Open Position: Seafood Standards Manager

Position Summary 

Fair Trade USA is seeking an experienced and dynamic candidate with excellent technical standards writing skills and industry knowledge in aquaculture or wild capture seafood. Join part of a fun, fast-paced and growing organization that is developing exciting new programs for fishers, farmers and workers.

Standards team defines program requirements based on Fair Trade principles and impact goals. In this role, you will join the Standards team to establish and execute strategies for maintaining and growing the seafood program with credibility. You will lead all work related to the Capture Fisheries Standard and contribute to aquaculture program strategy and management, as well as the development of other Standards for Fair Trade USA. 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 both wild capture seafood and aquaculture, contributing to overarching program development, and ensuring balanced decision making in determining the final Standard and implementation tools. You will be responsible for research projects on pressing issues, such as living income, worker empowerment, and expansion to new regions or producer structures.

Key Responsibilities

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

• Lead and manage implementation of and ongoing improvement to the Capture Fisheries Standard, to ensure it is impactful, inclusive, credible, and aligned to the objectives of Fair Trade USA.
• Write clear, unambiguous standards and associated documents.
• Develop clear workplans 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 the emerging Aquaculture program.
• 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 wild caught and aquaculture seafood 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 wild caught and aquaculture seafood standards and other sustainability standards and codes.

Represent Fair Trade USA, Standards, and the seafood program:

• 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 seafood program with external stakeholders and brands.
• Effectively contribute as a team member, supporting peers and provide insights and solutions to help improve impact and fostering cross-departmental collaboration.

Some international travel (approximately 1-2 trips per year) will likely be required once it safe to do so.

Key Qualifications / Experience

• Demonstrated strength managing projects and processes, and an ability to work well with all levels of staff including executives as well a broad range of stakeholders and partners.
• Four to six years of experience working in analytic, stakeholder engagement, technical writing, or international development capacity; preferably in the social or environmental seafood arena.
• Experience and demonstrated interest in and ability to learn and understand a broad range of social, labor, economic, environmental and trade issues related to aquaculture and wild caught seafood.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating stakeholder consultations using a variety of tools and methods 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 in a clear and concise manner, 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 environment, able to meet deadlines and share progress regularly via key performance indicators.
• Strong English verbal and written communication skills and capacity for communicating and collaborating respectfully and effectively with non-native English speakers.
• Proficiency in an additional languages is strongly desired.
• A passion for Fair Trade USA’s mission, vision, and accomplishments.
• High degree of proficiency in MS Office applications including Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and internet applications.

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