ASSURANCE PROGRAMME MANAGER

Assurance Programme Manager – Solar Stewardship Initiative

Location: Brussels or remote – with working hours broadly compatible with CET

Reports to: Head of Standards and Assurance

Role type: Full-time

Travel: International travel will be required

Mission Statement

The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) is dedicated to advancing a responsible, transparent, and sustainable solar value chain worldwide. SSI works with manufacturers, buyers, policymakers, civil society, financial institutions and other stakeholders to promote credible, high-integrity sustainability practices across the global solar industry.

Our team thrives on collaboration, integrity and innovation. We believe that diverse experiences and perspectives drive better impact and a stronger mission.

The SSI is recruiting an Assurance Programme Manager to support the effective delivery, integrity and continuous improvement of SSI’s Standards and assurance programme.

Role Overview

The Assurance Programme Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management, coordination and quality oversight of SSI’s assurance programme and will play a key role in the ongoing development, implementation and revision of SSI’s ESG and Supply Chain Traceability Standards.

Working closely with the Head of Standards & Assurance and the rest of the Assurance team, the role will help ensure that SSI assessments are delivered consistently, efficiently, independently and to a high level of technical quality across different assessment bodies, assessors, sites and geographies. The role will also ensure that lessons from implementation and assurance are systematically fed back into the development of SSI Standards, guidance and assurance methodologies.

The Assurance Programme Manager will support formal standards revision and consultation processes and help ensure that SSI requirements remain credible, practical, auditable and aligned with international good practice, including relevant ISEAL requirements.

This is a practical, delivery-focused technical role requiring someone comfortable moving between standards development, assurance methodologies, assessment data, assessor engagement, quality management and stakeholder communication.

Key Responsibilities

• Assurance Programme Delivery and Coordination
• Manage the day-to-day delivery of SSI’s assurance programme across the ESG and Supply Chain Traceability Standards.
• Coordinate assessment processes and workflows, helping ensure assessments progress efficiently from initiation through assessment, review, corrective action and final decision.
• Monitor assessment timelines, quality and consistency and proactively identify delays, bottlenecks and emerging risks.
• Maintain clear oversight of ongoing and completed assessments and ensure accurate and timely assurance information is available to the Standards & Assurance Team.
• Support the effective implementation of SSI assurance requirements, methodologies and procedures across participating sites and assessment bodies.
• Support the Head of Standards & Assurance in implementing changes to SSI’s assurance model and processes

2. Assessment Body and Assessor Management

• Act as a primary operational point of contact for SSI-approved independent assessment bodies on assurance matters.
• Manage effective working relationships with assessment bodies while preserving SSI’s independence and assurance integrity.
• Monitor the quality and performance of assessment bodies and individual assessors against SSI requirements.
• Support the approval, onboarding and ongoing evaluation of assessment bodies and assessors.
• Maintain records of assessor qualifications, competencies, approvals, performance and training.
• Identify performance issues and coordinate corrective actions, escalation or other measures where required.
• Support regular assessment-body meetings, calibration exercises and technical briefings.

3. Quality Assurance and Consistency

• Oversee the review assessment reports and assurance outputs to ensure quality, completeness and consistency with SSI requirements.
• Identify inconsistencies in interpretation, evidence evaluation, sampling, non-conformity classification and assessment conclusions.
• Support technical determinations on complex or borderline assessment issues and elevate significant or precedent-setting matters to the Head of Standards & Assurance.
• Develop and maintain tools, templates, checklists and guidance to improve consistency across assessments.
• Track recurring findings and interpretation issues and recommend system-level responses.
• Support consistency and calibration across different assessment bodies, assessors