Director, Production

Taking Root

Taking Root

Administration
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posted on Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Taking Root is looking for a skilled and experienced Director, Production to oversee the delivery of carbon credits across all of its projects. The main success marker of this position is the ability to de-risk and deliver on production goals to meet CO2 engagements, generate revenues for the organization, and help create cost efficiency within projects.
This is a full-time position, and we are open to full-time remote work within Canada, although preference may be given to those who are available to work in a hybrid setting in Vancouver, BC. We work with a diverse set of international partners and especially encourage Indigenous Peoples, members of racial minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+, and members of other underrepresented groups to apply.

About Us

Taking Root’s purpose is to accelerate the restoration of the world’s forests. We enable smallholder farmers to grow trees and earn money from the carbon they remove from the atmosphere. Our technology and support make it simple for our reforestation partners to create transparent and robust forest carbon removals. From registering farmers and recruiting land, to monitoring trees grown and the carbon stored over time, we provide the tools at every step of the way to help our partners successfully manage and scale their carbon projects. Recognized for its best practices by the UN, EU and World Economic Forum, Taking Root is connecting thousands of farmers to the carbon market and improving their livelihoods by restoring forests around the world.

Responsibilities: 

  • Lead “day-to-day” support and coaching to production partners and capability building for reforestation partners (offer advice, coach, and implement continuous improvement approaches)
  • Influence the design and implementation of operational plan (e.g. recruiting strategy, planting plan)
  • Generate and communicate business requirements for Product to improve the performance of Taking Root platform
  • Help design and implement the TR management system and facilitate performance reviews
  • Manage the operational improvement road map
  • Ensures compliance to Plan Vivo Standards
  • Contribute to Taking Root’s strategy and behave as a role-model of our values
  • Be the owner of critical planning processes for your department (e.g. OKRs)
  • Support the design and implementation of improvement efforts carried by Quality, Product and M&S
  • Support operational budgets creation and help implement unit cost efficiency efforts
  • Help develop “calculators” and other tools to forecast costs and usage of variable inputs (seeds, fences, field technicians, etc.)
  • Help triage and substantiate ad-hoc budget requests from reforestation partners
  • Lead the Taking Root monthly operational meetings and act as the “voice” of production for weekly leadership meetings

Skills, Qualifications, and Experience required:

We especially encourage those with unconventional experience, education, or career paths to apply, even if you may not meet the precise requirements listed in this posting. 
  • Has a proven track record of impact leading operational improvement effort (i.e. lean management implementation, performance turnarounds)
  • Has a minimum of 4 years of hands-on experience managing groups of employees (50+) in an operational context
  • Has relevant functional operations expertise with management systems design, continuous improvement methodologies, operations planning and risk management, supply chain strategy, and performance management (e.g. scorecards, KPIs, quality gates, etc.)
  • Has a passion for driving results and an appetite for being accountable in a production setting (i.e. attaining ambitious targets within a team), with a deep understanding of the importance of collaboration, team building and a talent for coaching and advancing peers and partners
  • 8 years minimum experience in forestry, agriculture, natural resources or variable production contexts (e.g. field maintenance teams dealing with weather challenges)
  • Has experience in formal training, designing, and implementing capability programs (e.g. change management, cultural intervention, coaching, facilitating workshops, adult learning)
  • Is well-versed in quantitative and statistical analyses and knows how to turn data into management insights that can support decision making
  • Knows how to build simple business cases to help with investment decisions
  • Is a robust problem-solver (e.g. structuring issues into pieces, identifying hypotheses and how to prove/disprove them) and an effective communicator (e.g. capable of top-down communication and adapting style to the audience)
  • Ability to speak Spanish with a professional level of fluency
  • Willing to travel to remote areas and developing countries 4-6 times a year for 6-10 days
  • Graduate degrees in Engineering/Business/Forestry/Agriculture an asset
How to apply
Submit a cover letter and resume via our portal. We value every application; however, only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.
Taking Root has a diverse team of talented people across gender and racial spectrums. We have created a culture of innovation, diversity, and inclusivity, striving for open discussions, best hiring and operational practices. We hire and promote based on merit, competence, performance, successful milestones, and business needs. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind, be that based on race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, ancestry, disability, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal or provincial laws.