Science Program Operations Manager

About Cascade

The climate crisis has outpaced our response. To avoid triggering irreversible tipping points, we need to dramatically mitigate near-term warming,  scale durable carbon removal to restore our climate, and advance the most promising interventions. Many high-potential solutions remain sidelined because they haven't received the push needed to clear big obstacles that exist between early research and mainstream adoption. 

We founded Cascade Climate to provide that push. We do this by leading ambitious initiatives spanning markets, policy and science to overcome the biggest bottlenecks to progress. Cascade is philanthropically backed and since its launch in 2023 has built a strong funding base with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Grantham Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and others.

Our initial focus has been advancing the development of Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) as a promising climate-smart agriculture and carbon removal solution. In 2025, we expanded our work beyond carbon removal to tackle the problem of near-term warming by pursuing drastic cuts to super pollutants.

About the Role 

In order for ERW to reach its potential, it needs to overcome a number of hurdles - in particular, by building the scientific evidence base required for broader adoption. Cascade is uniquely positioned to accelerate ERW R&D for the field through our role connecting policy, market actors and academics. 

This role will sit at the center of Cascade’s ERW science acceleration work, enabling the successful execution of the organization’s priority programmatic initiatives. You will translate our strategic goals into real-world impact by orchestrating regrants to promising research projects, stewarding data collaborations, fostering partnerships with academic and industry leaders, and managing core operations across the portfolio of ERW science acceleration work.

About You

You’re a strategic doer who thrives on making things happen. You might be a scientist who is interested in executing partnerships and working outside of an academic environment, an operations lead at a science organization or research institute with impressive project management skills, or something else altogether. You’re equally comfortable zooming out to see the big picture and diving into the details to ensure everything runs smoothly. You love coordinating moving pieces, fostering strong partnerships to tackle tough questions, and working alongside researchers and technical experts to help their work go further. Most of all, you are energized by the idea of working at the intersection of science, strategy, and operations to help respond to the climate crisis. 

Major Roles and Responsibilities

• Design and manage grantmaking programs — from RFP development and proposal review to grant disbursement, monitoring, and funder reporting

• Build and manage partnerships with academic institutions, industry collaborators, and other stakeholders across the science acceleration portfolio

• Lead contract design, negotiation, and execution with third party collaborators

• Lead operations for the ERW Data Quarry — including participant onboarding, system maintenance, governance processes, management of technical contractors, and oversight of data uploads — and coordinate the successful launch and publication of Cascade-authored meta-analyses

• Provide project management across key initiatives — setting timelines, coordinating cross-functional teams, tracking progress, and ensuring on-time, high-quality execution

• Quickly identify areas that could be improved across the science acceleration portfolio and implement the operations and processes to help push our work farther

• Contribute to strategic planning for Cascade’s ERW science acceleration work, including project concepts and partner engagement

Desired Skills and Experiences  

• 4+ years of experience in an operations or project management role 

• Demonstrated experience managing complex projects or programs with multiple stakeholders, ideally in a scientific, academic, or technical setting

• A knack for logistics and systems thinking—someone who can move from big picture to operational detail with ease

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with experience managing external partners or coalitions

• Strong organizational skills and comfort coordinating across teams, timelines, and priorities—especially in dynamic or uncertain contexts

• Familiarity with scientific research; experience working with academic or field data collection, or coordinating technical experts is a plus

• Comfort with managing contracts and coordinating with legal counsel; experience with contracting processes is preferred but not required

• Experience with grantmaking or regranting is preferred but not required

• Able to work independently in a fast-paced, evolving environment

More generally, we are looking for someone with the following mindsets and interests that are at the heart of Cascade’s culture:

• Palpably demonstrates the empathy, humility and contagious curiosity that are at the heart of Cascade’s culture

• Ability to embrace tension and ‘inhabit’ both sides or perspectives on an issue

• Uncommonly strong self-driven learning habits with clear evidence of this hungry auto-didacticism in your past education and work experience 

• Comfort working under uncertainty and ambiguity without any clear right answer

• Naturally high standards and expectations of yourself while avoiding letting “perfect get in the way of really good” so that you can deliver strong work quickly

• You are excited to dig deep into a range of solutions to the climate crisis. This may include research on climate-relevant financing, policy, and market mechanisms or parsing through hairy-looking scientific papers

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• If this broadly describes you, we think you’ll feel at home here at Cascade, and will join a team of experienced and passionate people who will take great care to support you and your continued growth. We encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply, regardless of whether you feel you meet 100% of the qualifications. The top candidates will bring their own unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds from a variety of industries along with many but not necessarily all the skills listed above.   

Location   

Candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to one of Cascade’s hubs. Cascade is headquartered in Boston and has hubs in Washington D.C., New York City, and the Bay Area. We are a hybrid workplace, in-office a couple days a week out of a shared co-working space or our Boston headquarters.

We love seeing each other in person. We gather regularly for team time like retreats, learning experiences, and whiteboarding sessions. Be ready to travel at least once per quarter—and occasionally a bit more as needed—for site visits, team gatherings, and partner meetings.

Diversity

At Cascade, we believe that a diverse, inclusive team is essential to advancing our mission. We’re committed to recruiting, hiring, and supporting a team that reflects the communities we serve and brings a wide range of perspectives to the table.

Cascade is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Work Authorization

Please note that Cascade Climate is unable to sponsor H-1B work visas for this role. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for H-1B visa sponsorship at the time of application.