- Position Title: Circularity Specialist – Full time
- Reports to: Executive Director
- Location: Canada (Remote)
- Salary Range: $76,000 – $83,000 for 40 hours/week
About the Organization:
Fashion Takes Action is Canada’s premier not for profit organization, established in 2007, with a mission to advance sustainability, ethics and circularity in the entire fashion system. Our role is to remove barriers to sustainability through education, awareness, research and collaboration.
FTA believes that diverse and inclusive teams are critical to our success. Our ability to draw on a variety of perspectives enables us to provide more focused, innovative, and relevant programs. We strive, each and every day, to foster and maintain an inclusive work environment in which team members can bring their true selves to work; difference is embraced; and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
About the Job:
The Circularity Specialist will work closely with our executive director and other strategic partners to develop and lead this new platform to support Canada’s transition to a circular textiles economy. We are looking for someone with a demonstrated interest in, and strong knowledge of the circular fashion landscape and who is not afraid to lead multiple projects as part of the Canadian Circular Textiles Consortium (CCTC). The role requires a systems thinker with excellent verbal and written communication skills; and proven experience in strategy, multi-stakeholder engagement, research and collaboration.
Responsibilities:
- Assist in the development of both the strategy and organizational structure of the Canadian Circular Textiles Consortium (CCTC) together with Circular Economy Leadership Canada (CELC) and other key strategic partners
- Help to implement the strategy and iterate as needed
- Build and maintain strong relationships with partners and create a supportive and enabling environment for them to effectively participate in CCTC activities to bring their maximum potential and get value from their engagement
- Co-lead quarterly CCTC partner meetings (virtually)
- Provide support related to the CCTC online platform, and ensure all partners have profiles and are using the platform
- Help to establish working groups and determine goals, assign roles etc
- Oversee all working groups and meet regularly with project leads
- Schedule and host virtual meetings for members of all working groups
- Provide summaries/updates, monitor and report on progress (internally to FTA’s executive team; and externally to all CCTC partners)
- On-going communication and support for all CCTC partners
- Collaborate on FTA-led research and pilot projects related to the CCTC
- Assist in conducting research (ie literature reviews, survey development, analytics, interviews etc)
- Contribute to writing reports for various projects
- Provide FTA’s Communications team with regular updates/announcements etc
- Assist with fundraising and grant opportunities as they relate to the CCTC
- Handle administrative tasks related to agreements, payments, templates, policies and procedures
Requirements:
- Experience and knowledge about the fashion industry and sustainability in fashion, circular business models, design for circularity, textile sorting and recycling technologies
- Understanding of local and global activities and policies as it relates to the circular economy, including but not limited to EPR for textiles
- Knowledge of the Canadian apparel and textiles landscape/value chain and key stakeholders
- Strong research and communications skills
- Systems thinking and collaborative approach
- Passion for thrift, reuse, repair, repurposing
- Familiarity with industry standards and legal requirements
- Bilingual (English and French) is an asset but not required
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Mailchimp, Zoom, and ability to quickly learn new systems
- Strong drive and work ethic, with a high degree of autonomy; self-starting and proactive
- Strong organizational and planning skills
- Able to hit the ground running – you will need to have experience and comfort working in a fast-paced, independent and demanding environment
- Ability to work across multiple stakeholders and create strong relations internally and externally
- Comfort with ambiguity, with a high sense of ownership and embracing challenges;
Benefit:
- A collaborative, creative and inspiring work environment
- Opportunity to develop this new role and work without a pre-set framework
- Work from home, with the occasional in person meeting in Toronto; five-day work week, flexible working hours.
- 4 weeks holiday (including the week between Christmas and New Year’s) plus your birthday; minimum 4 sick days, accumulating one per month to max of 10/year
Work Schedule: 5 days a week
Location: Virtual (the successful applicant will be expected to have access to their own office and computer). The FTA team lives in Toronto and works from home, but will meet up occasionally to work together.
Vacation: 3 weeks +1 week Winter Shutdown
Wellness/Sick Days: minimum 4 Days (accumulating one/month up to 10 max/year)
Personal Days: 2 Days
Start date: May 1 2023 (to be discussed with selected candidate)
Fashion Takes Action is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We therefore strongly encourage those who self-identify as racialized, Indigenous (First Nations, Metis, or Inuit) or LGBTQ2+ to apply for this position.
Frequently cited statistics show that women and underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to break that statistic and apply. No one meets 100% of the criteria. We look forward to your application.
Please submit your resume and cover letter to: info@fashiontakesaction.com with the subject line “Circularity Specialist”.