New Post At Ethical Apparel Africa

Ethical Apparel Africa (www.ethicalapparelafrica.com) is a UK limited company that provides consultancy and sourcing support to apparel brands wanting to grow their Africa manufacturing base with social and environmental impact. EAA provides intensive capacity building to factories to develop them technically and ethically to international export standards. Our goal is to create a network of exceptional factories that deliver quality, cost competitive product while empowering employees across the African continent.

Job Description

Job Title: Social Impact Manager

Company description

Ethical Apparel Africa is a social enterprise working to dispel the myth that it’s impossible to manufacture cost-competitive, quality clothing while also achieving high ethical standards. We work at the frontier of apparel manufacturing in West and East Africa, providing capacity building to factories to develop them technically and ethically to international export standards. Our clients are international brands interested in growing a manufacturing base in Africa with social and environmental impact.

EAA’s social impact strategy is wide-reaching but focuses on three phases of development in partner factories:

1. Establishing factory compliance with full international standards on working environment and pay;
2. Supporting factories to onboard new workers with comprehensive health & safety and workers’ rights training;
3. Identifying and implementing impact, living wage and empowerment programs in a participative process that solicits and prioritizes worker voices.

Social Impact Manager role

The Social Impact Manager will be based in Accra and report to the Director of Social Impact. This person will be accountable for the following initial project areas (with guidance / support from the Director of Social Impact) and will have the opportunity to steadily take on more responsibility as they grow in the role:

Audit and Action Plan for compliance

• Prepare for third party ethical compliance audits conducted at our partner factories (including review of tools / materials, facilitation of logistics)
• Conduct internal risk assessments and agree on corrective action plans with factory managers
• Conduct follow up visits at the factory to verify progress against corrective action plan
• Work with third parties to gather worker feedback

Factory capacity building

• Support factory in building management systems for social, health & safety and environmental best practices & compliance
• Support development of training programs on compliance and worker empowerment for factory managers
• In collaboration with the factory managers, develop health & safety / workers’ rights aspects of  training programs for factory workers
• Support factory in the process of becoming internationally certified (e.g. WRAP certification)

Impact projects development

• Facilitate preparation of partner brands’ visits at the factory to highlight progress and vision on impact, with the goal of developing engaged / sustained brand partnerships
• Develop partnerships with relevant stakeholders – such as local businesses (CSR efforts) or local NGOs – willing to engage in impact projects (social and environmental)
• Work to implement mechanisms by which EAA can directly understand workers’ most critical needs and priorities in terms of benefits / impact programs (such as text based or in person surveys or focus groups)
• Contribute to the design of innovative social and environmental programs within factories

Report and Communication

• Work closely with the Director of Social Impact to develop competitive proposals for funding and support for impact
• Complete monthly reports on factory progress, risk analysis and next priorities
• Develop marketing material on factory social impact to share with partner brands
• Actively communicate with the Technical and Brand Partnership teams to align strategies for factory development

Regulatory watch

• Ensure in-depth ongoing research on international standards and local law requirements to ensure sustainable compliance for the countries where EAA operates

Required Skills or Experience

The ideal candidate will be a person with a strong desire to learn and contribute within a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment. We are looking for someone with:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Social Sciences, Project Management, Economics or relevant international development field or specialized training/certification in monitoring and evaluation
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in a similar role
• Knowledge of apparel industry Human & Labour rights practices with clear understanding of trending issues
• Experience in data collection and analysis, report writing, training and facilitation and evaluation design
• Demonstrated leadership capacity including ability to create fruitful and inspiring partnership
• High level of proficiency with MS Office
• Exceptional speaking and presentation skills across cultures
• Proactive approach to learning, ability to think critically to identify improvement areas, and drive to independently own and execute on deliverables
• Fluency in English and preferred in French also
• Passion for working in an enterprise with a social mission
• Evidence of the following characteristics: Self aware and puts others before themselves; flexible, resilient and adaptable; tenacious, persistent and resourceful; poised, professional presence; active listener; fun to work with; full of integrity; ability to multi-task and thrive in a fast-paced environment

How to Apply

Please send a resume and a separate and specific cover letter for this position to [email protected], using the reference “SOC IMP ASSOC” as the object of your email.

Only complete applications with accurate reference will be considered and only the most qualified candidates will be short-listed for interview.