Training and Events Senior Associate

The Climate Reality Project is a nonprofit organization founded by former US Vice President Al Gore. Our mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.  

At The Climate Reality Project, we come to work every day to help solve the climate crisis. We do it by working from the ground up, empowering people and communities worldwide to fight for their future and together drive a just transition to clean energy.

We are committed to building a more just and equitable world, one where all voices are heard and respected regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or physical ability. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other historically marginalized communities. We encourage applicants to read our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice statement on our website.

Position Summary

The Training and Events Senior Associate is responsible for coordinating and supporting a variety of conferences and events related to climate change advocacy and awareness. These projects are both domestic and international and require travel.

Currently reporting to the Training and Events Senior Manager, this role serves as a subject matter expert to the Training and Events team.

This position is within a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment will be subject to a collective bargaining agreement between Climate Reality and the union.

This is a hybrid position requiring a two day per week minimum work requirement in our downtown Washington DC office.  The salary for the role is $74,351/year. 

Duties and Responsibilities

General

• Works closely with the Senior Manager, and at times independently, to implement the strategy and planning of activities, and organizing meetings and special events and of various sizes.
• Plans logistics and supports the negotiation of contract(s) for conferences, and/or events, with respect to budgets, speakers, entertainment, transportation, facilities, technology, equipment, logistical requirements, printing, food and beverage, and other related issues.
• Gathers information, coordinates between Legal Department and vendors during negotiation of terms and fees, and serves as a liaison with facilities, vendors, entertainers, etc., for service, in accordance with budget constraints and organizational policies and procedures.
• Coordinates closely with external sustainability coordinator and venues to ensure sustainability practices are well planned, correctly implemented, and compliance documented during and after events
• Assists departmental project manager with day-to-day monitoring and reporting on projects, taking on subsets of the event project management as needed
• Researches and identifies applicable vendors for event support in line with organizational sustainability and procurement guidelines.
• Plans and travels on site visits to potential or confirmed venue locations for future events
• Supports and oversees on-site training of day-of event staff as needed
• Acts as on-site liaison and assistant to Senior Manager during events, including coordinating logistics, troubleshooting, and communications
• Assists in the management and production of attendee and staff materials
• Participates and sometimes leads event debriefs and analyzes post-event learning, sharing within Training & Events team and wider organization
• Supports and contributes to the ongoing improvement of our operations and enrichment of our culture, for example by serving on ad hoc or ongoing working groups, assisting with the onboarding and training of colleagues, and participating in efforts to assess, refine, and strengthen our culture and practices
• Other duties as assigned

Required Skills and Abilities

• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a timely fashion
• Strong logistics and project management skill with keen attention to detail
• Ability to be flexible, prioritize workload, and manage time effectively
• Strong customer service background
• Awareness of cultural diversity and ability to work effectively with international attendees and vendors
• Self-starter with the ability to identify and solve for system weaknesses with creative solutions
• Strong project management documentation, planning, tracking, and communicating to all stakeholders with goal of turning in all deliverables to stakeholders successfully. 
• Professional working proficiency with Microsoft Office to include Word, PowerPoint, and Keynote
• Strong working proficiency in Microsoft Office Excel
• Experience with CRM, preferably Salesforce
• Excellent communication skills
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer required

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree, CMP certification, —or equivalent experience
• A minimum of 4 years of relevant experience, such as hands-on experience in event coordination, hotel management, catering, and experience planning multiple medium to large sized events per year
• Working knowledge of climate policy, just transition, clean energy, grassroots activism, and environmental and climate justice topics in the US and abroad appreciated and if not already a skillset will be an expectation to learn as part of the position

Organizational Competencies

The Climate Reality Project has adopted a competency-based approach to job definition, hiring, performance assessment, and professional development. The following are our seven organization-wide competencies and examples of how they manifest for this role.

1. Teamwork and Collaboration: Builds and sustains productive working relationships with colleagues; actively listens to others and seeks to understand diverse perspectives; follows through on commitments.
2. Flexibility and Adaptability: Demonstrates the ability to adapt to changing priorities and circumstances; takes initiative to solve problems, improve processes, and/or achieve outcomes; learns quickly when faced with new situations or systems.
3. Written and Verbal Communication: Written communication is clear and concise; verbal communication is intentional and straightforward; provides timely and helpful information across the organization as needed; gives and receives constructive feedback in a thoughtful manner.
4. Time and Project Management: Possesses a strong work ethic i.e., a sense of ownership over tasks, commitment to following things through, and a willingness to do what it takes to get the job done; manages multiple competing priorities, tasks, and projects effectively; assigns work that is both manageable and appropriate to supervisees' level of experience.
5. Professional Development: Shows commitment and acts to continuously improve; connects with advocates, experts, mentors, and resources, and actively seeks new ways to grow and be challenged through internal and external training opportunities; accepts assignments that broaden capabilities.
6. Climate Justice: Works to understand and achieve anti-racist principles to disrupt the systems of white supremacy, privilege, classism, sexism, and racism; seeks to understand how systemic racism and environmental injustice impact individuals and frontline communities; works to promote a welcoming and inclusive environment in Climate Reality spaces (workplace, events, trainings, and other convenings).
7. Climate Reality Mission and Focus: Is passionate about Climate Reality's role and mission and can act as a Climate Reality ambassador to a diverse set of audiences; stays up-to-date on climate trends, impacts and solutions.

Role-Specific Competencies

In addition to organization-wide competencies, each role has its own competencies. Below are examples of how each competency manifests in this role.

1. Cultural Awareness: Demonstrates awareness of cultural diversity, with a lens on equity and justice; can work effectively with diverse groups, such as organizations, coalitions, and volunteers; works with communities to cultivate issue knowledge and advocacy.   
2. Technology and Data Systems: Identifies and solves system weaknesses with creative solutions.
3. Interpersonal Skills: Represents the division in organizational meetings and projects; represents Climate Reality at events and in the environmental community.                            
4. Leadership and Management: Facilitates and presents at cross-organizational planning meetings; creates briefing materials for speakers and Climate Reality leadership; is aware of how biases manifest in performance evaluations and conducts performance evaluations in an unbiased manner.

TO APPLY

Send a cover letter and resume to hiring@climatereality.com

BENEFITS

Excellent benefits, including employer paid 100% employee medical, life, dental, vision insurance. 401K, Paid Parental Leave, and other benefits such as wellness days, vacation and sick time are all included.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Climate Reality, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification in this job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

The Climate Reality Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or any other category prohibited by local, state or federal law. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, compensation, benefits, social and recreational activities and termination.