ASI Accreditation Services International GmbH
Friedrich Ebert Allee 65
Job Terms of Reference for
ASI Accreditation Lead Assessor
- Forest Stewardship Council - Program
Date of Posting: 7 January, 2013
Accreditation Services International GmbH (ASI) is the leading international accreditation body offering third party accreditation for voluntary certification schemes, e.g. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). ASI is located in Bonn, Germany.
ASI does not certify individual producers, processors or suppliers; it oversees the certification processes and documentation of accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) and ensures that their policies and practices are compliant with relevant accreditation standards, adequate, transparent, fair and rigorous.
Job Purpose
The ASI Lead Assessor (LA) is responsible for planning, performing and following-up on ASI assessments to applicant and accredited CABs in relation to forest management and chain of custody certifications conducted in accordance with the requirements of the FSC certification programs.
LAs play an essential role ensuring the robustness and credibility of the FSC program by evaluating conformance of CABs. The position provides an opportunity for intellectually challenging and stimulating work on a variety of global forest management and chain of custody issues and assessments.
Responsibilities
Accreditation Assessments
LAs carry out assessments in a number of ways: these involve undertaking audits of CABs against FSC requirements by onsite inspections of CABs' records, systems and documents, by desk review, by witnessing forest management and Chain of Custody assessments by CABs.
The main tasks are:
- Assessment of, and communication with, FSC accredited and applicant CABs (as delegated to LA).
- Planning and performing accreditation and surveillance assessments.
- Preparing assessment reports and following up on nonconformities according to accreditation standards and ASI procedures.
- Commenting on policy and procedure development processes as necessary.
- Providing technical support on issues relating to complaints and appeals.
Competencies required
- Professionalism: Expert knowledge of forest management, forestry operations and/or other forest related sciences, accreditation and/or certification is essential.
- Communication: Excellent communication skills in English are essential and fluency in at least one further language desired (i.e. Spanish, French, Mandarin, German, Dutch or Russian).
- Client orientation: Ability to communicate well with clients as well as establish and maintain effective relationships.
- Management: Demonstrated ability to manage priorities and generate quality results on concurrent assignments.
- Organisational and personal attributes: Excellent personal organisational and work planning skills, demonstrating high productivity and ability to manage competing work priorities; high personal and work ethics; and a successful record of project development and management. Solutions-oriented approach to working with clients and within the team. Proven ability to plan and organize work independently, and meet deadlines.
- Teamwork: Good interpersonal skills, demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds. Ability to work successfully as part of a team is essential.
- Skills: Quality-related methods and techniques including quality management tools, social responsibility and environmental management methods and techniques and their application.
- International relations: Ability to work in the international arena, and deal with other international organisations. A significant amount of international travel is required (up to 100 days per year).
- Relationship Management: Interpersonal skills to deal effectively with the auditing role and remain professional when there are complaints and / or conflicts of interest.
- Well-developed analytical and systematic problem solving skills, demonstrating sound reasoning abilities and logical decision-making.
Qualification and Experience
Education and knowledge
- Advanced university degree in a discipline relevant to the forestry (e.g. environmental sciences, botany, ecology, forestry, sociology, economics) or a combination of relevant academic qualifications and extensive professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
- Background in quality and/or environmental management systems (ISO 9000, ISO 14000 or OHSAS) is an asset.
Work experience
- Knowledge of FSC or other forestry certification systems.
- Minimum of 5 years professional experience in an area of work relevant to forestry evaluation (e.g. forest management, postgraduate research, consultancy).
- Experience as lead auditor for any Forestry schemes or any quality management or environmental system is an asset.
- Advanced skills in the use of computers, including the use of standard MS Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Adobe Acrobat). Proficient and competent use of electronic information systems and databases.
Working Conditions
- ASI is looking for an expert working on a subcontract basis. Depending on experience, an initial training period may require a stay of up to 3 months in our office in Bonn. Thereafter, the location is flexible
- ASI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
How to apply:
All applications including full CV/resume and a covering motivation letter should be sent to Mr. Uriel Barrantes, Accreditation Program Officer: u.barrantes@accreditation-services.com; or by post to the address at the top of the document. Please provide an indication of an expected daily rate for subcontractor services as ASI FSC Lead Assessor.
The deadline for sending applications is 7th February 2013.
Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
The successful applicant will be expected to start as soon as possible.
