ASI Accreditation Lead Assessor – RSPO Accreditation Program

Accreditation Services International GmbH (ASI) is the leading international accreditation body offering third party accreditation for voluntary certification schemes, including the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).  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 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) and RSPO Supply Chain Certification (SCCS) conducted in accordance with the requirements of the RSPO certification systems and standards.

LAs play an essential role in ensuring the robustness and credibility of the RSPO program by evaluating conformance of CABs. The position provides an opportunity for intellectually challenging and stimulating work on a variety of global palm oil grower/producer and processor issues and assessments.

Responsibilities

LAs carry out assessments in a number of ways: these involve undertaking audits of CABs against RSPO requirements through onsite inspections of CABs’ records, systems and documents; desk review, and by witnessing CAB P&C and SCCS audits.

The main tasks are:

• Assessment of, and communication with, RSPO accredited and applicant CABs.
• 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 as necessary.
• Providing technical support on issues relating to complaints and appeals.

Competencies required

• Professionalism: Expert knowledge of palm oil management (or a relevant area of work, e.g.  tropical agriculture, ecology or social science), accreditation and/or certification is essential.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills in English are essential and fluency in at least one other relevant language is desired (i.e. Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, or Portuguese).
• 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.

Qualifications and Experience

 Education and knowledge

• Advanced university degree in a discipline relevant to palm oil management (e.g. tropical agriculture, environmental sciences, botany, ecology, forestry, sociology, or economics).  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, SA8000 or OHSAS) is an asset.

Work experience

• Knowledge of RSPO or other relevant certification systems.
• Minimum of 5 years professional experience in an area of work relevant to palm oil management (e.g. plantation management, postgraduate research, consultancy).
• Experience as a lead auditor in quality management or environmental systems 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 subcontracted basis. Depending on experience, an initial training period may require a stay of up to 3 months based in our office in Bonn. Thereafter, the location is flexible.  Candidates who have the relevant expertise in palm oil management / crop production and are based in South East Asia will be preferred.  Additionally however candidates based in Europe with the relevant supply chain / traceability experience will also be considered.

• 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 RSPO Lead Assessor.

The deadline for sending applications is 2^nd ofMarch 2013.

Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
The successful applicant will be expected to start as soon as possible.