Capacity Planning & Strategy Manager

About B Lab

B Lab is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business, and we certify companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way. To date, our community includes nearly 4,000 B Corps in over 70 countries and 150 industries, over 8,000 benefit corporations, and 100,000 companies managing their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager. 

Globally, B Lab is building this movement through interrelated initiatives that serve, engage, and highlight the leaders of the movement, while providing all businesses with the concrete tools, products, programs, and partnerships to use business as a force for good.

You can find more information about B Lab and our work here. 

About the Opportunity

The Certification & Verification (C&V) team is changing the way businesses engage in social and environmental impact by carrying out the mission of B Lab Global and providing accurate, meaningful experiences to our stakeholders, while supporting each other in trust, wellness, and growth. 

The Capacity Planning & Strategy Manager will play a critical role to develop, plan and coordinate on the capacity needs for our C&V team. Our team currently has its own system developed to manage team capacity and forecasting but will look to the expertise of this manager to improve the system by making it more efficient (and potentially automated), autonomous, and less prone to human error.

Our team includes Business Sustainability Analysts, based in the U.S., Europe, UK, Latin America and Australia, who work directly with companies globally, supporting these companies to verify their performance on the B Impact Assessment (BIA) and complete the process to certify as a B Corporation. The Capacity Planning & Strategy Manager will develop short-, mid-, and long-term capacity forecasts, as well as execute on the day-to-day needs for capacity allocation, in our effort to be efficient and agile in meeting the needs of the B Corp movement as it grows. The Capacity Planning & Strategy Manager will oversee the process and capacity for all pre-verification phases of the company review process.

The Capacity Planning & Strategy Manager will report to a Co-Director of the C&V team, and will work closely with managers and process leads on the Certification & Verification, Standards Management, and Product Development teams, as well as with our network of Global Partners working to grow the B Corp movement in the local markets in which they operate.

Core Job Functions

Functional responsibilities and tasks for this role include:

Manage an efficient, effective and agile ratings forecasting system (10%)  

• Ratings Forecasting
  • Lead the yearly global ratings forecasting process by working in collaboration with key stakeholders such as Global Partners, C&V Co-Directors, and C&V Managers 
  • Gather and review past data indicators and trends to forecast global ratings for the year
  • Monitor, maintain, and adjust forecast global ratings system monthly and adjust it according to trends and new information
  • Inform and collaborate with the above key stakeholders to anticipate resources needed for implementation
  • Collaborate closely with the C&V team’s Data Circle   

Manage an efficient, effective and agile capacity management system (50%)  

• Team Resource Planning
  • Coordinate, improve and maintain the C&V team’s time allocation system for capacity management
  • Coordinate team members’ use of time on an on-going basis by maintaining this time allocation system
  • Prepare quarterly data reporting and analysis, including team’s overhead/FTE ratios
  • Inform the C&V team’s hiring needs by region, language, seniority, and specialization
• Team Resource Reporting
  • Reports on team’s collective throughput across all Certification approaches
  • Reports on individual team members’ throughput
  • Develop and maintain team and individual metrics / reporting systems (based on reported throughput and other metrics insights)
  • Provide insights to improve team performance
  • Train managers on the use of the throughput and supplementary data
• Team Capacity Forecasting & Reporting
  • Lead yearly capacity forecasting process by working with key stakeholders such as C&V Co-Directors, and C&V Approach Managers
  • Gather and review past data indicators and trends to forecast team capacity by Specialization for the year
  • Inform and collaborate with the above key stakeholders to anticipate resources needed as well as constraints and material changes to capacity forecasts
  • Prepare quarterly data reporting and analysis of team’s capacity allocation per specialization
• Team Capacity Allocation Management
  • Innovate on the existing capacity allocation system
  • Monitor and maintain the system monthly, adjusting according to trends and new information
  • Gather and review past data indicators and trends to allocate team capacity by Specialization for the year
  • Collaborate monthly with C&V Area Managers to coordinate and allocate capacity per specialized roles
  • Compare actual capacity levels against targets, and address shortfalls to ensure sufficient resources to meet service level targets
  • Develop procedure to easily re-assign capacity when not utilized as planned

Broader Responsibilities (10%)

• Support B Lab’s objectives by identifying and leading initiatives related to capacity planning
• Provide basic technical support to stakeholders using our technology platform to carry out capacity processes
• Work with C&V Team Managers, Product Owner/Product Team and Data Lead to make recommendations for improved data reporting and analytics (e.g. pipeline management dashboard in Management App).
• Make recommendations to C&V Co-Directors regarding improvements to efficiency, accuracy and management of capacity allocation for the C&V Team aligned with department objectives and B Lab’s mission
• Consult on Outside Verification pilot program, particularly in relation to integrating the program into capacity planning and allocation and the submissions process of companies involved in the pilot.

Manager to Direct Reports (20%)

• Provide enabling coaching and facilitate access to resources to cultivate individuals’ skills to support their career development, performance, and engagement, including wellness
• Offer coaching and support on relationship management or customer service
• Work with the Co-Directors of the Certification & Verification team, other Managers and direct reports to align on work and  ensure equitable, appropriate, and engaging work assignments
• Deliver continual feedback to direct reports via quarterly formal guidance and bi-annual performance evaluations
• Set goals and objectives for team members for achievement of operational results
• Provide regular feedback and contribute to Managers team on work allocation, team development, ways of working and wellness initiatives
• Responsible for ensuring department and organization policies and practices are understood and adopted by team, and for approving fiscal and travel-related matters for direct reports, including expenses, professional development, PTO, and travel 

About You

We are seeking candidates who have:

• 5-10 years experience in business, preferably in a role that involved strategy, project management and communications across geographies
• Educational or experiential knowledge of business, sustainability, and data analytics
• Experience working with or in different global contexts
• Demonstrated experience in:
  • Resource planning
  • Supply chain management, including lean inventory strategy
  • Managerial accounting 

Additionally, the ideal candidate will:

• Relate to our mission, using business to solve social and environmental challenges
• Consider themselves a relentless problem solver
• Demonstrate the ability to negotiate effectively and collaborate with key stakeholders across multiple high priority projects
• Excel in both written and verbal communication skills
• Have customer service experience, including the ability to lead and influence others 
• Apply experience in supply chain, operations, or data analytics
• Capacity to learn technological platforms swiftly (including Salesforce, Tableau, Google Suite, Microsoft Excel, and the B Impact Assessment.)

Compensation Details

B Lab has a competitive compensation plan that includes:

• An annual salary in the range of $68,100-73,100
• Excellent health benefits package including access to medical, vision and dental coverage
• Paid time off for vacation – in your first year, you’ll start with 3 weeks (prorated for the 2021 calendar year, and refresh in January 2022)
• Unlimited sick and personal time – if you need it, use it
• In your second year at B Lab, you’ll be eligible for 40 hours paid time off for community service; paid parental leave; and time and budget for your professional development
• An inviting and inclusive team culture!

Hiring Process

We require the following in order to consider your application:

• Resume and responses to our accompanying application questions

If you progress through additional stages in the hiring process you can expect to:

• Complete an introductory one-way video interview via Spark Hire 
• Complete a brief hiring exercise
• Participate in 1-2 live video interviews

We will begin reviewing applications on June 16 and will continue until we identify a diverse and qualified candidate pool.

Please note: All applications will be reviewed by our team, and all candidates will receive a status update via email after their application has been reviewed, which we expect to complete by July 9. Due to capacity constraints on our hiring team, we are unable to provide you with a specific status update beyond these parameters.

If we can offer reasonable accommodations to you in the application or interview processes, or if you have feedback on how we could improve the equity or accessibility of our recruitment, you are welcome to contact us at careers @ bcorporation.net with the subject line “Accommodation request – Capacity Planning & Strategy Manager application”. Please note that we are unable to respond to general status inquiries or other messages that are unrelated to accessing our application or interview processes.