Job Description

Background 

C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities, who are working to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis, and create a future where everyone, everywhere can thrive. Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. Through a Global Green New Deal, mayors are working alongside a broad coalition of representatives from labour, business, the youth climate movement and civil society to go further and faster than ever before.

C40’s team of 200+ staff is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Johannesburg, Singapore, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, Beijing and Paris, and individual staff based across 25+ different locations, with the Office of the Chair based in London.

The strategic direction of the organisation is determined by an elected Steering Committee of C40 mayors which is chaired by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the C40 Board of Directors, which is responsible for operational oversight. A nine-person management team, led by Executive Director, Mark Watts, leads the day-to-day management of C40. C40’s three core strategic funders are Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Realdania.

Our international staff work with the C40 network under the leadership of city governments to deliver this mission. Using a data-driven approach, our team identifies and promotes the exchange of proven programmes and policies developed by cities; provides world-class research, technical expertise and access to key partners to deliver new programmes and policies with cities; and communicates cities’ individual achievements and collective leadership.

Diversity Statement

C40 is committed to supporting and promoting equity and diversity and creating an inclusive working environment for everyone. We believe that when people with different life experiences are involved in decision-making, we deliver better.

We believe having a diverse workforce ensures we connect better with all the different communities and people affected by the climate crisis. This enables us to make better decisions which lead to better outcomes in the work we do through increased creativity, productivity, greater global impact alongside a broader perspective and approach to our work.

We welcome applicants that are diverse in terms of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective. Our goal is for C40 to be an environment where everyone, from any background, can flourish and can be themselves whilst contributing to our mission. If you identify as a person with a disability, we work to provide reasonable appropriate measures and any additional support needed to provide an equitable working experience. If you are living with a disability, chronic illness or neurodiversity please inform us, to provide you with the proper assistance in the application process.

C40 promotes a work culture where staff can input to improve equity, diversity and inclusion through staff-led groups and formal forums. We know that creating our ideal working environment is a learning process and we are committed to the ongoing effort.

Regional Approach

Core to C40’s value and effectiveness is an ability to be responsive to the needs of all C40 cities and focus services and support on the areas of greatest opportunity for city action and climate impact – both at the individual city level and across our regional and global networks. Our regional management structure better enables C40 to leverage relationships between peer cities and technical and financial partners regionally and globally and to be more responsive to local needs and conditions.

To manage these efforts, C40 Regional Directors are positioned in seven regions: Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Southeast Asia and Oceania, East Asia and South & West Asia. The Regional Directors act as the ambassador for their regions, to ensure that the organisation can deliver effectively at a regional level considering specific geographic, cultural, language and other differences. The Regional Director for North America is based in Chicago. The Mayor of Phoenix and the Mayor of Seattle represent the region’s cities on the Steering Committee as C40 vice-chairs. A Head of Climate Action Implementation will support the 17 cities in North America in overseeing programmes and supporting cities in the implementation of impactful climate action.

Position Description

The Head of Climate Action Implementation will report to the Regional Director for North America and work closely C40’s sectoral and programme to support the region’s cities in accelerating the implementation of the most impactful climate actions to radically reduce GHG emissions and to safeguard communities from climate hazards such as droughts and flooding. This will include supporting cities in using C40’s global resources and contextualizing and supplementing them for the North American context. In addition, this position will work with cities in the tracking and updating of climate action plans.

 Responsibilities:

• Support C40’s North American member cities in their implementation of key priority actions from their Climate Actions Plans, e.g. by helping them to identify and establish critical pathways and partnerships for delivery.
• Support C40’s sector and programmatic delivery in the region by ensuring it is meeting the needs of C40 North American cities
• Managing the collaboration activities with C40’s delivery partners and organizations in the region to coordinate efforts around its implementation programmes and ensure a streamlined approach in the engagement with participating cities.
• Assist C40’s Regional Director in developing and executing strategies to ensure alignment with national and sub-national policies and strategies and synergies with support programmes from other development partners to further accelerate the implementation of city climate actions.
• Elicit learnings and best practice examples from implementation processes and provide input to ensure that this knowledge is exchanged and available in the C40 Knowledge Hub and other relevant platforms for cross learning.
• Advise and assist cities in the monitoring and measurement of climate action implementation
• Ensure coordination and linkages between C40 Teams including global thematic leads, city diplomacy, financing, etc. towards a unified and coordinated city support strategy
• Build relationships with technical staff in C40 member cities who are responsible for overseeing sustainability and resiliency work in the cities and build thorough knowledge of priority actions being implemented by each member city
• Support partners in the region who work with non-C40 cities to share knowledge on C40’s tools for other cities

Person Specification:

• Extensive background in the development of city climate action plans and policies with preferred technical expertise in one or more of the areas of building decarbonization, clean energy and transportation
• The candidate should demonstrate an understanding of both the challenges and the opportunities of implementing ambitious climate action and their economic, social and health benefits as well as climate risks and hazards.
• Experience of working with city administrations and on creating results within political organisations.
• Experience with public financing within the US and Canada and innovative public-private financing models is preferred
• Familiarity with the global climate change agenda and the context of priority areas of action for North America
• Excellent interpersonal relationship management skills in intercultural settings
• Excellent project management skills and technical and report writing skills
• Experience managing staff, particularly remote management of staff based in different locations.
• The successful candidate is expected to significant work experience in public policy and climate change with proven leadership on the topic
• The working language will be English; working knowledge of French will be an asset.

Other Requirements:

• The position will require frequent traveling to C40 cities within the region.
• Applicants should have the right to work in the United States or Canada

Recruitment process: Selected candidates will be interviewed by a diverse recruitment panel with representatives from C40.

Reporting To: C40 Regional Director, North America

Term: Indefinite

Location: Any C40 City in North America (United States and Canada): Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montréal, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington DC. See this page for the list of cities.

Salary: (Grade 2) NY $95,472 \ LA $94,164 \ CAD 65,801

How to Apply

• Please click here to apply online.
• Closing date for applications is Monday 21 February 2022. C40 reserves the right to close this job opening before the closing date for applications so please do submit applications early.
• To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit www.c40.org, follow us on Twitter @c40cities and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/C40Cities.
• For any queries about the role, please contact [email protected]
• C40 is an equal opportunities employer.

Job Categories: Climate Change. Job Types: Full-Time.

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