Careers
Sumerra is a quickly growing, innovative company that fills a need in the Global Compliance Industry. We are always looking for hard working, self-motivated, & knowledgeable Compliance Professionals with the right experience and interest to join the Sumerra Team.
Positions are most likely to be filled in our Regional Office locations: Portland, Oregon, USA; Hong Kong, China; & Bangalore, India. However, some positions may be operated out of satellite offices throughout the United States and other countries depending on the position.
Please contact Sumerra today to learn more about the positions available within the company. When emailing, please provide a copy of your current resume and explain why you are a good candidate to join the Sumerra team.
All job inquiries should be sent to: Jobopportunities@sumerra.com with attention Hiring Manager.
Are you the perfect Sumerra candidate?
Background of Candidates
Sumerra is looking for candidates with a background, education and experience (minimum 2 years) in the following areas:
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Experience reviewing or conducting compliance audits
- Social Compliance – labor law, worker rights, wages, social audits
- Environment, Safety, Health (ESH)
- Working in or for Manufacturing Factories, Suppliers or Licensees
- Experience working with or for large Manufacturing Brands (Footwear & Apparel, Toys, Electronics, etc.)
Additional background in the following topics would be a plus:
- Security (C-TPAT)
- Occupational Hygiene
- Structural Safety
- Electrical Safety
- Fire Safety Management
Requirements
- This will vary depending on the position the candidate is looking to be hired for, below are the minimum requirements for employees:
- Multi-Year (minimum 2 years) work experience within one of the above backgrounds
- Minimum Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in related field (Business, Human Resources, Environmental, Industrial/Occupational Hygiene, Safety, etc.)
- Ideal work experience includes working as a consultant, manufacturing brand representative, factory or licensee representative, auditor or other professional technical service provider
- Some positions will require the ability and willingness to travel up to 20-50% of the time, sometimes internationally (with possession of a valid passport)
Beneficial Experience
- Proficient in a second language a plus – Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese), Spanish, Japanese, and others
- Global work experience and knowledge of Manufacturing Brands and Retailers preferred
Job Opening – HONG KONG – Project Specialist in Social Compliance Consulting
Position: Project Specialist in Social Compliance Consulting
Location: Hong Kong
Type: Full Time
Core Responsibilities
- Conduct compliance audits/assessments in various locations (Typical locations include: China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.)
- Perform desktop reviews of audits and corrective action plan
- Conduct educational assessments for factories- help to discover compliance issues and how to resolve both the short and long term concerns – this will be done in various factory types and locations
- Prepare reports, audits, tools and other project deliverables related to consultancy services in English and in Mandarin
- Oversea and/or review other employee’s audits, tools, etc. to ensure completion, accuracy and correctness of work
- Work with brands and factories to assess and improve their Social, EHS, security and compliance performance
- Lead education services (workshops, trainings) for small and large groups on compliance-related topics, either in-person (at a factory, conference, summit) or online.
- Develop compliance standards, systems, best practices tools and other deliverables for clients
- Translate or review Sumerra work related deliverables between Chinese and English as needed.
Required Experience
- Must be fluent in English (written and spoken)
- Must be fluent in Mandarin (both written and spoken). Must be able to lead audits, consulting and trainings in Mandarin
- Must be able to work from home whenever not traveling
- Must be willing to travel between 30%-50% of the time, internationally (with possession of a valid passport)
- Multi-Year (minimum 3 years) direct experience within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Extensive knowledge within Labor/Social compliance AND/OR Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) compliance
- Ideal work experience includes working as an auditor, consultant, brand representative, factory or licensee representative, or other professional technical service provider
- Minimum Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in related field (Business, Human Resources, Environmental, Industrial/Occupational Hygiene, Safety, etc.)
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to work independently, to multi-task, to prioritize work under minimal supervision
- Eye for detail and accuracy
- Quick learner
- Ability to keep track of and meet deadlines
- Ability to work outside of normal 8-5 business hours and on weekends, as needed
Possible additional requirements:
- Discover and cultivate business contacts within Companies (Brands and Factories) to bring in additional work and activities (inclusive of ESH, Labor, Industrial Hygiene, etc.)
- Assist and participate in Asia-Pacific region events (such as Factory Summits, Training Events, etc.)
- Assist with communication with Mandarin speaking clients or other business contacts as needed.
Job Opening – BANGALORE, INDIA – Quality Assurance Specialist
Position: Compliance Program Specialist – Quality Assurance
Location: Bangalore, India
Type: Full Time
This particular role is within Sumerra’s Compliance Management division. The purpose of the division is to ensure that the our Client’s Factories and Suppliers are meeting basic requirements regarding the protection of the environment, the health and safety of the workers, and ensuring that factory employees are treated in a fair manner. Sumerra contracts with the third party auditors, ensures that the audits are done in the correct manner, verifies the audit results, and creates action plans based on the audits. The goal of this program is to reduce risks to the workers, local communities, and environment, as well as reduce risk to the Client.
Job Description
Sumerra is looking for a self-motivated individual with the knowledge, experience and skills to serve as an audit verifier for audits performed in our Compliance Management division. This position is a desk job and does not visit factories.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in relevant subject
- Minimum of 3 year’s experience in CSR, Environmental or other Compliance Related (Social, Environment, Safety, Health, Security) work
- Experience with manufacturing facilities preferred (e.g. garment, footwear, jewelry, electronics, hard goods factory)
- Experience in conducting compliance audits preferred
- Understanding of generally accepted labor, Environmental and Safety laws, standards and/or rules
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, with the ability to learn new programs easily
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to work independently, to multi-task, to prioritize work under minimal supervision
- Eye for detail and accuracy
- Team Player
- Quick learner
- Ability to keep track of and meet deadlines
- Ability to work outside of normal 8-5 business hours and on weekends, as needed
- Possession of a valid passport in case international travel is needed
- Fluent in Mandarin a plus
Job Responsibilities
- Complete the Verification Process for audits within the audit management program
- Review and verify audit accuracy
- Assist auditors through the auditing process
- Ensure Corrective Action Plans (CAP) have the appropriate information and are followed
- Use rating criteria to assign factory ratings
- Provide training to factories, auditors, and others
- Follow up with factories on CAP remediation
Job Opening – PORTLAND OREGON USA – Program Manager – Compliance Management
Position: Program Manager – Compliance Management
Location: Portland, Oregon
Type: Full Time
Job Description
Sumerra is currently looking to hire a hard-working, self-motivated Compliance Professional to join our team in Portland, Oregon as a Project Manager. This is a newly created position in the organization, with the potential for the right candidate to take on responsibilities in addition to those outlined below.
Core Responsibilities
- Manage day to day activities for one (or more) of Sumerra’s key programs for major apparel industry association. This includes
- Tracking progress against project plans
- Managing changes to project scope and schedule
- Ensuring work is delivered on time and within budget
- Develop and implement internal and external SOPs on auditing and quality assurance
- Ensure that program work is executed consistently by Sumerra’s global team by developing and leading internal trainings, creating tools, developing guidance and providing general support
- Conduct audit report reviews and other QA activities to ensure internal consistency and high-quality client deliverables
- Develop and implement SOPs for data analysis and reporting.
- This position will require work outside of normal 8-5 business hours and on weekends, as needed.
- This position may require international and/or domestic travel.
Required Experience
- Minimum 3 years direct experience within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Social/Environmental Compliance
- Extensive knowledge within Labor/Social compliance AND/OR Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) compliance
- Minimum Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in related field (Business, Human Resources, Environmental, Industrial/Occupational Hygiene, Safety, etc.)
- Minimum 3 years experience with project management
- Ability to work with multiple countries and cultures
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to work independently, to multi-task, to prioritize work under minimal supervision
Preferred Experience
- Ideal work experience includes working as an auditor, consultant, brand representative, factory or licensee representative, or other professional technical service provider
- Experience working internationally or with a global supply chain preferred
- Experience working in the apparel/footwear industry a plus
- Experience in conducting or managing or knowledge of Higg Assessments a plus
- Global work experience and knowledge of Brands and Retailers preferred
Job Opening – PORTLAND OREGON USA – Project Manager – Social Compliance Consulting
Position: Project Manager – Social Compliance Consulting
Location: Portland, Oregon
Type: Full Time
Job Description
Sumerra is currently looking to hire a hard-working, self-motivated Compliance Professional to join our team in Portland, Oregon as a Project Manager. This role will have several responsibilities as outlined below.
Core Responsibilities
- Active member of our advisory services team:
- Work with brands and factories to assess and improve their Social, EHS, security and compliance performance
- Lead education services (workshops, trainings) for small and large groups on compliance-related topics, either in-person (at a factory, conference, summit) or online.
- Develop compliance standards, systems, best practices tools and other deliverables for clients
- Prepare and/or review reports, audits, tools and other project deliverables related to consultancy services i
- Conduct educational assessments for factories- help to discover compliance issues and how to resolve both the short and long term concerns – this will be done in various factory types and locations
- Manage the Compliance Management Program for several smaller clients
- Interact with clients key decision makers to ensure Sumerra services align with client expectations
- Support, guide and provide assistance to client
- Provide analytical reporting
- Develop and/or modify SOPS for both internal and external processes
- Work with Director and other Managers within Sumerra to build consistency among the different programs and to continuously improve the program(s)
- Provide Training
- Business Development: Discover and cultivate business contacts within Companies (Brands and Factories) to bring in additional work and activities
- This position will require work outside of normal 8-5 business hours and on weekends, as needed.
- This position may require international and/or domestic travel
Required Experience
- Minimum 3 years direct experience within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Social/Environmental Compliance
- Extensive knowledge within Labor/Social compliance AND/OR Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) compliance
- Minimum Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in related field (Business, Human Resources, Environmental, Industrial/Occupational Hygiene, Safety, etc.)
- Minimum 3 years experience with project management
- Ability to work with multiple countries and cultures
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to work independently, to multi-task, to prioritize work under minimal supervision
- Ability to keep track of and meet deadlines
- Team Player
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, with the ability to learn new programs easily
Preferred Experience
- Ideal work experience includes working as an auditor, consultant, brand representative, factory or licensee representative, or other professional technical service provider
- Experience working internationally or with a global supply chain preferred
- Experience working in the apparel/footwear industry a plus
- Experience in conducting or managing or knowledge of Higg Assessments a plus
- Global work experience and knowledge of Brands and Retailers preferred