The Associate, Member Monitoring is responsible for conducting regular field monitoring visits of Rainforest Alliance Certificate Holders (members) to understand their progress in implementing Rainforest Alliance standard requirements with a focus on social requirements.

 

The Associate will use monitoring visits to identify member’s needs for additional support or to further investigate on key issues including assess-and-address child labor and forced labor, working conditions, living income and living wage, gender equity, and rights of Communities. The postholder will provide regular reporting on field visits conducted.

 

This position does not supervise any staff member.

 

Responsibilities:

 

Member Monitoring

 

Conduct regular visits of Certificate Holders (Members) to monitor progress on the implementation of some aspects of RA sustainable agricultural standard, support in CH preparations towards audit process and monitor implementation of suggested recommendations to close non-conformities identified during audit ;

 

• Analyse information collected during field visits to
• Identify deviations and ongoing risks in members’ implementation of improvements;
• Identify members’ needs for further training and support;
• Identify observations that are inconsistent with the findings in audit reports and alert when there is a need for further investigation;
• Provide regular reports for each visit, including through IT based reporting methods attaching related documents and photographs;
• Schedule and implement regular follow-up visits based on the progress and needs of individual members;
• Support Certificate Holders in development of their strategy for Assess and address, the risks related to child labor and workers' conditions and rights;
• Collaborate with the Senior Associate Certification & Training , the country teams, the Standard & Assurance department and any other relevant departments to ensure the quality of implementation of Rainforest Alliance rules and standards in addition to the certification procedures and processes, and
• Collaborate with the Senior Associate Certification & Training, the country teams, the Standard & Assurance department, and any other relevant departments to propose, design and implement improvements to the certification process and assurance system, and to support the rollout of the new standard and its related procedures.

 

General

 

• Develop strong trust relationships with members;
• Maintain contact and/or develop relationship with local authorities (local administration offices and local regulation boards offices) and with partners;
• Represent Rainforest Alliance at the local level when required for relevant meetings and events with members, partners and Certification Bodies; and
• Report regularly on interesting stories (successes and achievements, challenges and actions taken) and on Key Performances Indicators defined together with the management and propose areas of improvement for Rainforest Alliance’s assurance strategy, workplan and tools.

 

Qualifications:

 

• Tertiary level qualification (at least Bachelor + 2/3 years) in a relevant field like sociology, anthropology, development, human rights or any related discipline;
• Minimum 3 years’ experience working with smallholder producers and/or producer groups and/or community-based organizations;
• Minimum 2 years working experience in the cocoa sector is desirable;
• Experience on social and human rights issues;
• Knowledge of Certification Programs and their requirements - especially UTZ and/or Rainforest Alliance is desirable;
• Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships of trust and confidence with farmers, farmer organizations and local stakeholders, including ability to adapt appropriately to different cultures, and social contexts;
• Ability to work independently, under pressure and stay focused;
• Ability to analyse and interpret data and information from multiple sources and identify key action points as recommendations;
• Ability to write clear reports and presentations;
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook;
• Both written and verbal fluency in French is preferred. Good command of English; Fluency in English is a plus.
• Ability to spend significant time in rural areas and travel frequently to producer groups locally and nationally (a minimum of 70% field-based work per year);
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally occasionally when needed, and
• Strong personal ethics and integrity and commitment to uphold the rules and values of the Rainforest Alliance is essential.

 

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