Senior Manager, Social Standards (New York, NY)

B Lab • New York City, NY

3d • Remote

About The Position

The Standards Management Team is responsible for evolving B Lab’s Standards (approximately every 3 to 5 years) to incorporate best practices and be best-in-class. This involves creating, managing, and innovating standards and performance-related products, maintaining the integrity of the B Movement, and educating stakeholders. The Senior Manager, Social Standards will specialize in the application of existing B Lab Standards, lead the development of future updates, and contribute to collective action efforts to improve social performance in businesses. This role involves developing and revising standards content, engaging with stakeholders, acting as a thought leader, and collaborating with global colleagues. The position is supervised by the Director of Standards and may oversee direct reports in the future.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, with a preference for a Master’s degree, spanning subject areas including sustainable or international development, or other social sciences that intersect with sustainable business practices.
• At least 7 years in a role providing specific experience in relevant issues of social impact and business performance, including topics such as: Job Quality/Labor; Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI); Business and Human Rights; Living Wage; and Supply Chain Management.
• Technical expertise and strong critical thinking skills in the social areas of business sustainability and impact management performance.
• Direct and demonstrable experience with developing, reviewing, and maintaining standards, especially those associated with social impact topics.
• Strong oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to confidently navigate conversations involving challenging or technical topics.
• Effective partnership development and management experience across complex organizations.
• Collaborative, with the ability to engage with and influence a variety of internal and external stakeholders and to anticipate the unique needs of different audiences.
• Ability to distill complex information for diverse audiences and tailor messaging and materials to meet a variety of needs and levels of expertise.
• Demonstrable experience with project and relationship management, with the ability and desire to tackle complex projects with a diverse set of stakeholders and deliver them in a timely and effective manner.
• Fluency in English as this is the primary language for our organization.

Nice To Haves

• Preference for candidates with work experience navigating social impact challenges in a diverse global context, including experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
• Experience working with or for private sector businesses, preferably in a role relevant to corporate social responsibility and/or sustainability with projects within their specialty.
• Social audits experience conducting or supporting in audits on social impact topics.
• Experience working in a geographically dispersed organization and collaborating effectively in a remote and fast paced environment.
• Speaking and writing proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese is a plus.
• Experience supporting and managing others, including providing ongoing coaching and professional development.
• Leads with curiosity and operates with a growth mindset; able to prioritize effectively and serve as a confident decision-maker.
• Familiarity with B Lab’s platforms and tools, such as Asana, Slack, Google Workspace, and Zoom.

Responsibilities

• Lead research and standards development and revisions for B Lab Standards and related products, with a subject matter focus on the social components of the B Lab Standards including Human Rights, Fair Work, and Justice, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (JEDI).
• Identify and develop supplemental content, including resources or guides, to enable standards accessibility and understanding that supports implementation and impact management improvements by companies.
• Support the communication, understanding, and interpretation of B Lab Standards and processes across B Lab teams, network partners, companies, and public stakeholders.
• Contribute to Standard Advisory Council and other standards governance meetings to drive meaningful decisions on standard development and improvements in line with B Lab’s Theory of Change and corresponding strategies.
• Support internal and external stakeholder questions, requests for clarifications, and limited standard compliance exemptions regarding the social impact topics and other cross-cutting components of the B Lab Standards.
• Support regular reviews of the B Lab Standards’s Equity Mechanism and Interoperability applications with other recognized certification schemes, sustainability-related frameworks, disclosure reporting and regulatory standards, among other Standards mechanisms.
• Collaborate on B Lab Standards strategy for producing best in class environmental, social, and governance impact management standards through contributing inputs related to social impact topic developments, advances, innovations, and risks.
• Partner and advise on the work of the Standards Management Team as a whole to ensure a comprehensive, holistic, and consistent approach to the Standards, informed by individual specialist areas.
• Develop and maintain relationships with other standards organizations, stakeholders, and partners to coordinate efforts, build mutually beneficial partnerships, and ensure appropriate inputs into B Lab Standards, supplementary standards, and cross-functional B Lab projects.
• Lead and contribute to specific internal cross-functional work-streams to reach organizational objectives and network priorities aligned with B Lab’s Theory of Change.
• Solicit, categorize, and prioritize feedback from a global representation of internal and external stakeholders, including regional advisory groups and working groups, to inform B Lab Standards development and revisions.
• Support B Lab Standards testing processes that incorporate diverse perspectives into the development and revision stages.
• Provide expert guidance and inputs into B Lab programs, initiatives, and products designed to drive social impact improvements including supporting calls to action and global programming for participants.
• Develop training materials and deliver training on relevant Standards impact topics for internal and external stakeholders, usable also as professional development resources.
• Represent B Lab and its Standards at events, working groups, partnerships, and thought leadership opportunities (e.g., podcasts, presentations), and engage in impact management, regulatory, and sustainability scheme initiatives to shape best-in-class social management practices.
• Develop and promote public-facing content (blog posts, op-eds, communication materials) and support external community engagement to advance B Lab Standards and mission.

Benefits

• Excellent health benefits package including access to medical, vision and dental coverage
• Paid time off for vacation
• Additional paid time off for organizational closures
• Unlimited sick and personal time
• 40 hours paid time off for community service (after first year)
• Paid parental leave (after first year)
• Time and budget for professional development (after first year)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior