Senior Director, Standards and Market Access

ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION:

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) is a non‑profit leader dedicated to advancing sustainability through forest‑focused collaborations. A key driver of SFI’s success is its ability to engage diverse communities to deliver across its 4 pillars:
Standards, Conservation, Community, Education. At SFI, we aim to foster a culture where everyone feels valued, empowered, and supported in advancing sustainability through forest‑focused collaborations.

This position is integral to the SFI Standards Pillar team, who work to advance sustainable forestry and responsible purchasing globally through certification standards and certified products.

The Senior Director, Standards reports to the Senior VP, Customer Affairs. This position supports SFI’s efforts to ensure and advance global relevancy and responsible forestry by ensuring the ongoing integrity of SFI’s Standards and Modules. Additionally, the role provides technical and strategic support to ensure the SFI Standards reduce risk in the supply chain, ensure sustainable forest management, and respond to marketplace needs through customer and investor engagement.

The Senior Director also leads SFI’s standard revision process and manages endorsement activities with PEFC.

• Lead the Integrity, Development, and Maintenance of SFI Standards
• Serve as SFI staff lead on all strategic and technical aspects of the SFI 2022 Forest Management Standard, SFI 2022 Fiber Sourcing Standard, and SFI 2022 Chain of Custody Standard.
• Lead SFI’s Auditor Certification and Accreditation functions, including managing the SFI Auditors Forum, responding to auditor accreditation questions, coordinating responses to complaints, and overseeing interpretations and guidance requests from Certified Organizations, Certification Bodies, Accreditation Bodies, and other stakeholders.
• Oversee the SFI Standard Revision Process, including facilitating committee meetings, managing the public comment process, and leading all related webinars.
• Support growth in the number of organizations certified to the SFI Forest Management, Fiber Sourcing, and Chain of Custody Standards by meeting with new and potential certified organizations.

• Build and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, including but not limited to governments, Indigenous communities, conservation organizations, woodlot owners, forest product industries, and environmental NGOs.
• Engage directly with customers and supply‑chain partners to support and expand market access for SFI Certified Organizations.
• Represent SFI at sustainability events, international forums, and related dialogues, including public speaking and participation in task groups and committees.
• Engage with global sustainability frameworks and consortiums to ensure alignment and integration with SFI Standard requirements with guidance from Senior VP, Costumer Affairs.
• Advance the visibility, market acceptance, and specific demand for SFI in emerging investor and business innovation opportunities.

• Lead the SFI endorsement process with PEFC, ensure continued international credibility of SFI Standards, and represent SFI on PEFC task groups and committees related to meta‑standards and global alignment.
• Develop and oversee technical guidance materials, FAQs, interpretations, training modules, and other resources to support consistent implementation of SFI Standards.
• Provide technical expertise to SFI staff, certified organizations, certification bodies, and external partners on standard requirements and implementation expectations.
• Serve as the technical lead for SFI’s external communications on standards, including content development for reports, web updates, briefings, and customer‑facing materials.
• Support internal teams:
  Communications, Conservation, Urban & Community Forestry, and Education with technical input to ensure consistent and accurate representation of SFI Standards.

This position will not initially have…