teams

Engage proactively with other functions including Traceability, IT, Finance, and others, to

identify and address areas of overlap and cross-functional work

_Oversee the successful and credible implementation of certification programmes, including day to _

_day operations _

In this area, you will:

Work with team leads to ensure clear work plans and roles/ responsibilities for

certification/ assurance teams (Producer and Supply Chain level, and claims)

Ensure certification programmes are implemented in a credible and consistent manner,

with regular monitoring and calibration

Strive to balance rigour and cost

- efficacy, through thoughtful and efficient use of
resources (financial and human)

Ensure strong financial controls are in place to manage budgets and enable reporting

_Develop long-term partnerships with Certification Bodies (CBs), and where relevant accreditation _

_bodies to support high quality and cost-effective certification services. _

In this area, you will: