Back Value Chain Development Manager

The Mission

We work to take care of our forests and those who rely on them: by protecting plant and animal species, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, forest workers’ safety, and much more. We achieve this through certification, ensuring forests around the world are responsibly managed.

To effectively meet the challenge of protecting the world’s forests, we are committed to ensuring we have the world’s most skilled people working with us. This commitment extends to everyone that works with us around the world: from those that lead the design of policies and standards, to those that roll out those same policies and standards on the ground, and to those that provide us with backbone to do our work.

We are looking for an engaged Value Chain Development Officer or Manager, who brings solid expertise and a passion for our mission, to work with us in a multinational environment.

Main Roles and Responsibilities:

· To define Fiber Value Chain development strategy and goals.

· To map supply chain from forest area to consumer market.

· To initiate, drive and manage value chain development activities and the development of the organization’s action plans for priority value chains, in collaboration with relevant value chain players.

· To coordinate and produce value chain specific marketing and communication materials in collaboration with the responsible departments.

· To identify and manage external and internal communication channels with relevant value chains (e.g. events, campaigns, market news articles, intranet, customer relation management system).

· To manage the implementation and coordination of partnerships/relationships between the company and relevant value chain players.

· To coordinate key account relations across other programs globally.

· To represent our institution at market related events.

· Additional Tasks as agreed with the Value Chain Development Programme Manager.

Qualification, Experience and Skills:

Education and Training:

· University degree, or equivalent in a relevant field (e.g. Business Administration, Marketing, Economics, Forest Products, Public Relations). An MBA would be advantageous.

Working Experience, Style and Skills:

· At least 5 years of management or consulting experience in one or more of the following: sales/market/business strategy, global market development, strategic key account management and/or related fields.

· Proven track record in managing value chain partnerships, working on sustainability in supply chains and/or value chain development.

· Experience in leading cross-functional project teams and managing complex projects.

· Experience in working with international organisations and international project teams.

· Knowledge of packaging/paper/hygiene industry, market, value chain, and trends is a plus.

· Experience in forest-based industries would be an advantage.

Computer Skills:

· Standard software packages (MS Office).

· Customer Relations Management (CRM) systems - for example, Salesforce.

Language and Communication Skills:

· Fluency in English (spoken and written).

· Other language proficiency is a plus (e.g. German, Spanish, Japanese).

Soft Skills:

· Exemplary verbal and written communication skills that contribute to cohesive team efforts and decision making.

· Active-listening skills.

· Budget management.

· Networking skills.

· Strategic thinking and business mindset.

· Good time management skills: ability to perform well while handling simultaneously a number of functions.

· Service and solution-oriented attitude to work.