Forest Certification Coordinator

Who we are. At Mercer International Inc., our vision to transform biomass into bioproducts for a more sustainable world is being realized every day.

We are a diversified global producer of forest products, bioproducts, and green electricity with operations in Canada, Germany, and the United States.

We have a consolidated annual production capacity of approximately 2.0 million tonnes of kraft pulp, 960 million board feet of softwood lumber and 200,000 m3 of mass timber products.

What we believe. We believe that a culture of diversity and inclusion is critical in making the best decisions for our people and achieving sustainable business success.

Together, we encourage, support, and celebrate the diverse voices of our employees. We strive to provide an inclusive culture by fostering an environment of mutual respect, fairness, and by providing opportunities to contribute and grow.

Position Description

Reporting to the VP - Sustainability & Innovation, the Forest Certification Coordination will lead the North American forest certification program for Mercer.

They will use their subject matter expertise in forest certification processes to lead internal and external audits for the 3 Canadian and 2 U.

S. Mercer operations and support our forest management, fiber purchasing and product sales organizations and draw on knowledge and experience in forest certification to ensure the success of Mercer’s program.

This role will work with our forest management and fiber procurement teams to oversee the certification systems and processes to ensure compliance to the certification standards.

This role can be a virtual role performed from British Columbia, Alberta or located at the Vancouver corporate office.

Responsibilities

• Assist and advise management on matters related to forest certification or other supporting practices related to maintaining responsible and sustainable forest management.
• Disseminate the corporate strategies in forest certification to the divisional managers
• Coordinate and support the divisions with respect to various forestry issues including regulation, policy and government programs
• Represent the company on various files and committees of a technical nature with industry associations and government
• Maintain and coordinate, in collaboration with the divisions, the forest management certification and chain of custody systems for the company's sites, including managing the "Central Function" required for multi-site certificates and the use of forest certification labels in our marketing initiatives
• Maintain the comprehensive multi-site certification program
• Maintain the risk assessment and credit management systems for certified products for the pulp, lumber and mass timber businesses
• Support the implementation and maintenance of the EUDR requirements for the North American operations
• Coordinate, develop, manage and participate in internal verification audits of systems
• Lead initiatives to increase the percentage of forest certification for wood purchasing in North America
• Prepare management reviews as required by the normative requirements, write minutes and perform the necessary follow-ups
• Coordinate or carry out calls for tender with registrars and manage budgets required to maintain certification
• Coordinate and participate in annual external registration and verification audits
• Train and assist regional contributors to certification programs as required
• Stay current with changes to forest regulation, policy and certification standards; inform divisional coordinators and adapt corporate and divisional systems as necessary
• Take part in consultations on proposed changes to certification standards
• Sit on regional and national committees of the various Certification Standard organizations as required
• Support our pulp, lumber and mass timber sales organization with customer engagement
• Support the development of LCA’s for the mass timber products
• Collaborate in answering clients' questions related to forest certification, chain of custody and forest practices
• Collaborate on the preparation of corporate annual reports
• Keep regular certification related corporate statistics
• Advise management on matters related to product certification
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in forestry or a related discipline such as environmental science or natural resources
• Member of the Registered Professional Foresters (RPF) association OR a member of a related professional association.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in forest certification standards and processes including auditing
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Knowledge of forest certification frameworks and organizations (SFI, PEFC and FSC).
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage budgets, timelines, and resources effectively.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present large amounts of information to audiences both in person and electronically.
• Knowledge of legislation and policy governing sustainable forest management in British Columbia and Alberta
• Ability to work as a team member, communicate with all levels of the organization and adapt quickly to change

Salary & Benefits

• The salary for this position is $95,000 - $110,000. Salary will be commensurate with education and experience.
• Our group benefits package, which has no waiting period, includes extended health and dental benefits, in addition to a Health Care Spending Account and a fitness allowance.
• RRSP - We provide a competitive RRSP contribution plan, with base contributions made by Mercer which can be supplemented with personal contributions matched by the company up to a certain %.
4 hours ago