Standards and Policies Senior Manager

Textile Exchange•New York, NY

1d•Remote

About The Position

Textile Exchange is a global non-profit driving positive impact on climate change across the fashion and textile industry. It guides a growing community of brands, manufacturers, and farmers towards more purposeful production from the very start of the supply chain. By 2030, its goal is to guide the industry to achieve a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions within fiber and raw material production. Its focus is holistic and interconnected, accelerating the adoption of practices that improve the state of our water, soil health, and biodiversity too. For real change to happen, everyone needs a clear path to positive impact. That’s why Textile Exchange believes that approachable, step-by-step instruction paired with collective action can change the system to make preferred materials and fibers an accessible default, mobilizing leaders through attainable strategies, proven solutions, and a driven community. At Textile Exchange, materials matter. To learn more, visit TextileExchange.org. We work remotely with a team located in 20+ countries. We are a diverse group committed to harnessing the strengths of the global textile industry to accelerate change toward climate and other key environmental goals. We work collaboratively on important environmental issues around the world by working and interacting with farming groups, processors, brands, retailers, and environmental experts in the textile and fashion industries around the world. We offer an opportunity to join a cutting-edge global environmental nonprofit and to help strengthen the impact of our organization. The Senior Manager, Standards and Policies is responsible for the strategic design and continuous improvement of the organization’s standards system and its foundational documents. This role ensures that all systems and tools are efficient, functional, and aligned with broader organizational goals. A central focus of the position is balanced, informed decision making on key standard system topics, ensuring consistency, quality, and scalability across processes. This role provides leadership and oversight to the Standards and Policies sub-team, responsible for the development and maintenance of the Standards System documents as well as quality control and legislative alignment. The position plays a critical role in shaping system strategy, guiding best practices, and ensuring successful execution through this team. Collaboration is essential to the role. The Senior Manager partners closely with the Standards Technical teams, and across other departments, most notably Operations, Integrity and Governance, to ensure that system designs, updates, and decisions reflect operational needs, regulatory expectations, and organizational priorities.

Requirements

Proven experience managing a team.
Experience working within a global environment and cultural diversity.
7+ years of experience within a voluntary sustainability standards system.
Excellent computer skills including advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and the ability to quickly learn new systems.
A driven individual with a strong work ethic and high degree of autonomy.
Highly attentive to detail with strong organizational and planning skills.
Able to hit the ground running – you will need to have experience working in a fast-paced and results-driven environment.
Motivated, energetic, and determined with strong interpersonal skills.
Highly literate, with excellent written and grammatical skills in English.
Able to produce high quality work across all forms of media.
Honest, professional, responsible, discreet, and able to always act with the utmost confidence.
Able to communicate effectively across time zones.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Textile Exchange standards and/or certifying against an ISO 17065-based standard(s) will be given top priority
Experience with ISEAL codes of conduct.
Previous experience working in an international context.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership and oversight to the Standards and Policies sub-team, ensuring their work meets expectations for quality, accuracy, timeliness, and alignment with strategic system goals.
Ensure decision making related to work of the Standards and Policies sub-team is informed and balanced, drawing on insights from the technical team, other departments (e.g. Engagement and Partnerships), and senior leadership when appropriate.
Lead the design, structure, and functionality of the Standard System document suite, including all standards, policies, guidance documents, templates, specifications, and procedures.
Oversee the effective design, performance, and continuous improvement of internal quality management systems and external compliance systems, such as risk management, case management, ISEAL compliance, and the feedback management system, ensuring these systems are efficient, integrated, and aligned with organizational requirements.
Manage the design, structure, and ongoing improvement of the full Standard System document suite, including standards, policies, guidance, templates, specifications, and procedures.
Lead decision-making processes for system design, feedback incorporation, and document development, ensuring decisions are informed and balanced. Oversee consistent use of the decision-making SOP, including the escalation of key decisions and sharing results across teams and departments.
Ensure the efficient and effective performance of internal quality management systems and external compliance systems (e.g., risk management, case management, ISEAL compliance, feedback management systems).
Work closely with members of the department leadership, technical leads (raw material production and primary processing, supply chain, claims, traceability, assurance), and other departments to ensure cohesive system planning, integration, and implementation.
Identify opportunities to enhance system design, workflows, governance, and document quality; lead initiatives that strengthen system effectiveness, user experience, and organizational accountability.
Clearly communicate system updates, decisions, and rationale to internal teams at all levels, supporting organizational understanding and alignment.
Represent the organization in external forums, advisory groups, working groups, and stakeholder dialogues, providing subject matter expertise on standards systems and related topics.
Contribute to other key initiatives within the Standards Team or broader department, offering strategic input or operational support as needed to advance organizational priorities.
Take on additional responsibilities and special projects as required to support team effectiveness, organizational needs, or evolving strategic priorities.