Value Chain Development Officer (m/f/d)

The Mission

FSC works to take care of our forests and those who rely on them: by protecting plant and animal species, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, forest workers’ safety, and much more. We achieve this through FSC certification, ensuring forests around the world are responsibly managed. For more information on FSC, visit our website at www.fsc.org.

To effectively meet the challenge of protecting the world’s forests, we are committed to ensuring we have the world’s most skilled people working with us. This commitment extends to everyone that works in FSC around the world: from those that lead the design of policies and standards, to those that roll out those same policies and standards on the ground, and to those that provide us with backbone to do our work.

We are looking for an engaged Value Chain Development Officer who brings solid expertise and a passion for FSC’s mission, to work with us in a multinational environment.

The Scope:

To grow sustainable value chains and increase the uptake and awareness of FSC by implementing value chain development strategy. Based on market intelligence, the incumbent develops and transforms value chains by targeting key players and collaborating with them to implement effective action plans.

Main Roles and Responsibilities:

• To analyse market needs and opportunities of key value chains for FSC.
• To drive, track and report market transformation activities with market intelligence materials.
• To lead, coordinate or implement projects to foster trade and increase uptake of FSC in the corporate sector.
• To identify and manage external and internal communication channels for relevant value chains (e.g. events, campaigns, market news articles, intranet, customer relation management system).
• To coordinate and produce sector specific marketing and communication materials in collaboration with the responsible departments.
• To manage the implementation and coordination of partnerships/relationships between FSC and relevant value chain players.
• To coordinate key account relations across other FSC programs globally.
• To represent FSC at market related events.
• Additional tasks as agreed with the Value Chain Development Programme Manager.

Qualifications, Experience and Skills:

Education and Training: University degree, or equivalent in a relevant field (e.g. Business Administration, Marketing, Economics, Forest Products, Public Relations).

Working Experience, Style and Skills:

• Demonstrated professional experience or professional training in one or more of the following: market development, key account management, supply chain management, marketing, circular economy and/or related fields.
• Ability to manage complex projects in a multi-cultural environment.
• Strong analytical skills including experience in data analysis for market intelligence.
• Collaborative working style and team player.
• Strategic thinking and business mindset.
• Budget management.
• Networking skills.
• Creativity and problem-solving skills.
• Advanced time management and organizational skills.
• Service and solution-oriented attitude to work.
• Knowledge of packaging/paper/hygiene industry, market, value chain, and trends is a plus.
• Experience in merchandizing is a plus.
• Experience in forest-based industries would be an advantage.

Computer Skills:

• Standard software packages (MS Office).
• Customer Relations Management (CRM) systems, for example salesforce.

Language and Communication Skills:

• Fluency in English (spoken and written).
• Other language proficiency is a plus (e.g. German, Japanese, Spanish).
• Exemplary verbal and written communication skills that contribute to cohesive team efforts and decision making.
• Active-listening skills.

Terms and Conditions:

• Location: Bonn, Germany.
• Working Hours: Full time – 40 hours per week.
• Duration of Employment: 2 years contract (extension possible, subject to satisfactory performance).
• Starting Date: As soon as possible.
• Travel: Sporadic travel is required.