Complaints & Investigation Manager (Amsterdam)

We are a remote-first workplace but the candidates for this role must be based in Pennsylvania, New York, the Netherlands, or England at the start of employment. Please visit our Careers page to review all opportunities and submit your application for the role(s) that best fit your experiences and location. This is a Full-Time Role (40 hours per week) with the option to apply for reduced hours per week after one year in the role.

About B Lab

B Lab is the nonprofit network 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. As we continue to repair and rebuild from COVID-19, our vision for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system, has never been more relevant or needed than it is now.  

About the Opportunity

At the core of B Lab’s work are social and environmental business standards that are the basis for B Corp Certification performance requirements. In addition to achieving a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment, which measures a company's positive impact on its stakeholders, material negative impacts are considered through the Disclosure Questionnaire, background checks, and a public complaint process. These mechanisms regularly raise difficult and complex questions that require B Lab and its Standards Advisory Council to develop frameworks for how to evaluate controversial industries and business practices, which are then published publicly.

The Complaints & Investigations Manager will sit on B Lab’s Standards Management team and play an essential role coordinating and managing B Lab’s Public Complaint Process in partnership with the Risk Review Committee, a global cross-departmental group responsible for reviewing the potential risks and material negative impacts of prospective and current B Corps and other company partners. The Public Complaint Process is an essential complement to the B Corp Certification verification and review and helps B Lab identify and take action on misconduct or misrepresentation by Certified B Corporations. The Complaints & Investigations Manager will serve as a liaison for internal and external stakeholders to engage on B Lab’s public complaint process, and oversee the processes for receiving, reviewing, investigating and resolving public complaints. In this role, you will have the opportunity to ensure meaningful and responsive engagement with concerned stakeholders about the B Corp community and apply what it means to credibly use business as a force for good.

The role will report to the Associate Director of the Standards Management team, work closely with the Risk Standards Process Manager and the Risk Standards Development Manager, and work alongside the current team of eleven based in Philadelphia, New York, Amsterdam, and Sao Paulo. It will also work with colleagues and partners around the world.

Core Responsibilities 

Risk Analysis & Process Management (60%)

• Managing B Lab’s public complaint process with the Risk Review Committee
• Overseeing (including managing efficiency, capacity, and quality) of team members complaints processing, including screening complaints for specificity, credibility and materiality, conducting an initial review to determine whether an investigation is necessary and planning and conducting investigations.
• Developing improvements to the public complaints processes and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) informed decision-making to support anticipated growth while ensuring a clear and consistent application of B Lab’s standards and managing legal and reputational risk.
• Supporting the risk review committee by participating in and evaluating specific risk issues for companies pursuing B Corp Certification and applying B Lab’s standards appropriately through other risk related workstreams, including cases from B Lab’s Disclosure Questionnaire, background checks, and Risk Pre-screens
• Coordinating with B Lab’s internal partners, including members of the Certification & Verification team (conducting verification), legal counsel and Global Partners (building the movement in specific regions), to ensure complaints processes align with other company touchpoints across a diverse range of company profiles.
• Coordinating with B Lab’s Global Communications team and partners across the network using Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion frameworks   
• Managing communications on risk related topics of B Corp standards and the B Corp community

Research & Investigations (20%)

• Overseeing project planning and engagement with Certified B Corps under investigation before, during and after the investigation period
• Manage relationships with any third parties contracted to conduct parts or whole investigations on B Lab’s behalf
• Developing methodologies for conducting complaints investigations, tailored to the nature and content on the complaints, to include a variety of research techniques including desk research, stakeholder interviews, document reviews and more
• Conducting data analysis and reviewing and applying legal, regulatory and business sustainability resources to determine the appropriate outcome of complaints investigations
• Compiling and preparing investigation reports and materials to help facilitate the decision of the outcome of investigation by the B Lab Standards Advisory Council and Board of Directors

Stakeholder Engagement & Responsiveness (20%)

• Contributing to B Lab’s overall approach to evaluating, disclosing, and remediating negative business impacts for Certified B Corporations, B Movement Builders, and other company partners.
• Coordinating with the Risk Standards Development Manager and the Risk Standards Process Manager on need for engaging with B Lab’s Standards Advisory Council on controversial business issues, complaints investigations and company eligibility reviews
• Supporting research and engagement with other standards organizations, stakeholders, and topical experts to inform the development of new and improved frameworks for evaluating controversial business issues.
• Creating and maintaining resources to support internal and external stakeholders navigating B Lab’s risk standards and related processes, including the complaints process.
• Developing and contributing ongoing ideas and solutions to the standards themselves

About you

• At least 4 years experience in combined relevant roles of legal investigation and/or compliance with a preference for a law degree/experience in legal investigations
• Experience with aspects of business outside of the United States preferred
• Track record of managing processes that deal with multiple stakeholders and complex information
• Experience tackling complex projects, with a diverse set of stakeholders
• Exceptional project management skills with the ability to deliver results in a timely and effective manner
• Affinity for and experience with qualitative research and data reporting
• Strong communication and critical thinking skills, particularly involving challenging and technical topics
• Ability to collaborate across with all levels and across departments in a globally distributed organization
• Willing to assess processes, and develop & implements improvements and contribute to B Lab's overall approach to evaluation, disclosure, and remediation of negative impacts
• Must have an understanding and awareness of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) principles and how to apply them
  • Respect for diversity of identities and experiences; an orientation toward equity and inclusion, and cultural competency in all aspects of business
• Comfort in an entrepreneurial environment
• Familiarity with and a passion for addressing the intersections of business and social and environmental issues

While not required the following would be a plus:

• Experience in the non-profit space
• Experience with Asana, Google Suite, Slack or comparable tools
• Proficiency in languages besides English

Compensation Details

B Lab has a compensation plan that includes:

• An annual salary of €68,000 inclusive of holiday allowance
• B Lab pension scheme
• After your first year of employment, 40 hours paid time off for community service; paid parental leave; and a professional development budget (we assess this PD budget annually)
• 20 Vacation days per year, prorated to your start date - front-loaded and restarting each January 1; increased with tenure.
• Sick & personal leave
• Flexibility to use floating holidays
• Additional time off during org- wide closures when the entire organization is closed (not including holidays)
• Allowance to make your home-based workspace more comfortable
• A remote-first workplace
• A flexible work environment with the ability to plan your work week around your personal commitments

We will begin reviewing applications on October 24th 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 November 7th. Due to capacity constraints on our hiring team, we are unable to provide you with a specific status update beyond these parameters. Our ideal start date for this role is January 9, 2023

Please apply via our job board

Hiring Process

We require the following in order to consider your application:

• Resume
• In lieu of a cover letter we ask that all candidates respond to a standard set of application questions

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

• Step 1: Participate in an interview with a panel via Google Meet or Zoom
• Step 2: Complete a brief hiring exercise 
• Step 3: Participate in a final interview with a panel via Google Meet or Zoom