Impacts and Assurance Associate (Smallholder Representation and Shared Investment Mechanism)

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Position Impacts and Assurance Associate (Smallholder Representation and Shared Investment Mechanism)
Department Impacts and Assurance
Reporting To Impacts and Assurance Manager
Employment Type Full Time
Work Arrangements Flexible
Effective Date ASAP
Location Southeast Asia

PURPOSE OF POSITION

The Impacts and Assurance Associate will be responsible for supporting smallholder engagement and representation and managing GPSNR’s Shared Investment Mechanism projects and processes. This role will also contribute to other organisational workstreams such as communications, admin support, and finance.

ABOUT GPSNR

Founded in 2019, the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber is an international, multistakeholder, voluntary membership organisation, with a mission to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. GPSNR currently has 300+ members which represents over 60% of global natural rubber volume.

At GPSNR, we value diversity in experiences and backgrounds. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and our employees are people with different strengths, experiences and backgrounds, who share a passion for improving sustainability and equity practices in supply chains. Diversity for us not only includes race and gender identity, but also nationality, age, disability status, parenthood, sexual orientation, religion and many other parts of one’s identity. All of our employee’s points of view are key to our success, and inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.

ABOUT YOU

You are driven by a passion to generate meaningful change in the tropical commodity sector, particularly through enhancing the livelihoods and capabilities of smallholder farmers. Your main responsibilities include support the operational processes of the Shared Investment Mechanism, overseeing the implementation and monitoring of SIM projects, and facilitating smallholder participation in the platform, ensuring they are actively engaged and well informed about ongoing initiatives. You communicate clearly across cultures, work well independently, and can manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, international environment. You bring both operational rigour and the interpersonal warmth needed to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Support the management of GPSNR Shared Investment Mechanism process, including overseeing open calls for SIM projects, evaluation cycles, fund tracking, and coordination with working groups, governance bodies, and finance. Ensure templates, documentation, and guidance materials are maintained and accessible.
  • Support the management of full project lifecycle for SIM funded projects, from agreement negotiation through implementation monitoring to reporting and close out. This includes managing contracts and payments, reviewing progress reports, identifying and mitigating/escalating risks, and ensuring alignment with deliverables, timelines, budgets, and GPSNR requirements.
  • Plan and conduct field visits to verify GPSNR project implementation, engage with project stakeholders, and prepare field reports with findings and recommendations.
  • Support smallholder engagement activities, including coordination of interpretation and translation, meeting logistics, stakeholder communications, maintenance of smallholder records and onboarding processes, and manage the Rubber Wiki platform.
  • Support the communications team in activities related to smallholder engagement and SIM projects, including developing relevant communication content.
  • Contribute to broader organisational workstreams, including administrative support, meeting coordination, and cross team collaboration.
  • Perform additional duties as assigned.

REQUIRED COMPETENCES & QUALIFICATIONS

  • Ability to manage a broad range of responsibilities, including administration and finance, while handling multiple priorities effectively.
  • Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and processes across different geographies and stakeholder groups.
  • Excellent organisational and administrative skills with strong attention to detail and accuracy.
  • Self-disciplined and proactive, with good judgment in identifying and escalating risks and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
  • Clear and effective communication skills to ensure efficient and effective information exchange.
  • High level of emotional intelligence and sensitivity when engaging with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, including team members, smallholder farmers, corporate representatives, civil society, and government partners.
  • Strong problem solving ability and adaptability to changing conditions and competing priorities.
  • Initiative in developing strategies, procedures, and documentation templates to support platform operations.
  • High level of emotional intelligence and team citizenship.
  • Willingness to travel to project sites in natural rubber producing countries, including Southeast Asia and West Africa.

ADVANTAGEOUS COMPETENCES & QUALIFICATIONS

  • Prior experience in project management in the sustainability, agriculture, or development sector.
  • Experience in stakeholder coordination, fund administration, or governance processes in an international or multistakeholder environment.
  • Familiarity with natural rubber supply chains, smallholder livelihoods, or tropical commodity sectors.
  • Familiarity with digital platforms for knowledge sharing or community engagement.

Please send your application to cheewei@gpsnr.org with the email subject: [IA Associate (SH&SIM) – Your Name]

More To Explore

News

Secretariat Update – September 2019

This update was prepared by Assel Mussagaliyeva, Industry Relations and Academic Projects Manager, Essec Asia Pacific.

ESSEC Asia Pacific partnered with the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber for their first Global Manager in Asia (GMA) project. The GMA Project included diverse multinational companies and startups with strong Asian core: International Finance Corporation (IFC Fintech Group), Grab for Business, ACT Genomics, Creatella Ventures and GPSNR. Involving 148 ESSEC Master in Management students, the Project took place on 1 July – 11 September 2019, followed by the Final Jury.

The project results were in line with GPSNR priorities in the three Asian markets. The 6 student teams under the close guidance of Stefano Savi and Kobrat Sawasdivorn explored the challenges of the smallholder farmers affecting equity of the rubber supply chain in Thailand, China and Indonesia. The results of the student research will be presented to the GPSNR Working Groups.

Assel Mussagaliyeva, Industry Relations and Academic Projects Manager, said it was a good project both from a teaching perspective as well as practical experience for the students. Firstly, it was hands on experience challenging students to think ‘out of the box’ as it involved multiple layers: a variety of stakeholders, unfamiliar context, lack of industry knowledge and limited country data. Secondly, it was a great chance for the students to work on a big picture issue, especially in today’s world of climate change challenges. The project itself was well focused and narrow enough for the students to have an opportunity to make a tangible difference.

“ESSEC Asia Pacific is grateful to GPSNR for our collaboration on multiple levels,” said Mussagaliyeva. In March 2019, GPSNR participated at the ESSEC APAC Talent Day and offered internship for the Global BBA student Tanmay Daga. Following that, Stefano Savi participated in the first ESSEC APAC student-led TedX event as an invited speaker on sustainability. Soon after, the GMA Project scope was discussed.

“We look forward to working with GPSNR in the future,” said Mussagaliyeva. The mission of ESSEC Business School is to create and disseminate cutting-edge knowledge, to train and develop bold pioneers and influential leaders for both the business world and society. We encourage the students and programme participants to anticipate – and meet – the economic, managerial, social, environmental and ethical challenges of an increasingly uncertain world. These values align with GPSNR mission as sustainability is an integral part of responsible innovation. 

The Secretariat has also published the executive summary of minutes of each working group in the “News and Publications” section of the website. All members of the platform can login to the website to view the documents under the Members Only section. There are currently 2 working groups, the Strategy & Objectives working group chaired by James Laimos of Goodyear and the Smallholders Representation working group chaired by Ulrich Antoni of Pirelli. The executive summary of each working group will be updated on a bi-weekly basis. If you have any issues accessing the website, please send us an email at info@gpsnr.org.

News

The Road Ahead for GPSNR’s Working Groups

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

Moving forward, a key focus of the Strategy and Objectives Working Group is to look at increasing Working Group alignment within the Platform. Considering the interconnected nature of the work and the plan for Working Group-level Theories of Change, there is merit in bringing the Co-Chairs of Working Groups together to explore how to create better alignment. To this end, the Working Group is considering activities for the end of the year to build unity and alignment across all Working Groups.

The Working Group is also developing a procedure to assess external programs that are brought forward for GPSNR’s support, either by member organizations or by Working Groups. This process will involve evaluating the measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the project and to what degree the project links to GPSNR’s Theory of Change. 

Under the Equity sub-Group, the Living Income Gap studies for Indonesia and Thailand are now underway following the award of the proposals to the selected bidders.  

Smallholder Representation Working Group

Prior to the General Assembly (GA), the Smallholder Representation Working Group had organised three international calls to prepare smallholders for the GA. A fourth international call will be held sometime mid-October. 

In the lead-up to this final international call, a round of national calls are being held with the help of the various Country Champions. During these national calls, smallholder members will be able to gather their thoughts around the GA, approved resolutions and Executive Committee election results, as well as to think collectively about the issues they would like to cover as a category during the international call, and, moving forward, the details of the engagement mechanism they wish to implement within the category.

Post-GA, the Smallholder Representation Working Group will explore how best to integrate members of the newest category into the various Working Groups. The Working Group is also looking at its exit strategy, having achieved the goals set out for it in its Terms of Reference document.   

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

Following the approval of the proposed policy framework, a multi-stakeholder Technical Working Group will be set up to draft the Implementation Guidance for member companies. 

Concurrently, the Working Group will also develop a policy equivalent and implementation guidance for smallholder producers, and civil society.   

The Shared Responsibility Working Group, whose creation was approved by the Executive Committee, will be established to identify how the responsibilities and costs of implementing sustainable natural rubber initiatives can be more equitably distributed across stakeholder categories. It will help to inform the development of the Implementation Guidance, while bearing in mind that whatever requirements are defined for smallholder members, those members should not carry the burden of a higher cost to implement sustainability activities and comply with the Policy or Implementation Guidance to be developed.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

At the end of July 2020, the Capacity Building Working Group had presented finalized capacity building strategies for four selected countries, to the Executive Committee.

For its next steps, the Working Group will be developing implementation guidelines and an evaluation framework. This will be crucial in ensuring that the various capacity building activities are put in place in a concise and effective manner leading to the outcomes framed in GPSNR’s Theory of Change. The Working Group will continue to discuss the feasibility and find consensus on an approach that relates to carbon compensation schemes around natural rubber. 

Finally, the Working Group will also refine its group structure to better address the changing roles and responsibilities it now faces.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Working Group has awarded the GIS Database and Mapping Tools study to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the Traceability and Transparency Tools Comparison study to e-Audit Hong-Kong Limited (e-Audit). 

The studies are ongoing, and the Working Group will then use those studies to develop next steps as well as recommendations to the Executive Committee.

The Working Group will also be continuing conversations on risk-based approach methods to evaluating field-level legal, social and environmental risks.

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