Climate Advisers—a respected research and public policy group dedicated to strengthening climate action in the United States and around the world—seeks an Executive and Program Assistant to support the CEO and Executive Team and contribute to innovative climate policy research. This job provides opportunities to be at the center of the action in a highly nimble and dynamic organization that influences global climate diplomacy, U.S. climate policy, carbon markets, and forest conservation. The position offers significant opportunities for growth and professional development, working with a highly motivated and collaborative team of experts doing cutting-edge work, while also gaining the rewarding experience of fostering camaraderie in a fully remote work environment.
This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position working directly with the CEO and VP of Programs, while also staffing and reporting to the CFO. The position offers a chance to gain experience in climate policy, project management, executive support, grants and contracting, operations, AI and technology management, and general administration. It’s a perfect position for someone seeking to join the climate policy world and/or looking for experiences and mentorship to help define a future direction, including possibly in graduate school. The position’s anticipated start date is May/June 2025.
Duties/Responsibilities:
Policy & Research (35%)
- Compile research and develop analysis on Climate Advisers’ program area topics.
- Identify compelling insights and trends to explore further in deep-dive analyses.
- Participate in strategy discussions to inform key project research decisions.
- Present research in concise formats (briefings, presentations, fundraising proposals and memorandums) to senior Climate Advisers staff and external experts and clients, as required.
- Structure and draft white papers and other written products, based on research to meet project’s deliverables.
- Support senior staff in fulfilling other project deliverables, as required.
- Represent the organization at external meetings with stakeholders, when appropriate.
Staff Support (25%)
General Support
- Assist with preparation of weekly program team meetings, including crafting the agenda, and preparing weekly agenda items to present to staff (i.e. DC event round up, reviewing Monday.com, etc.). Organize travel, meetings, and scheduling for program staff.
- Facilitate internal meetings; prepare for new hires; conduct remote office onboarding and IT orientation for new staff.
- Administer software programs and subscription services.
- Coordinate remote and in-person internal and external events including catering, venue, event layout, program, guest list, invitations, event staffing, and post-event follow-up.
- Assist with copy editing and formatting of program team documents.
- Organize in-person team building events and in-person retreats every 18 months.
- Serve as the office’s thought leader and action-officer on promoting collaboration among team members in a “work from anywhere” organization.
Grants Management Support
- Ensure timely submission of project narrative and financial reports by tracking reporting deadlines and scheduling staff review process of narrative reports.
Development and Fundraising Support
- Support project leads in the preparation of concept notes and proposals; complete final review of each to ensure accuracy, reasonableness, and completeness of submission.
- Regularly maintain and review fundraising database and outreach plans, in consultation with senior staff members.
Executive Assistance (30%)
- Manage CEO’s calendar; organize and schedule daily activities and meetings.
- Arrange all details of CEO’s travel; assemble and track travel expenses and reimbursements; communicate regularly with financial staff on details of reimbursements and expenses.
- Facilitate and support the CEO’s external engagements and outreach, including, but not limited to, interactions with senior government officials and diplomats, media, and institutions of higher learning.
- Compile materials for the CEO in advance of all meetings; research background materials, biographical information, and articles; prepare presentations as necessary; assemble materials in usable, relevant formats.
- Assist in meeting preparation including reserving physical meeting space if needed, compiling board packets, ordering and setting up catered meals, and setting up meeting conference calls.
- Support the CEO’s fundraising activities.
- Attend meetings to record action items as needed.
- Other duties as assigned.
Technology Support (10%)
- Ensure proper functioning of all equipment and systems (software systems, remote storage, etc.); troubleshoot when needed - submit service ticket to outsourced IT provider if unable to resolve any issues.
- Handle incoming communications including mail and packages received by monitoring voicemail, virtual mailbox and company emails.
- Periodically evaluate the performance of our existing systems and remote work capabilities.
- Serve as the organization’s first level information technology help desk.
- Ensure software licenses/seats are optimized as staff size fluctuates.
- Manage the onboarding of new staff, ensuring that equipment is received by staff person’s start date, software and systems are set-up, and IT orientation is conducted; coordinate the offboarding of the same equipment, software, and systems when staff leave.
- Maintain up-to-date inventory of organization’s equipment and staff to whom it is assigned.
- Manage relationships with operations and technology vendors.
- Maintain electronic file structure and staff permission levels in cloud storage system (currently Dropbox).
Required Skills/Abilities:
- Exceptional collaboration and communication skills, both oral and written.
- Highly organized and detail oriented.
- A passion for promoting collaboration.
- Ability to adapt to changing political circumstances, client priorities, and business opportunities.
- A demonstrated interest in climate change, energy policy, international and/or domestic policy or other mission-driven work.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, small, non-traditional organization. Professional discretion and mature judgment with ability to maintain confidentiality.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks, set priorities, meet individual and group deadlines.
- Willingness to respond to email and phone calls outside of ordinary business hours.
- Experience with preparing presentations and reports.
- Experience and high degree of comfort with wide variety of technology (computers, smart phones, tablets), cloud applications (Slack, Gmail, Dropbox, Zoom) and desktop software (mainly Microsoft Office suite).
- Complete comfort with Apple products (MacBooks, iPhones) and software (iOS, OSX).
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s Degree required, with a record of exceptional academic achievement.
- Prior professional office work experience highly desirable. Experience in any combination of office management or event planning is acceptable.
- Demonstrated experience conducting think tank style research and analysis in the environmental and related fields.
Compensation and Benefits: Salary range for this position is $64,000 - $68,000 annually depending on skills and experience. Climate Advisers offers an excellent benefits package including dental and vision insurance; Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA), employer-paid life, long-term and short-term disability insurance; generous paid time off; and 401K plan.
Location: Climate Advisers is a fully remote work environment with most staff concentrated in the Washington, DC area. This role may be performed remotely anywhere in the Eastern Time Zone of the United States. You must be authorized to work in the U.S. for any employer; we are not able to sponsor visas.
To Apply: Submit your resume, cover letter and one writing sample.
About Climate Advisers
Climate Advisers is a policy, research and advocacy organization working to deliver the post-carbon economy. In the United States and around the world, Climate Advisers creates and implements large-scale, cost-effective strategies to strengthen climate action and improve lives. The organization conducts this work in partnership with leading philanthropies, think tanks, advocacy groups, international institutions, companies, and governments. Climate Advisers offers a culture that emphasizes transparency, risk taking and collaboration. The organization’s work to reduce emissions from deforestation is its largest practice area. Communicating to investors, financial analysts, and asset managers the material risks associated with climate change is the organization’s fastest growing area of work. Climate Advisers’ traditional core competency and international reputation stems from expertise in climate diplomacy. The organization works in many other areas as well, including aviation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon pricing, supply chains, advocacy campaigns and more.
B Corporation Status
Climate Advisers is proud to be a Certified B Corporation, a new kind of company that meets higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Learn more about B Corporations at www.bcorporation.net
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
Climate Advisers is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and strives to select the best-qualified person for each position in the organization. We enthusiastically accept our responsibility to make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, disability, military service or veteran status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, and local laws and ordinances. The organization is dedicated to ensuring the fulfillment of this policy with respect to hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, recruitment advertising, pay and other forms of compensation, training, and general treatment during employment.