Senior Manager Learning and Innovation

The organization

IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative convenes companies, CSOs, governments and others in public private partnerships. Together we drive the joint design, co-funding and prototyping of new economically viable approaches to realize green & inclusive growth at scale in commodity sectors and sourcing areas. Our approaches are designed to drive sustainability from niche to norm in mainstream markets, delivering impact on Sustainable Development Goals. We focus on creating positive impact on mitigating deforestation, living incomes and living wages, working conditions, responsible agrochemical management and gender. IDH is supported by multiple European governments (Dutch, Swiss, Danish, Norwegian) and we work together with over 500 companies, CSOs, financial institutions, producer organizations and governments in 11 sectors and 11 landscapes in over 40 countries worldwide. IDH is a dynamic and demanding organization of about 130 staff members and consultants at the HQ in Utrecht, the Netherlands and several overseas offices and hubs in South America, Asia and Africa.

Learning and innovation

Mainstreaming of sustainable trade requires companies, civil society and government to innovate together, develop new business models and forge new supply chain collaborations. The IDH Learning & Innovation Team supports this transformation drive by organizing strategic research, prototyping innovations, and promoting learning with the program partners. We collect knowledge and best practice, we design innovations, we initiate research into critical challenges, and we develop metrics for performance management and strategic decision-making.

To strengthen its Learning and Innovation team, IDH is recruiting a:

Senior Manager Learning and Innovation

(with a focus on living wage and working conditions)

 

Position overview

As Senior Manager Learning and Innovation you are responsible for leading IDH’s innovation agenda on living wage and working conditions (focused on workers). In this position you will work closely with four IDH programs (tea, flowers, fruit and vegetables and apparel) that are focusing on interventions to improve living wage and working conditions for workers. You are driving and supporting supply chain companies with their living wage and working conditions agenda, focusing on making the business case for implementation of living wage and better working conditions.

You will convene key players in the living wage and working conditions arena (standards, private sector players, government organizations, labor organizations, etc.) to drive pragmatic solutions (related to i.e. supply chain pricing and freedom of association) for the actual implementation of living wage and working conditions. You are bringing your existing network and you will build IDH’s thought leadership on the topic. You can easily communicate with a broad set of stakeholders, ranging from private sector players to activist NGOs.

You are part of the IDH Learning and Innovation team and reporting to the Learning and Innovation Director.

Core job functions are:

Drive the innovation agenda on living wage and working conditions:

• Design an innovation agenda together with the key IDH programs and key external partners to drive IDH’s strategy on living wage and working conditions.
• Coordinate actions across IDH programs and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and lessons learnt internally.
• Design and lead research projects that can support the activities of the programs.

Drive IDH thought-leadership on living wage and working conditions:

• Convene key stakeholders in the living wage and working conditions arena.
• Collaborate closely with the Global Living Wage Coalition (ISEAL) and with the other international organizations active on the Living Wage theme.
• Develop relevant knowledge networks and manage relationships with sector experts, consultants, academia and thought leaders.
• Share knowledge from the organization through events and congresses, and document lessons, innovations and best practices for dissemination to the outside world.
• Contribute to the wider development of the IDH Learning and Innovation Program.

Requirements

• 10+ years of relevant working experience, in a role as consultant or practitioner, in a private sector context
• Experience in tackling social issues across supply chains from the private sector perspective
• Deep knowledge and expertise of international commodity supply chains, corporate sustainability, tripartite dialogues/freedom of association, collective bargaining, and voluntary sustainable standards
• In-depth knowledge of living wage, procurement practices of companies and familiarity with living wage calculations
• Strong communication capabilities at multiple levels (corporate, academic, public sector and commercial level)
• Demonstrated networks among relevant businesses and knowledge institutes
• Experience in working on systems change/multi-stakeholder projects and proven skills in stakeholder management and facilitation
• Working and thinking at Master degree level or higher
• Fluent in English and preferably a second world language

Competencies

• Result-oriented
• Ability to inspire and lead
• Proactive, self-propelling
• Self-organized, eye for details
• Analytical thinker
• Good communicator (makes complex issues simple), in writing and verbally
• Excellent business development skills
• Effective relationship-builder and innovator

Conditions

IDH offers a challenging position within an international and fast-growing organization.  As an IDH team member you can contribute to positive global change. For more information about IDH, please visit www.idhtrade.org.

This is a full-time position (40 hours p/w), initially for one year, with the intention to extend. We offer a gross monthly salary between 4500-5000 Euro (depending on seniority and experience) and solid fringe benefits, including a good pension scheme.

For questions about this position, please contact Iris van der Velden, Director Learning and Innovation, +31 (0)6 14811394. Interested and qualified candidates are invited to send a motivation letter and a

2-page resume in English to Annemarie Woudstra, HR Officer, at jobs@idhtrade.org, mentioning “Senior Manager L&I living wage and working conditions” in the subject line. We encourage applicants to respond as soon as possible, latest by April 22, 2018.