Sustainability Education and Research Assistant

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~ The Sustainable Food Trade Association's mission is to build the capacity of the organic food trade to transition to sustainable business models. ~

SFTA serves as a hub for businesses to learn, improve performance, communicate results, share common metrics and best practices, thus defining and driving excellence in environmentally sound, socially just business practices using a systems-based approach. SFTA membership provides companies with support and resources to integrate sustainability knowledge and practices in their operations.   

Position Overview 

The Education and Research Assistant is
responsible for assisting in the tracking and assessment of members’
sustainability reporting programs, and the development of sustainability tools
and education programming for the organic food sector. This position reports
directly to the SFTA Associate Director. 

Responsibilities  

Job duties include but are not limited
to:  

Member Reporting 

SFTA members generate reports about their
sustainability programs on an annual basis. This position will participate in
this annual cycle by:

• Reporting Tracking and Outreach: Monitor and update spreadsheets and/or other devices used
  to track annual member reporting. Contact members to remind them in advance of
  their reporting deadlines, or to follow up if they have not submitted.
• Report Analytics: Run reports
  through an analytics database that will be used to provide individualized
  assessments for members
• Report Feedback: Review the reports submitted and provide member with
  report feedback, including but not limited to feedback about: reporting style,
  opportunity to improve, and best practices. 

Sustainability Tools 

SFTA
offers its members resources and tools to manage and measure their
sustainability programs. This position will work with the associate director to
provide a robust set of tools, through: 

• Website Updates: Ensure that links to
  other sites and their sustainability tools are active and accurate.
• Sustainability Tool Refinement: Using member and
  staff feedback, refine appearance, content, and functionality of existing reporting
  tools, including but not limited to: 1) SFTA Reporting Templates and Workbooks; and 2) B Lab Measure What Matters Quick Impact Assessment
  (QIA)
• New Resources Development: Using member and staff feedback, assist in developing new
  quantitative and informational tools to assist members in their sustainability
  reporting and management. These tools will vary based on need, but in
  particular may address carbon emissions, supply chain metrics, farm sustainability
  management, and how-to guides for SFTA’s reporting areas. 

Membership Performance
Analysis 

SFTA
creates an annual Member Progress Report, which details data on sustainability
performance from our members. This position will assist with the compilation
and analysis of information for this report, including: 

• Member Data Synthesis:
  Extract
  key data points from full member reports, and record them in the SFTA tracking
  system to contribute to the Annual Member Progress Report.
• Member Outreach: Contact members if data
  to support report is unclear, or specific pieces of data are needed to complete
  any SFTA publications or reports.
• Report Analysis: Analyze data
  captured from member sustainability reports to identify best practices or trends
  in membership reporting by sector, product type, or in composite. 

Education Research and
Production 

This
position may assist with SFTA education programming, including gathering of
ideas or developing materials (i.e. power points) for presentations, workshops
or webinars. Responsibilities include: 

• Materials
  Development: Assist with the development of specific content for presentations,
  webinars or workshops held by SFTA, including power point slides, workshop
  materials, and the like.
• Sustainability Trend
  Analysis: Analyze and suggest trends and hot topics in sustainability that
  may be of interest to SFTA members and help establish SFTA as a cutting-edge
  resource for tools and support. 

Administration Support 

• This
  position will be responsible for working with SFTA’s Executive and Associate
  Directors to ensure operational and other needs are met to successfully meet
  annual goals. 

Qualifications  

Preferred
Qualifications & Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in a Sustainability field with two
  years of relevant work experience - or - Master’s Degree in a Sustainability field
• Comfort in writing technical documents and developing
  tools used to help in the assessment of sustainability initiatives or related
  business programs
• Demonstrated ability to pull conclusions from written
  narratives as well as data sets (qualitative/quantitative)
• Skilled in Excel, including use of formulas, working
  with data, and creating spreadsheets
• Interest to research and learn about newest
  sustainability developments in the food industry and related fields
• Ability to present information in a concise manner, using
  narrative and visual forms
• Fluency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word,
  Excel, and Power Point
• Passion for incorporating triple-bottom-line practices
  into business models
• Knowledge of the organic food sector preferred