Product Coordinator Coffee Cocoa Tea

Do you want to be involved in the international dynamics of sustainability, where ideals and pragmatism meet?

UTZ Certified is a label and a program for sustainable farming worldwide. Our mission is to create a world where sustainable farming is the norm. Sustainable farming helps farmers, workers and their families to fulfill their ambitions and contributes to safeguard the world's resources, now and in the future.

UTZ Certified is one of the largest programs for responsibly produced coffee, tea and cocoa in the world, working across all continents with leading brands and retailers, such as Mars, Ahold, IKEA, D.E Master Blenders 1753, Migros, Tchibo and Nestle.

UTZ Certified is headquartered in Amsterdam and works closely with its partner network in Africa, Asia and Latin America. UTZ Certified is looking to hire a:

Product Coordinator Coffee Cocoa Tea

As the product coordinator you are the spider in the web, able to perform on different levels and to work on different projects simultaneously. The work varies from coordinating (incl. hands on operational activities), developing and managing projects and improvement processes, and providing analytical input and insights on the further development of our products. With your analytical capabilities, knowledge of sustainable supply chains, understanding of the cocoa, coffee and/or tea sectors, and strong interpersonal skills, you coordinate the identification of relevant trends and developments in these sectors and clients' needs. You manage projects and improvement processes to translate these insights and client's needs into new program requirements. You will work closely with external and internal stakeholders, for which you have proven communicational skills. You have affinity with IT and are able to develop business cases for major change requests for our business-critical software systems, in particular for traceability. You are ambitious, energetic, a team player, and a self-starter.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Coordinate and manage the translation of relevant sector developments and clients' needs into UTZ Certified program improvements, including functional IT requirements.
• Manage and implement cross-departmental and multidisciplinary projects and internal process improvements, thereby ensuring relevance for, and synergy of, the different UTZ Certified programs.
• Secretary to the UTZ Product Advisory Committees for Cocoa and Coffee (incl. the hands on administration)
• Support and give input to strategic decision-making by the UTZ Certified Executive Team on major program improvements

The Product Coordinator reports to the Head of Product Management.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS:

• MSc in international business, development economics, or related field
• Minimal 8 years of relevant work experience
• Experience in the cocoa and/or coffee supply chains
• Knowledgeable on the sustainability- and certification landscape and debates
• Experienced in managing multidisciplinary projects
• Experience in providing content and commercial support to strategic decision making and negotiations is a plus
• Analytical, able to quickly gain overview and insight
• Service-oriented and decisive
• Networker and connector with a pro-active attitude
• Excellent in English

Employment is based upon 32 - 40 hours/week. The position is based in Amsterdam and implies occasional travel to producing countries. This position is open to applicants of all nationalities, however, we can only consider candidates who have, may get or do not need a work and residency permit for the Netherlands.

Please send your application (1-page letter and 2-page CV, including references) toapplication@duurzaamheidwerkt.nl before April 21, 2014 mentioning Product Coordinator Coffee Cocoa Tea in the subject line. For more information about this position please contact Thamar Zijlstra: +31 (0) 6 41 89 98 46.

More information about UTZ Certified: www.utzcertified.org.

This is your opportunity to create real value for a meaningful global sustainability initiative!

Commercial inquiries and applications (via intermediary) regarding this vacancy are not appreciated.