Assurance Manager

**Starting Date**:Mid-May 2025

**Contract type**: 80% - 100%, 12 months fixed term contract (maternity cover)

**Salary**:If in London £58,594, If in Geneva CHF 96,443, If in Lahore PKR 8,041,618 per annum (commensurate with relevant experience and skills)

**Location**: London, Geneva, Lahore

**Application closing date**:05/01/2025

**About the Job**

**The Challenge**

In the Standard Systems Integrity team we have recently launched our new Principle and Criteria v3.1 and the new P&C monitoring and certification requirements.

As an Assurance Manager, you will be responsible for projects contributing to the smooth transition of the assurance programme to certification providing support to the overall global Assurance team.

**Responsibilities**

The main areas of responsibility for the Assurance Manager will include:
**Manage the development and operationalisation of the Better Cotton monitoring programme**:

- Finalise and publish the Better Cotton 2nd party monitoring approach at farm level, including a risk-based approach to sampling.
- Set up a system to plan and track Better Cotton monitoring activities as well Producers risk categorisation.
- Develop the required templates and ensure learnings from the monitoring are shared appropriately and used to inform other assurance and certification activities

**Manage the assurance side of the PU rescoping pilot project**:

- Participate in project meetings
- Oversee the implementation of the Assurance approach in the India and Pakistan pilots
- Review pilot learnings
- Lead on the required steps to include the PU rescoping approach into the Better Cotton farm certification model

**Lead on Quality management system in the Assurance team**:

- Manage document control including updating, sharing, publishing and translating.
- Maintain the central list of all documents needed for the assurance programme.
- Coordinate the work between the responsible document owners where updates are needed.
- Communicate the updates and versions to the document users.

**Ensure consistent, high-quality assurance implementation at a global level**:

- Support implementation of the new monitoring and certification requirements by developing any required guidance or providing training to country teams on new processes
- With support from the Senior Assurance Manager, feed into the annual planning and budgeting for assurance functions at headquarters level and support country-teams in planning/ budgeting process
- Provide internal updates and communications as relevant to their areas of work
- Support specific countries if and when needed

**Other areas of responsibility (as relevant)**:

- Work closely with other Better Cotton functions and departments (e.g., Programme teams, MEL, Standards etc) to collaborate on cross-functional initiatives as required
- Support the work around maintaining compliance with the ISEAL Assurance Code of Good Practice, including supporting the team in periodic reviews against the code and implementing any recommended improvements
- Support fundraising proposals and donor-funded project implementation
- Support any other projects as they arise
- Respond to queries internally and externally about the assurance programme

**We are looking for someone who has**

The following skills, knowledge, and experience:
Essential
- University degree, or equivalent higher education qualification, in a relevant field
- work experience with a substantial timeframe in relevant field (standards and certification, auditing, sustainable development, etc.)
- Fluent in English with very strong written and verbal communication skills
- Experience of project management in an international context
- Excellent understanding assurance in the context of global commodity value chains
- Strong understanding of basic auditing approaches and principles
- Balance of strategic thinking with attention to detail
- Able to appraise arguments critically and logically, organise ideas in a clear manner, and draw conclusions and formulate arguments
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proactive approach to finding and proposing well-balanced and thoughtful solutions
- Excellent organisational abilities - proven capacity to handle competing priorities and manage multiple projects running in parallel
- Proven ability to collaborate effectively across different teams and cultures; strong relationship building skills and service-oriented attitude
- Good communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely for wide-ranging audiences.
- Proven ability to work autonomously with a high level of personal effectiveness and ability to adapt to changing priorities
- Excellent computer and IT skills, including: Word; PowerPoint; Excel, Outlook (Microsoft Suite)

Desirable
- Academic background in rural/agricultural development and sustainability
- Direct experience working with farmers or farming communities
- Advanced numerical skills and experience in analy