Certification Decision Officer & Approval Officer – Organic Certifications - Ecocert India Private Limited - Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
(2024-10)
Certification Decision Officer & Approval Officer role involving review of audit reports and certification decisions. Approval Officer responsibilities include approving labels, inputs, ingredients, and recipes on a documentary basis.
- Review audit reports, corrective actions, and supporting evidence submitted by auditors and clients.
- Make independent and well-justified decisions regarding certification outcomes (grant, maintain, suspend, withdraw, or deny).
- Ensure decisions align with standard requirements and internal quality procedures.
- Communicate certification decisions clearly and professionally to internal teams and clients.
- Communicate clearly with clients regarding certification status, additional requirements, or non-conformities.
- Review and decide on client mediation requests in response to adverse actions, including acceptance or rejection.
- Collaborate with audit teams to resolve inconsistencies or missing information.
- Verify product traceability, mass balance, and compliance records to ensure certification integrity.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of applicable standards, regulatory changes, and certification schemes.
- Support the continual improvement of certification processes and decision-making workflows.
- Participate in internal and external audits as required.
- Approve labels, inputs, ingredients, recipes, etc. on a documentary basis - Gather approval requests, check completeness and eligibility - Assess the compliance with the scheme requirements - Issue and communicate the corresponding attestation - Update internal records
- Support internal and external clients - Provide support on the approval process and the scheme requirements - Provide trainings on scheme requirements and approval process.
Auditor – Organic Certifications - SGS India Private Limited - India
(2023-08 - 2024-10)
Qualified Auditor for APEDA NPOP standard conducting various types of audits across multiple Indian states. Responsible for document verification, product traceability, yield estimation analysis, and nonconformity management.
- A Qualified Auditor for APEDA NPOP standard.
- Travelled to various operators' locations frequently to all over India.
- Conducted Surveillance, Renewal audits, Unannounced audits, recertification audits (Imported ingredients) and Investigation Audits.
- Conducted Audits on different modules like ICS (Grower Groups), Processing unit, Individual unit, wild collection unit and Trading unit Projects covered more than 10 states of country in India.
- Documents verification of Initial documents of operator, Product Traceability verification for both domestic and exported products, Product mass balance verification, Unit verification, Product stock verification, Sample test verification, Yield estimate analysis, Inputs evaluations, system plan review with good communication skills.
- Analysing the crops or products yield estimations and approving during onsite for all kind of crops, evaluating crop condition, fertility management and pest management.
- Inspect Warehouses and Storage unit of Farmers and Farmer grower groups.
- Sample collection based on the risk observed, Nonconformity raising based on suspicious activities observed during audit and settling nonconformities within deadline.
Auditor – Organic Certifications - CU Inspections & Certifications India Pvt.Ltd. (Formerly known as Control Union) - India
(2021-06 - 2023-08)
Qualified Auditor for NPOP, USDA-NOP, and EU standards. Conducted various types of audits across 15+ Indian states covering multiple project modules. Completed extensive online training through USDA on Organic Farming standards.
- A Qualified Auditor for NPOP, USDA-NOP, EU standards.
- Travelled to various operators' locations frequently to all over India.
- Conducted Surveillance audits, Unannounced audits, recertification audits (Imported ingredients) and Investigation Audits.
- Conducted Audits on different modules like ICS Grower Groups, Processing unit, Individual unit, wild collection unit and Trading unit for more than 200 Projects covered more than 15 states of country in India.
- Attended more than 10 online courses conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Organic Farming (NOP standards).
- Yield estimate analysis, Inputs evaluations, system plan review with good Communication Skills.
- Analysing the crops or products yield estimations and approving during onsite, evaluating crop condition, fertility management and pest management, Inspect Warehouses and Storage unit of Farmers and Farmer grower groups.
- Sample collection based on the risk observed, Nonconformity raising based on suspicious activity, Document verification related to grower groups, Processing, Individual production, Trading modules.
- Preparation of Inspection results and presenting to the operator, Inspection Report preparation based on observation.
- Settling non-conformities with accurate information within given deadline, Follow up with operator.
- Maintaining good relationships with the Operators and Certification teams on regular basis.
Senior Research Associate - My Dream Garden Pvt. Ltd. - India
(2018-11 - 2021-05)
Role progressed through three phases: Junior Research Associate (10 months) maintaining various plants, Senior Research Associate (12 months) providing technical training and managing digital presence, and Production Unit (6 months) overseeing manufacturing operations.
- Maintained vegetables, fruits, indoor & ornamental plants.
- Managed procurement of seeds & plants; represented in exhibitions.
- Provided technical training & assistance to customers.
- Developed nutrient schedules; addressed pest/disease issues.
- Authored blogs & managed social media (FB, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube).
- Supervised PAN India production of plant-care products.
- Managed inventory & ensured quality control.
