Starting Date: ASAP/Mid-Month April 2025
Contract type: Fixed term, 12-month contract
Salary: 58,594 GBP, commensurate with relevant experience and skills
Location: London, UK

ABOUT THE JOB

Are you purpose-driven and ready to shape the future of sustainable cotton?
Join Better Cotton as a Standards Manager, where you’ll oversee our standard-setting and revision processes. In this role, you will lead the update of our farm-level standard, the Principles and Criteria, which outline the requirements for our Producers to sell their cotton as “Better Cotton.” Additionally, you will collaborate with the team to ensure a smooth roll-out and a potential update of our Chain of Custody standard 1.1, and supporting the team with all standard-related inquiries.
We are seeking an engaging, consultative, and pragmatic project manager who values standards and enjoys balancing sustainability ambitions with practical implementation challenges. If you have experience in stakeholder management, complex project management, standard setting and revisions, and a passion for promoting sustainability impact at the field level, we would love to hear from you.
This role is part of a maternity cover for one year, with the possibility of extension into a permanent position if both organizational and candidate needs align after the initial year.

• Lead the update process of our current farm-level standard: Refine the existing indicators based on recommendations from country teams, Certification Bodies, and technical topic experts, ensuring changes are effective and credible while minimising field-level disruption. This includes:
• Leading overall project management and governance of the update process, adhering to ISEAL requirements for standard-setting and revisions.
• Regularly communicate with key governance and decision-making bodies, including the Better Cotton Council
• Leading internal consultations and ensuring regular internal communication.
• Leading member consultations, including coordinating potential field-level consultations with our Country Teams and engaging the supply chain, retailers, and brand actors with our membership teams.
• Leading and managing external public consultations.
• Engaging and working with technical experts, CSOs, other standards, and stakeholders as needed.
• Coordinate consensus finding amongst multiple stakeholders
• Work closely with the Claims and Assurance teams: Monitor the roll-out of the updated Chain of Custody Standard and collaborate with the teams to monitor and update the standard as needed.
• Support in answering overall standard queries: Help respond to internal and external demands and requests about the standards, including supporting external strategic communication.
• Collaborate with the Assurance and Capacity Strengthening team: Monitor feedback from Certification Bodies and Programme Partners on standard requirements and potential areas for improvement.
• Ensure appropriate delivery of additional global guidance: Work with internal topic experts, assurance, chain of custody, and/or capacity strengthening teams to ensure the standards are accompanied by appropriate global supporting documents.
• Support the Standards team with any other standard-related request