Apparel Index Manager

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) was founded by a group of sustainability leaders from global apparel and footwear companies who recognize that addressing our industry's current social and environmental challenges are both a business imperative and an opportunity.

Through multi-stakeholder engagement, the Coalition seeks to lead the industry toward a shared vision of sustainability built upon a common approach for measuring and evaluating apparel and footwear product sustainability performance ("the Index") that will spotlight priorities for action and opportunities for technological innovation.

The objective of the Index is to measure the full lifecycle environmental and social performance of all apparel and footwear products, and support supply chain decision-making and behavior change improvements in those performance areas. Ultimately, the Index must drive business value throughout the supply chain by presenting opportunities for innovation, and by catalyzing sustainability education and collaboration.

The V1.0 Apparel Index prototype (environmental content only) is currently being pilot tested by SAC member companies through January 31, 2012. Feedback from the pilot test and other sources will be used to strengthen the tool for an anticipated launch in mid-2012. The Index will continue to evolve:

• Social/labor content will be added
• Many practice-based questions in V1.0 will shift to performance-based metrics in V2.0
• Existing and new elements will be used to create the V1.0 Footwear Index

Learn more about the Coalition and download the V1.0 Apparel Index prototype at SAC.

Position Overview:

This position is a unique opportunity to play a leadership role in this groundbreaking initiative. As Index Manager, you will have strategic, operational, and technical responsibility to design, develop, manage, and implement the sustainable apparel and footwear indices in deep collaboration with SAC members, subject matter experts, and external stakeholders. You will also be responsible for ensuring the indices create business value for the users. The V1.0 Apparel Index is already in pilot testing through January 31, 2012 and is expected to be launched in mid-2012.

This is a full-time position managing 2-3 associates and reporting to the Executive Director. Expected start date is February or March 2012.

Responsibilities:

Develop the Sustainable Apparel and Footwear Indices (average 50% of time, higher initially):

• Manage 2-3 Index Associates in designing, developing, managing, and implementing the apparel and footwear indices across both environmental and social/labor dimensions. This includes playing a major role in defining the Associate positions, hiring 2 Associates immediately, and continuing to build and manage the team throughout the year.
• Maintain high level of engagement from SAC member companies in index development and facilitate alignment among diverse stakeholders on all aspects of the index including structure, content, and scoring.
• Oversee the operations of the index working groups (which are primarily member-based) either through direct leadership or oversight of the Associate staff
• Lead development of a Footwear-specific Index based on the Apparel Index for pilot and launch in late 2012 or early 2013
• Drive evolution of the Apparel Index from V1.0, which is based on practice-based indicators, to V2.0 which will add performance-based metrics when available
• Implement metrics to gauge the ongoing success of the indices
• Lead index evolution toward long-term goal of consumer-facing ratings

Drive adoption of the Indices (average 30% of time, lower initially):

• Support effort to ensure widespread adoption of the V1.0 Apparel Index across brands, retailers, and suppliers in the global apparel value chain
• Work with SAC members to support successful enrollment in use and scaling of the index within their organization and supply chain, such as collecting and sharing best practices, soliciting feedback, collecting metrics, and pairing mentors with new users.
• Work closely with a Supplier Training Associate to develop and implement supporting tools and materials
• Work to ensure the Index catalyzes learning, drives behavior change, improves environmental and social outcomes, and delivers business value for SAC members across the value chain
• Identify opportunities to extend ecosystem of services and functionality associated with the Index (e.g., benchmarking, verification / certification)
• Coordinate efforts by systems specialists to develop systems requirements, architecture, and strategy for integration of index into member processes

Engage stakeholders (average 20% of time):

• Develop and manage strategic relationships with key NGOs, government agencies, and academic institutions to support the development and adoption of the indices
• Broker and manage relationships with affiliate partners, such as system vendors and third-party certifiers, as appropriate

Qualifications:

• 5-10 years of professional experience with minimum 3 years of experience in a management role, ideally in a fast-paced start-up environment
• Demonstrated entrepreneurial, leadership, innovation, and management skills; ability to lead a team and manage multi-faceted projects
• Solid understanding of strategic environmental and social issues within corporate value chains and how a strategic approach to those issues can drive business value
• Experience implementing measurement standards and protocols in a global supply chain environment
• Experience facilitating large meetings with a range of stakeholders
• Expertise in social/labor and environmental issues in global value chains, preferably in the apparel or footwear industries
• On-the-ground experience working in apparel or other global value chains
• Working knowledge of environmental/social measurement standards and methods (LCI/LCA, GHG protocol, etc.)
• Exceptional ability to listen, enroll others, and foster collaborative innovation with diverse stakeholders
• Ability to work and make decisions in a fast-paced and complex environment; comfort leading in an environment of uncertainty
• A relationship-builder with excellent interpersonal skills; strong, persuasive written and verbal communication skills in English
• Unwavering commitment to having a positive impact on the world; passion, integrity and positive attitude
• Bachelors degree, graduate degree in a relevant field or commensurate experience preferred
• Experience developing and facilitating training for global supply chain partners
• Fluent in additional languages relevant in the global apparel and footwear supply chain a plus

Compensation: Commensurate with experience (please note salary requirements in cover letter)

Location: The SAC currently operates out of San Francisco. Future flexibility in job location may be required.

Most communication with SAC members is accomplished via electronic means, but some travel is required for in-person meetings in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Applications are due: Monday, January 30, 2012. Interviews scheduled to start shortly thereafter.

To Apply:

To apply, please submit a resume, cover letter (noting salary requirements), and 3 professional references by email.