Senior Director of Policy and Government Affairs

WHO WE ARE

We know that our climate goals can only be met by rapidly reducing emissions and removing the carbon that already exists in our atmosphere. Carbon180 is a climate NGO with a vision to remove legacy carbon emissions from the atmosphere and create a livable climate in which current and future generations can thrive. Based in Washington, DC, we design and champion equitable, science-based policies that bring carbon removal solutions to gigaton scale.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Here at Carbon180, we believe there is no “perfect” candidate and want to encourage applying even if all the requirements listed aren’t met. Our goal is to build an authentic workplace by valuing diversity in our candidates. We are always looking to expand our growing team with dynamic and enthusiastic individuals. We look forward to receiving your application! 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Overview

At Carbon180, we’re on a mission to design and champion equitable, science-based policies that bring carbon removal solutions to gigaton scale. Carbon removal is a public good and federal policy will be essential to deploying the technologies and practices needed to meet climate goals. Federal policy is also a powerful tool for ensuring that equity and justice is at the center of a rapidly growing carbon removal sector. Carbon180 is seeking a Senior Director of Policy and Government Affairs to build an ambitious vision that changes what is possible on climate policy, while driving tactical change.

This person will lead our tech policy, land policy, and government affairs work, as well as build and lead a new ocean policy team, in Washington, DC. This role is responsible for developing and executing Carbon180’s federal policy strategy in partnership with the Managing Director of Programs, Executive Director, and other peers at the organization.

This person will manage three to four Directors and support them as they lead teams of policy and government affairs experts to develop new policy ideas, support direct outreach and advocacy to policymakers, and build coalitions. You will work closely across the organization, including with the science & innovation team, to ensure policy development is rooted in the best available science and addresses the real-world barriers faced by entrepreneurs; with our environmental justice team to ensure policies are equitable and just; and our communications and team to educate policymakers and other key audiences. This role also involves developing and managing yearly and quarterly policy goals and an associated budget. The position will report to the Managing Director of Programs.

Major roles + responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of Carbon180’s policy strategy development, working with the team to set annual, monthly, and weekly priorities aligned to our organizational strategy.
• Support directors as they manage teams of policy staff providing day-to-day support, coaching, and professional development opportunities, and ensuring their work meets policy strategy goals.
• Support directors in developing priorities, projects, goals, and KPIs each year.
• Strategic thinker with experience in incorporating and growing DEIBJ in strategic goals, work plans, team culture, and operations.
• Lead the team in building and executing policy campaigns around key issue areas, including: 
• Developing new and novel policy ideas 
• Planning and leading coalition-building and outreach activities
• Coordinating with our communications team to develop new content, engage with reporters, leverage social media, and act as the policy lead on other communications tasks.
• Act as a representative of Carbon180 by participating in events, talking with media, and giving presentations; building high-level relationships across key audiences is an important part of this position and organizational resources will be deployed to support this.
• Engage in some policy-related fundraising efforts, in collaboration with the executive director and director of development.
• Manage an annual program budget and related grants.
• Located in Washington, DC (preferred)

WHO YOU ARE

Our ideal Senior Director of Policy and Government Affairs believes deeply in our mission.

• You’re high impact, low-ego, and kind to yourself and others. Our Core Values (below) resonate with who you are and what you believe.
• You are a gifted speaker, and an even stronger listener. You’re comfortable in conversation with a variety of stakeholders, from Fortune 500 CEOs to the Washington Post, to a team of engineers. You can translate ideas across audiences and modes of communication in an organized, thoughtful way.
• Creative problem solving fires you up. When faced with a mountain, you know there are plenty of ways to climb it. You’re not dissuaded by challenges. In fact, you’re energized by them and by all of the creative approaches you might take to solve them. You build structure out of chaos, but you believe nimble systems > bureaucracy any day.
• You move fluidly from strategy to execution. You appreciate the big picture and feel inspired to set a bold vision, but you know it's all in the details. You manage projects fluidly, fiercely prioritize, and track timelines, data, and information in an organized and systematic fashion. You don't drop balls, miss deadlines, or forget to respond to someone's inquiry - and you’re not afraid to roll up your sleeves to do the work. 
• You’re a driver of results. You've demonstrated the ability to drive results in the pursuit of ambitious goals, and you combine your exceptional strategic, analytical, and critical thinking skills with your penchant for using data to drive decision-making to achieve impressive outcomes.
• You build trust and leverage meaningful relationships to get things done. A relationship-builder at heart, the people you work with trust that you leverage relationships to get things done in a mutually beneficial, non-transactional way. You are both warm AND demanding. You do what you say you will do, hold others to account, and support the people you engage in pursuing our shared goals. 

Beyond that, you will need:

• Experience in federal policy, including experience in government and/or NGOs working on energy and/or climate policy. 
• Experience developing and executing successful policy change strategies/campaigns.
• Experience managing teams and supervising employees.
• Comfort with public speaking and media engagement.
• The ideal candidate will have expertise on carbon removal policies and pathways, including knowledge about the state of the field and where policy will be most impactful in advancing solutions.

WHAT WE OFFER

Carbon180 is deeply committed to providing market-leading compensation and robust benefits to our employees. Our salaries are in the 70th percentile of the Washington, DC market. We employ an external firm to conduct market analyses every three years, and we are committed to safeguarding internal salary equity. For those reasons, we have a non-negotiation policy on salaries.

The starting salary for this position will be between  $216,000 - $231,000, with opportunities for growth up to $276,000.

Carbon180 prides itself on offering benefits and perks to our employees that illustrate how we live our values, including:

• 36-hour workweeks (we close at 1 pm every Friday) and dedicated no-meeting time each week.
• A remote-first flexible work culture.
• Four weeks of PTO, three weeks of paid org-wide breaks including one week in the summer and two weeks in the winter, four weeks of sick leave, and five floating holidays/personal days.
• 100% company-covered insurance premiums for medical/dental/vision/long-term disability for you and your dependents.
• Quarterly health and wellness, book, and learning and development stipends.

TO APPLY

To apply for the role of senior director of policy and government affairs, please submit an application.

On the application, you’ll be asked to

• answer some basic questions about your background and experiences,
• in place of a cover letter, answer a few written reflection questions to help us learn more about your interest in joining our team and in this role specifically, and
• send your resume via email as prompted in the application form.

Interview process and timeline

• Applications are being accepted and reviewed through late May.
• There will be three rounds of interviews in June and July.
• We anticipate extending an offer in early August.

If you have any questions or issues submitting your application, please email us at [email protected].

OUR VALUES

At C180, we believe in living by an internal set of core values, which we strive to embody and celebrate in moments big and small.

• One Boat. We work hard to ensure that we are rowing in one direction as a team, aligning our work and resources to shared goals..
• Pencil to Pen. We think critically, do our research, and weigh multiple options. Then, we commit to move to action.
• Win + Lose Together. When one of us succeeds, we all win. When we encounter challenges, we determine how best to redirect the energy and resources of the team to solve them.
• Person in the Professional. Our team is composed of real people with real passions, interests, and needs within and outside of work. We believe we need to care for ourselves and others to be our best and most productive selves at work. 
• Make Space, Share Space. We believe in making space for all voices to be heard, within our team and our broader work - particularly and especially voices historically disenfranchised and disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change.
• Be a Window, Not a Door. We’re committed to transparency, and to shining light on how and why decisions are made. We are honest with one another, ask for clarity, and operate with integrity to build a culture of trust.
• Grow the Braintrust. We are committed to constantly learning, and to staying up to speed on the science of our field. We work to grow our knowledge, sharpen our skills, and to bring great minds to the field of carbon removal.

We currently require that all employees who plan to enter a Carbon180 office or otherwise meet in person with coworkers or other third parties on Carbon180 business are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Accordingly, this role may require full COVID-19 vaccination (subject to any exemptions or accommodations due to medical or religious reasons).

Carbon180 is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. Carbon180 continually seeks to enrich its staff and team culture. In particular, we’re dedicated to broadening opportunities for individuals from demographic groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences and in environmental advocacy. We’re also committed to building an inclusive workplace culture where talented people of widely different backgrounds can thrive. We've adopted this commitment because we believe the inclusion of culturally diverse perspectives will improve our work and produce better societal and environmental outcomes for all, including historically disenfranchised communities.