Put your passion and skills to work for the planet. Climate change is the most urgent issue of our time, and we need people like you to help us build a vital Earth — for everyone.

We’re Environmental Defense Fund, a fast-paced nonprofit with a growing staff of more than 1,000 people in nearly 30 countries. We deliver game-changing solutions that cut climate pollution and strengthen people’s ability to thrive despite the effects climate change is already having. We work wherever we can have the most impact, from local communities to top companies to governments worldwide, and even in space.

Our culture, values and commitment to diversity make EDF an exciting and meaningful place to work. Every job here makes a difference. Won’t you join us?

Program Overview

The Office of Chief Scientist (OCS) is the nexus of science at EDF, ensuring that the scientific backbone for all EDF policy positions is based on the best available information. To be effective in this role, OCS works with staff from across EDF and provides programmatic support for all EDF scientists as well as fosters relationships with scientists in academia, government and industry.

Overall Function

Hydrogen as a potential clean energy source is receiving much government, industry and investment attention. But many knowledge gaps exist on hydrogen’s impact on climate change, the environment, and public health. EDF is working to overcome these knowledge gaps by establishing an impartial, fact-based research consortium that coordinates global efforts among scientists, civil engineers, infrastructure experts, policymakers and business leaders to conduct research and rapidly synthesize and disseminate findings. OCS leads, coordinates, or engages in various research initiatives within this consortium, including hydrogen emissions measurement and inventory, climate impacts of hydrogen pathways, and atmospheric/climate modeling of hydrogen.

The Manager will be responsible for implementing key aspects of EDF’s hydrogen science work including managing projects and relationships with outside partners, both academic and corporate. They will develop partnerships and foster collaboration among governments, NGO’s, companies, and academics and provide management support to a growing portfolio of projects whose overall goal is to advance the scientific understanding of hydrogen emissions and their climate and other impacts from a growing hydrogen value chain. Under the leadership of the Senior Director in OCS, the Manager will work closely with the Climate Science Team to manage scientific collaborations and processes involving multiple outside entities.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage complex hydrogen science projects with internal EDF team and external partners; create project workplans and ensure that varied teams stay on track to meet deliverables and objectives; develop and apply appropriate means for measuring project success; work with program financial analysts to track project budget.
• Manage our core research project, the hydrogen emissions measurement campaign including recruiting partners, writing and negotiating agreements and scopes of work with technical vendors, academic partners, and corporate partners.
• Identify, develop, and maintain relationships with key stakeholders in academic, governmental, non-profit, and industry sectors with the goal of fostering relationships, gathering information, recruiting partners, and coordinating research projects.
• Coordinate interdisciplinary teams comprised of staff from various internal programs and external organizations, with members internationally and across multiple time zones. Set up and lead group meetings, and track progress and outcomes.
• Independently troubleshoot problems where precedents are not always available using an original arrangement or interpretation of complex information or activities to arrive at logical conclusions. 
• Support hiring new team members, including working with HR to post, recruit and evaluate candidates.
• Serve as an EDF representative in external settings such as conferences, workshops, and partnerships. Communicate various project goals and results to EDF leadership and staff, donors, companies, policymakers, environmental groups, the media and the public through reports and other methods, in collaboration with our communications and development teams.
• Translate program and project needs into actionable items to advance program decision-making and liaise with programs to facilitate information sharing, identify synergies, and improve collaboration.
• Participate in advancing EDF DEI goals in which people from all backgrounds and experiences feel connected, included, and empowered to address the environmental and organizational challenges in alignment with EDF values. This includes fostering equitable systems and empowering diverse constituencies both internally and externally.
• Be an integral team player in the development of a vibrant and entrepreneurial program by supporting fundraising efforts, evaluating and recommending new project ideas, and other relevant activities.
• Be an actively participant of the Office of Chief Scientist’s growing project management and operations team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 6 years program or related experience, or advanced degree with at least 4 years of direct experience required. 
• Experience or education related to climate, energy and/or environmental science/engineering a plus;
• Experience in project management and exceptional personal organization and attention to detail required;
• A high level of strategic thinking is required in order to synthesize complex information to identify and deploy action plans;
• Possess a high degree of diplomacy to influence and manage key stakeholders and teams;
• Independent judgment required to plan, prioritize, and organize a diverse workload;
• Experience balancing the needs of multiple diverse stakeholders including regulators, industry, and community organizations;
• Strong ability to work on multiple projects concurrently, both independently and as a member of multi-disciplinary teams in a dynamic, fast-paced and creative environment;
• Strong analytical skills and experience performing rigorous analysis in support of highly visible work;
• Ability to effectively communicate complex scientific, economic, and technical information in an advocacy setting both to internal and external audiences in writing and orally;
• Strong oral presentation skills for both small and large audiences;
• Demonstrated ability to independently recommend and determine approaches to completing projects and managing processes where precedents are not always available;
• Demonstrates self-awareness, cultural competency and inclusivity, and ability to work with and lead colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds.
• Proficiency in the use of PCs and Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.), familiarity with project management software preferred (i.e., Podio, Asana, Smartsheets, etc.)
• Willingness to travel and work with teams across different time zones.

Hiring Range

We offer a strong total rewards package encompassing competitive salary, robust benefits, and professional development opportunities consistent with a modern global organization.

The pay range for this role is 83,000 - 93,000 USD which takes into account factors such as candidate experience, skills, training, internal team equity and local norms.

Environmental Defense Fund is an equal opportunity employer where an applicant's qualifications are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis prohibited by law.