Job Type: Non-Union
Job Posting: COP-00048-23
Salary: $79,904 — $101,156
Job Grade Level: A19-A22
Department: Office of Sustainability
The City of Providence welcomes and encourages diversity in our workforce at all levels of the organization. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit hiring discrimination of any type. All City hiring decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
PLEASE NOTE:
All persons employed by the City of Providence are required to have achieved a fully vaccinated status against the COVID-19 virus. “Fully vaccinated status” shall be defined as having received the full number of doses required to complete the vaccination series of one of the currently recognized COVID-19 vaccines. Proof of vaccination completion will be required before beginning employment with the City.
Job Summary
The Director of Sustainability works under the direction of the Mayor and is responsible for advancing the City’s climate and sustainability agenda including the goals articulated in the Climate Justice Plan. The Director works across City departments and collaborates with stakeholders and partners including the Sustainability Commission, the Racial & Environmental Justice Committee, state agencies, nonprofits, businesses, colleges and universities, and grassroots organizations.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Ensure that the City continues to advance its sustainability work while centering racial equity and collaborating with frontline, BIPOC communities.
- Maintain and develop strategic partnerships (local and national) to help achieve citywide climate and sustainability goals.
- Oversee the tracking and reporting of sustainability metrics and accomplishments. Modifying tactics to ensure that key objectives are achieved.
- Work with the Mayor’s Communications Team to respond to press inquiries and manage all external communications related to the City’s sustainability work.
- Manage the staff of the Department of Sustainability to ensure overarching goals are achieved and city policies are implemented.
- Ability to navigate municipal processes to move projects and priorities forward in an efficient manner.
- Plan and manage the Department of Sustainability’s budget. This includes preparing an annual budget, reporting and tracking expenses, and being accountable to the Finance Department, Mayor, and Providence City Council.
- Manage large, multi-year grants, as well as funder relations.
- Collaborate with City departments on cross-cutting issues including but not limited to Public Properties, Public Works, Economic Development, Planning & Development, and the Office of Healthy Communities to ensure cross-departmental resiliency initiatives are achieved.
- Advise the Mayor’s Senior Staff to ensure appropriate sustainability and resiliency goals are achieved during relevant City processes including the development of the City’s Capital Improvement Plan, the legislative agenda, and incorporating sustainability into other program and policy items.
- Provide staff support to the Sustainability Commission.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university; A Master’s degree in a related field (i.e. Public Policy, Urban Planning, Sustainability) is preferred. Plus, at least five years of experience working in the climate and sustainability field. Or, any combination of experience and education that is substantially equivalent to the above requirements.
- Personnel management and supervisory skills.
- Demonstrated experience in advancing public sector agencies towards achieving sustainability and climate resiliency goals including knowledge of the intersections between the climate movement, labor, racial justice, reproductive justice, gender justice, and other movements for social justice. Additional experience in working as part of advocacy movements outside of government as well is preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to implement authentic community engagement process, build social networks and facilitate connections, especially with underrepresented groups. Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships in the community that facilitate the identification of Experience listening to and respecting the lived experience of community members, and incorporates feedback into decision making processes.
- Experience developing and implementing policy.
- Building consensus and finding commonalities with groups of people with diverging interests and perspectives.
- Excellent communications skills and the ability to present on findings, policies, or recommendations to elected officials, stakeholders, and City staff.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, delegate work, and ensure that workload is aligned with staff capacity.
- Experience working on system-level change from within a large organization.
- Familiarity with Providence’s and Rhode Island’s environmental policy and advocacy landscape.
Posting expires when the position is filled.