United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Stakeholder Relations Manager

About SAN

SAN Vision:

Our mission is to be a global network transforming agriculture into a sustainable activity.
The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) is a coalition of non-profit conservation and rural development organizations in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe promoting the environmental and social sustainability of agricultural activities through the development of good practice standards, certification and the training of rural producers throughout the world. Compliance with the SAN Sustainable Agriculture Standard is indispensable for farm certification and the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal on agricultural products.

Under the auspices of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), an international coalition of leading conservation groups, the Rainforest Alliance’s Sustainable Agriculture program works with farmers to ensure compliance with the SAN standards for protecting wildlife, wild lands, workers’ rights and local communities. Farms that meet these rigorous environmental, ethical and economic standards are awarded the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal. The SAN standards are applied by producers of major commodity crops (including bananas, pineapple, coffee, cocoa, tea, citrus and flowers) that profoundly affect the economies, environments, cultures and politics of tropical countries. Today more than 60,000 farms in 26 countries are certified and Rainforest Alliance Certified products are widely available in mainstream markets.

About the role

This is a new role for SAN, previously covered by the Executive Director, and the first recruit in Europe. Due to expansion and global presence, it is now key to appoint a European expert on Stakeholder Relations Management.

The Stakeholder Relations Manager will lead SAN’s engagement with governments, companies, NGOs and workers’ organizations, in Europe. S/he will operate under the guidance of the SAN Executive Director and work closely with SAN’s Standards and Policy, Assurance and Support and Communications and Marketing units, in order to build and implement appropriate engagement strategies for the different SAN stakeholders.

Salary

c £50,000 plus benefits

Person Specification

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE/SKILLS

• At least 10 years of experience with stakeholder engagement related activities


• Strong European network of government, companies and NGOs involved in sustainability of natural resources, preferably agricultural commodities


• An experienced network manager with a proven record of achievement


• Experience of facilitating and achieving consensus with a wide range of stakeholders


• Proven ability to work effectively in cross-cultural situations and with a wide range of people with diverse economic, political and professional backgrounds in both public and private sectors


• Knowledge of the socio-environmental impacts of agriculture on tropical communities, ecosystems and local economies


• Fluency in English required, French or Spanish a plus


• Demonstrated cultural awareness and sensitivity to the diversity of values, views and approaches to issues relevant to SAN


• Capacity to work autonomously and under short deadlines


• Excellent interpersonal communication skills


• Strong presentation and persuasion skills

QUALIFICATION/EDUCATION

• A relevant degree for this role is desirable – however, the experience, track record and networks of the person are more relevant than a specific degree.

This role requires you to travel internationally for up to 30% of the time primarily in Europe.