Senior Environmental Certification Specialist

The guiding principle of Manulife Investment Management’s timberland and agriculture businesses is that good stewardship is good business. We manage our forests and farms not only to secure competitive financial returns, but also to achieve key environmental and social objectives.

The Senior Environmental Certification Specialist is a key contributor to our mission and is an integral part of a team of investment professionals, risk managers, and forestry/farm managers spanning more than twenty states and four Canadian provinces. This role supports the programmatic management of certification and stewardship across timberland and agriculture sectors, with a focus on Manulife Investment Management’s timberland in North America. This role will administer certification and stewardship program activities such as coordinating third-party audits, conducting internal audits, maintaining conformance evidence, creating program summary reports, and leading the improvement and development of conformance practices and evidence with team members. The person in this position maintains external relationships related to stewardship and certification and is the subject matter expert to support company leadership and several internal business teams. The ideal candidate is a communicative self-starter with a forestry background and strong organizational, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.

Location: Hybrid working arrangement from either Boston, Charlotte or Vancouver highly preferred. Open to candidates for full time remote in US.

Position Responsibilities:

• Lead the third-party audit process, planning and attending all audits, providing evidence to the auditor, and preparing and supporting operations staff

• Lead continual improvement activities with operations staff, such as developing or refining processes and evidence. Provide to Operations other certification related information and services

• Provide regular stewardship training and certification program communication to operations staff and dedicated Stewardship Coordinators

• Perform internal audits to monitor company conformance to the objectives of the certification standards we are committed to (eg. SFI, FSC)

• Coordinate with standards bodies (eg. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and auditors on certification related requirements

• Develop, improve, and maintain several pieces of conformance evidence and management system documentation such as summarized data spreadsheets and policies.

• Report internally and externally upon sustainability metrics, stewardship projects, and certification program happenings

• Provide customer-service oriented support for leadership and other internal business teams as it relates to certification and stewardship

• Maintain external relationships such as certification bodies, auditing firms, stewardship partners, and industry organizations

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Forestry, Environmental Science, Sustainability, or a related field

• 5+ years of experience in the forestry industry

• 5+ years of program or project management experience

• Willingness for 35+ days travel per year

• Proven ability to work with all types of individuals both internal and external to the organization and function well in team settings.

• Must have demonstrated strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to apply those skills to contentious issues.

• Demonstrated strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple small to medium sized projects with conflicting priorities.

• Must be highly motivated and entrepreneurial while being accountable for own work.

• Must be able to apply sound judgment in decision making with a strong orientation to detailed and high-quality work.

• Confidence using Microsoft Suite (eg. Power Point, Excel)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with sustainability certification programs

• Experience writing and presenting high level reports to senior leadership

• Experience managing external relationships

When you join our team:

• We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.

• We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.

• As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

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About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions ea