Director of Standards

We are a remote-first place workplace but the candidates for this role must be based in London, UK or Amsterdam, NLD at the start of employment. Please visit our Careers page to review all opportunities and submit your application for the role(s) that best fit your experiences and location. This is a Full-Time Role (40 hours per week) with no option for part-time work.

About B Lab

B Lab Global is a nonprofit that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. B Lab’s vision is of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet. To date, there are over 5,000 Certified B Corps in 150 industries and 70 countries, and over 200,000 companies use the B Impact Assessment.

About the Opportunity

At the core of B Lab’s work are social and environmental business performance standards that are the basis for B Corp Certification requirements, B Lab’s impact management tools the B Impact Assessment and SDG Action Manager, and other aspects of B Lab’s work - the content of which is developed and managed by B Lab’s Standards team.  

The role will report to the Head of Standards and Insights, and work closely with the rest of the Standards team based in Philadelphia, New York, São Paulo, and Amsterdam, as well as with colleagues and partners around the world.  The position will have four direct reports based in New York, São Paolo, and Amsterdam. 

The Director will play an essential role coordinating and managing the work of the Standards team to successfully and efficiently deliver standards development projects, serving as liaison to internal and external partners within and outside the B Lab network (including B Lab’s Standards Advisory Council), and leading and supporting their team members. They will be directly and instrumentally involved in the development and improvement of defining what it means to use business as a force for good and helping amplify and accelerate the need to rethink and change our economic systems to be more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative.  

Particularly through 2023, they will be directly involved in and lead the team developing a new approach to the performance requirements for B Corp Certification. 

Core Responsibilities 

Project and Partnership Management 

• Overseeing and directly contributing to specific standards development projects, starting with B Lab’s process to develop new performance requirements for B Corp Certification, including additional draft development phases, testing, public comment, and implementation
• Coordinating with B Lab’s internal partners, including members of the Certification and Verification team, Communications, Global Partners (building the movement in specific regions), and Strategic Development (fundraising) on team and mission related needs and projects
• Planning and engaging with B Lab’s Standards governance bodies, including its Standards Advisory Council, Regional Standards Advisory Groups, and topical working groups
• Developing and maintaining relationships with other standards organizations, stakeholders, and partners to coordinate efforts, develop mutually beneficial relationships, and ensure appropriate inputs into the teams work
• Aligning and developing B Lab’s standards in coordination with its theory of change and credible best practices for standards and standards development 
• Supporting communication and understanding of B Lab’s standards and processes across partners, companies, and public stakeholders 

People Management and Leadership

• Organizing and coordinating work across projects to ensure appropriate prioritization and efficient and effective delivery 
• Directly managing and supporting the work, engagement, and professional development of four team members
• Supporting and leading team operations and strategy, with the Head of Standards and Insights and Associate Director of Standards, including departmental budget and resource allocations, hiring processes and contractors, identification of team needs for additional resources and support, team engagement and productivity, and new projects

About you

• A minimum 8 years experience in roles directly related to corporate sustainability standards development
• Excellent communication and critical thinking skills, particularly involving challenging and technical topics
• Experience in project and relationship management, with ability to tackle complex projects, with a diverse set of stakeholders and significant change management, to deliver them in a timely and effective manner
• Ability to manage and support others, including ongoing coaching and professional development
• Ability to earn and build influence across a geographically distributed, matrixed organization
• Familiarity with and a passion for addressing the intersections of business and social and environmental issues
• Comfort in an entrepreneurial environment

While not required experience in the following would be a plus:

• Developing and managing teams through a period of growth, with successful results
• Working globally, virtually, and across cultures to support B Lab’s work around the world
• Working with or for private sector businesses, preferably in role relevant to corporate social responsibility and/or sustainability

Compensation Details

B Lab has a competitive compensation plan that includes:

• An annual salary in the range of £75,700 - £80,000
• In your first year, you’ll start with 20 vacation days in addition to national & bank holidays
• Additional time off during org- wide closures when the entire organization is closed (not including holidays)
• After your first year of employment - paid time off for community service, paid parental leave, and a professional development budget (we assess this PD budget annually)
• Floating holidays and personal days (prorated to start date)
• Medical and dental supplemental insurance for the employee through BUPA
• Life insurance benefit
• Income protection insurance
• Statutory pension
• Global travel insurance
• A remote-first workplace, with a flexible work environment

Hiring Process

We require the following in order to consider your application:

• Resume
• In lieu of a cover letter we ask that all candidates respond to a standard set of application questions

If you progress through additional stages in the hiring process you can expect to:

• Step 1: Complete a one-way video interview presented by our team via Spark Hire 
• Step 2: Participate in an interview with a panel via Google Meet
• Step 3: Complete a brief hiring exercise & participate in a final interview with a panel via Google Meet

We will begin reviewing applications on September 6 and will continue until we identify a diverse and qualified candidate pool.

Please note: All applications will be reviewed by our team, and all candidates will receive a status update via email after their application has been reviewed, which we expect to complete by September 19. Due to capacity constraints on our hiring team, we are unable to provide you with a specific status update beyond these parameters. Our ideal start date for this role is December 1, 2022.

If we can offer reasonable accommodations to you in the application or interview processes, or if you have feedback on how we could improve the equity or accessibility of our recruitment, you are welcome to contact us at careers@bcorporation.net with the subject line “Accommodation request - Director of Standards”. Please note that we are unable to respond to general status inquiries or other messages that are unrelated to accessing our application or interview processes.