Senior Engagement Manager (Australia: 1 Year Contract)
Reports to: Lead, Animal Materials
About Us
Textile Exchange is a global non-profit driving beneficial impact on climate change across the fashion and textile industry. It guides a growing community of brands, manufacturers, and farmers towards more purposeful production from the very start of the supply chain.
By 2030, its goal is to guide the industry to achieve a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions within fiber and raw material production. Its focus is holistic and interconnected, accelerating the adoption of practices that improve the state of our water, soil health, and biodiversity.
At Textile Exchange, materials matter. To learn more, visit TextileExchange.org.
Job Summary
The Senior Engagement Manager (Australia) will be part of the animal materials team in our Engagement and Partnership Department. The animal materials team builds and maintains relationships and partnerships at the tier 4 level, where tier 4 is defined as producing raw materials and first stage processing.
The Senior Engagement Manager will be based in Australia and will be the key point of contact for stakeholders in the region including growers, farm group managers, brokers, industry bodies and NGOs. They will develop and then implement the strategy for tier 4 engagement in Australia and New Zealand. Key focus areas for the strategy include promoting certification to the Materials Matter Standard and engagement with the Materials Matter partnership approach where appropriate. This includes work to support those transitioning from the Responsible Animal Fiber standards as well as encouraging a new increase certification, as well as engagement with and the implementation of Textile Exchange’s tools such as the Fiber and Materials Matrix and the Regenerative Agriculture Outcomes Framework.
As the only materials engagement team member based in Australia, the Senior Engagement Manager will connect with cotton stakeholders as well as those producing animal materials. The primary focus will be wool. The Senior Engagement Manager will ensure that a high level of goodwill is developed and maintained with key stakeholders in the region. Achieving this will require ongoing collaboration with these stakeholders as well as feedback loops so that stakeholders feel included in our decisions. The person best suited to this role will already have some connections at tier 4 in Australia, and will be a confident communicator, who works easily with people from all parts of the supply chain.
Duties and Responsibilities
External Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management:
- Develop a regional strategy for tier four engagement. This position will then be responsible for implementing this strategy for tier four stakeholders across materials with the primary focus on wool and a secondary focus on other cotton and other animal materials.
- Serve as the primary liaison between Textile Exchange and external stakeholders in Australia and New Zealand at the tier four level, including industry partners, certified farm groups, NGOs, standards scheme owners and project developers.
- Nurture strong relationships to foster collaboration and build goodwill towards Textile Exchange.
- Develop new relationships with emerging tier four stakeholders. This work includes ensuring stakeholders feel their voices are heard.
- Provide regular updates to stakeholders on the progress of work, and how their input was considered.
- Act as a liaison between tier four stakeholders, facilitating effective communication and collaboration to address shared challenges and opportunities to advance preferred production systems.
- Track and report on the progress of tier four stakeholder engagement efforts, providing regular updates to senior management.
- Support the organization and hosting of trips and events to foster collaboration among stakeholders.
- Provide insights and recommendations to inform the strategic direction of our overall wool strategy.
- Represent Textile Exchange at industry conferences, workshops, and meetings.
- Support the rollout of Textile Exchange standards, tools, reports, and research.
Other Materials Work:
- Assist in the creation of reports and position papers for other animal materials and/or cotton as required.
- Provide input on agenda development for the Animal Fiber Round Table (AFRT): suggest speakers and/or topics that support overall engagement with animal fiber stakeholders. Facilitate all or part of AFRT meetings.
- Support activities relating to working groups and collaborative action.
- Support animal fiber producer advisory group activities, including managing sub-groups.
Internal Engagement
- Align with and support other teams within Engagement and Partnerships as well as other Textile Exchange departments with work in Australia and New Zealand.
Minimum Experience and Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in stakeholder engagement, sustainability, or related field.
- Experience working in or with wool production and supply chains at tier four level.
- Knowledge of sustainability standards used by the wool sector, including but not limited to Textile Exchange’s Responsible Wool Standard.
- Excellent relationship building skills across a diverse range of stakeholders, with the ability to develop and maintain partnerships with key stakeholders.
- Experience in facilitating multi-stakeholder meetings.
- Strong work ethic and self-motivation with the ability to work effectively remotely and a good team player.
- Proficient in delivering projects to set deadlines, ensuring attention to detail.
- Honest, professional, responsible, and discreet, acting with the utmost confidence.
- Excellent communication, written, and grammatical skills in English (native or bilingual proficiency).
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, and the ability to quickly learn new systems.
- Ability and willingness to represent Textile Exchange at conferences and industry events as needed.
- Passion for sustainability and a commitment to driving positive change in the fashion industry.
Preferred Experience and Qualifications
- Experience in animal material production and supply chains other than those for wool.
- Deep understanding of wool trading and farming in addition to experience in cotton production and supply chains.
- Knowledge of Textile Exchange’s new Materials Matter Standard.
- Ability and willingness to travel for meetings beyond Australia and New Zealand if required.
Employment Package
- Full Time Position, 40 Hours a Week
- Travel: Up to 25%
- Salary Range: 90,000 USD to $120,000 USD
- Start Date: As Soon as Available - January 2026
