Project Director

Project Director – REMOTE

Introducing Supply Trace

Supply Trace is an open-access tool that identifies potential risks in global supply chains to enable effective due diligence and accountability. The tool was created to incentivize and enable businesses, and other stakeholders, to mitigate and provide remedy for adverse human rights and climate impacts in global supply chains.

The pilot phase of the product was launched in March 2024 and focuses on identifying Uyghur forced labor risk in apparel supply chains. Supply Trace will progressively expand to other sectors, affected regions and categories of risk, with a focus on the implications of climate change and how people working in global supply chains will be affected.

While Supply Trace will always remain an open-access product, in the short – mid-term it will launch a series of Premium Features, which form an essential part of its longer-term financial sustainability. Supply Trace receives funding from Laudes Foundation and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.

Supply Trace Team

Currently a research project incubated at Northeastern University, Supply Trace is led by Shawn Bhimani, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Northeastern University.

The pilot phase of Supply Trace has been built by a team of Undergraduate and Masters students at Northeastern University. Since the launch of the pilot phase, additional professional-level expertise has been added to the team, including a Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Technical Lead, Product Manager and UX Advisor.

About the Role

In this full time position, the Project Director leads Supply Trace, overseeing daily operations of the work and is responsible for strategic direction and planning; fundraising and funder liaison; operating within budget; promoting the organization to raise its profile and up-take of the platform; and reporting to the Advisory Board, among additional leadership tasks. This role replaces the out-going Project Director.

Strategic Expansion and Growth

• Following the launch of Supply Trace in March 2024, drives the expansion strategy across three pillars:
  • Sectoral expansion
  • Geographic expansion
  • Risk expansion
• Drives forward the strategic expansion of Supply Trace for the period Q2 2025 - Q3 2027, centring the mission & impact of the platform at the heart of its development
• Continues oversight of the organisational design process to determine the most appropriate long-term governance structure for Supply Trace. The next phase of exploration includes consideration of an institutional home for the product or, if spun out as an independent non-profit entity, which jurisdiction would be most appropriate to establish the non-profit in

Governance & Board relations

• Acts as main point of contact for Advisory Board members
• Collaborates with individual Advisory Board members to incorporate their expertise and support into the development of Supply Trace
• Leads on establishment of governance processes, dependent on final determination of appropriate governance structure for the organisation

Stakeholder Engagement

• Oversees and contributes to execution of stakeholder engagement strategy for Supply Trace, ensuring up-take of the platform and realisation of its intended impact
• Supervises gathering of case studies and testimonials on deployment of Supply Trace data, with a particular focus on civil society and business use of the product

Business Development

• Relationship management of core funders, including Laudes Foundation and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
• Leads on timely reporting to funders, as well as responding to ad-hoc funder requests
• Researches, pursues, and secures new funders and funding streams for Supply Trace
• Development and submission of proposals / one-pagers to potential new funders
• Formalises partnerships with pro bono / in-kind “funders” including data partnerships, technical partners, and others

Communications, Marketing and Partnerships

• Oversight over focus areas, key messaging, and partnerships to ensure the mission and direction of Supply Trace is clear and compelling
• Main, initial point of contact for in-bound press enquiries
• Oversight of external PR consultant, when engaged on contract work
• Oversight of visual rebrand, and rebuild of Supply Trace marketing / resources website
• Oversight of external communications channels, including LinkedIn, YouTube and newsletters
• Represents Supply Trace externally at conferences, convenings and other events, as they arise
• Executes partnerships strategy for Supply Trace, comprising:
  • Partnerships for the “day to day” running of the platform e.g. data partnerships, stakeholder engagement partnerships
  • Strategic partnership development for the next phase of Supply Trace’s growth

Management of

• Stakeholder Engagement Manager
• CTO (when hired)
• Product Manager (will switch to management by the CTO, when hired)
• Technical Lead (will switch to management by the CTO, when hired)
• UX Advisor (will switch to management by the CTO, when hired)

Compensation

• 55,000 - 70,000 USD over a fixed initial term of 6 months, dependent on experience.

Requirements

Essential

• 12+ years’ professional experience in the sustainability sector, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience at senior management / leadership level
• Enjoys engaging with a diverse range of global stakeholders, building and strengthening relationships, understanding user needs and building strong relationships with Advisors
• Demonstrated business development experience, including evidence of:
  • Securing multi-year philanthropic funding, including the on-going relationship management
  • Diversifying revenue streams beyond exclusive dependence on philanthropic funding
• Strong communicator, excellent presenter
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Experience in, or a desire to be a part of, a start-up and / or small team environment
• Experience in designing, building and managing distributed and / or fully remote teams
• This role can be located anywhere geographically, provided the candidate is willing and able to work for a minimum of 4 hours overlap with standard working hours (9am – 5pm) of the Eastern US time zone

Desirable

• Experience in global supply chains
• Experience in Tech for Good
• Experience in global supply chain software, open data and/or open-source projects
• Experience working with academic institutions

Apply:

• To apply for this position, please submit your CV, a cover letter (no more than two pages each), a sample of your writing (e.g. a public blog, LinkedIn post(s) or Medium article(s)) and any additional files / portfolio / showcase of work you would like to share (optional) here.
• Deadline: Close of business 23rd March 2025.

This role will be hired on a contractor basis by Northeastern University for an initial term of 6 months. Contract can be renewed and extended based on performance and fit in the role / organization.

This role has enormous growth potential alongside the expansion of Supply Trace

Evaluation Stages

Recruitment for this role will consist of a minimum of two 45 mins interviews and a potential third round interview of 45 mins. A short task will be set between interview rounds one and two.

About Supply Trace

Supply Trace is an open-access tool that identifies potential risks in global supply chains to enable effective due diligence and accountability. The tool was created to incentivize and enable businesses, and other stakeholders, to mitigate and provide remedy for adverse human rights and climate impacts in global supply chains.

It does this by highlighting potential risks in specific production locations and presenting the data in an accessible, open platform. Supply Trace is available for anyone with an interest in understanding and improving supply chain conditions. Users include companies, civil society, governments, trade experts, human rights defenders, lawyers, auditors, advocates, journalists, researchers and more.

Currently a research project incubated at Northeastern University, the Supply Trace methodology has been developed by academic subject matter experts. The base layer of trade data in Supply Trace consists of shipping and bill of lading data, which is overlaid with a layer of desk-based research intelligence. This research is conducted by a team of experts who have lived experience of the issues Supply Trace seeks to address.

For more about Supply Trace:

• Run a Trace
• Learn more about the Supply Trace
• Watch our introductory webinar

Our Commitment

Supply Trace is committed to creating an inclusive and representative environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.