DIRECTOR OF FORESTRY

Bristol base with hybrid working an UK/overseas travel

Circa £70,000

Soil Association Certification Ltd is the UK's leading organic and ethical certification body, offering a wide range of integrity-based certification schemes across food, farming, forestry, catering, health and beauty, and textiles. We are also responsible for working with the public, our clients, and retailers to grow the demand for these organic and ethically certified products and menus. We have over 7,000 clients who are approved to use and market the Soil Association organic symbol and other industry leading marks to help demonstrate and promote how their products have been grown, reared, managed, made, and traded. A wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the Soil Association charity, we are a not-for-profit enterprise with a turnover of £9m and 140 staff. The financial surplus from our work is ploughed back into transforming the way society produces and consumes to benefit human health, animal welfare, and our natural world.

Our core Forestry business delivering FSC and PEFC certification has grown rapidly over the last few years and demand for our services is high. We currently certify over 26m hectares of forest word wide and have more than 4,000 Forest Management and Chain of Custody certificates in over 60 countries. Recent offers in the Carbon, Climate and Ecosystem Services areas are also growing at pace and we seek to innovate further in these sectors. We are a truly international business and that is an important aspect of this role.

As Director of Forestry, you will report to the Chief Executive of Soil Association Certification Ltd as a member of the Senior Management Team, taking responsibility for leading what is effectively a business within our business.

Your role will be rewarding and varied, with scope for real impact. As well as delivering robust and respected certification schemes, you’ll work with a wide range of stakeholders across business, government and the NGO sector to develop the market for ethical and sustainable wood products.

You’ll raise awareness, stimulate consumer demand, develop supply chains and generally offer first class support to our clients. Leading a highly committed team of both UK and international employees/agents, you’ll take full responsibility for the continued success of our forestry business and look for opportunities for growth and development of new services.

To succeed, you’ll need a strong understanding of forest management and the forest products industry, together with the commercial acumen to manage and grow an autonomous business unit. Experience within an international context, external representative work, and knowledge of forestry certification schemes would be advantageous. You’ll lead with high integrity, inspiring your team to achieve their best whilst being supportive, collegiate, and progressive. You’ll also need a deep commitment to our values and mission and be passionate about the difference we can make.

In return, we offer you a role where you can have a significant impact on improving the way that we all manage and consume forestry products. This is a role where you will have significant autonomy and scope to lead a dynamic small business, with the wider supportive framework of colleagues, expertise and resources to draw on.

For a recruitment pack with additional information, please contact James Stephens at Morgan Law by emailing exec@morgan-law.com or telephone 0207 747 4931. Application is by CV and covering letter. Closing date is 11pm on Wednesday 11th May.

Soil Association Certification Ltd is committed to reducing inequality, valuing diversity, and enabling inclusion. We welcome applications from people from all parts of the community. We are a Disability Confident employer and a signatory to the Bristol Equality Charter.