CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY ASSOCIATE
Cascadia Consulting Group, Inc.
Position in Seattle, Washington; Oakland, California; or Arizona
Cascadia Consulting Group is a majority women-owned, private consulting firm that develops and
implements innovative solutions to today’s environmental challenges. Founded in 1993, we work with public and private-sector clients to advance sustainability through recycling and materials management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy efficiency, and water and natural resources management. The Cascadia team brings both expertise and creative thinking to research and analysis, strategic planning, program design and implementation, and outreach and evaluation. With offices in Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Austin, and Phoenix, we serve clients across the country and abroad. Our mission is to inspire and empower communities everywhere to protect and restore our world.
Cascadia aspires to be a multicultural organization and seeks to hire individuals who contribute to our cultural fluency. We value employees who are aware of their own cultural lens, along with the impact it has on their interactions and work, and who can effectively connect across culture and difference, with a particular sensibility around race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and physical ability. Additionally, we hire individuals who value a collaborative, fast-paced work environment, who can think creatively and communicate effectively, and who will work hard to get the job done well. Consulting is about taking initiative, problem-solving, and serving clients, so we seek staff members with those skills.
Position Overview
We are seeking an Associate to support our climate, sustainability, and natural resources analysis and planning work. The person in this role serves a range of clients and stakeholders, including local governments, tribes, foundations, nonprofits, and development agencies. Key aspects of the work may include researching policies and best practices, analyzing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts, facilitating workshops and meetings, conducting interviews, doing literature reviews, and distilling and translating complex information into clear, compelling materials for diverse audiences. The distribution of work among these key aspects will vary based on project load and applicant skillset. We are seeking applicants with excellent written and oral communication skills and strong quantitative and creative problem-solving capabilities with an interest in public and stakeholder engagement. Examples of work include the following:
- Support analytical tasks, such as greenhouse gas inventories, climate vulnerability assessments, and sustainability metrics tracking and analysis
- Conduct desktop research and interviews, analyze information and data, and synthesize findings into clearly written informative summaries, fact sheets, presentations, or
- Research and track trends, issues, and policies related to climate change adaptation, renewable energy, water resource management, habitat conservation, and other
- Facilitate multi-stakeholder meetings, workshops, task forces, and committees dedicated to a range of environmental
- Generate external-facing materials on climate change and sustainability topics for stakeholder meetings, public events, and websites and
- Produce high-quality work products and deliverables—such as polished written reports, fact sheets, tables, graphs, and other presentation pieces—that uphold Cascadia’s “brand” and reputation for exceptional quality look and
- Support project management, including scoping, budgeting, planning, client communication, managing staff and/or subcontractors, reporting, and
Candidate Profile
Desired Qualifications
- A minimum of two years of professional experience working on climate, sustainability, and/or natural resource management
- Demonstrated understanding of climate change impacts and approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience. Direct work experience in this area is highly desirable.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills and demonstrated ability to communicate complex issues clearly using simple, commonly accepted
- Intermediate to advanced skills in MS
- Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to handle challenging situations with tact and
- Excellent organizational and documentation skills, and great attention to
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks or projects, balance competing demands, set priorities, meet deadlines, and comply with budget
- Strong interest in facilitation; experience facilitating multi-stakeholder groups grappling with natural resource
- Willingness and ability to work effectively in a dynamic, fast-paced work
- Patience, empathy, and a sense of
- Ability to work independently, with minimal guidance, as well as an ability to work effectively in a
Additional Valued Skills
- Background in public engagement; experience designing and/or facilitating workshops or trainings.
- Strategic planning
- Experience with GIS
- Publishing software expertise, particularly Adobe InDesign and/or MS
- Cross-cultural
- Bi- or multilingual skills a
Compensation and Benefits
This is a full-time or part-time position based in Seattle, Oakland, or Arizona. Occasional travel may be required, including meetings and other activities outside standard work hours and sometimes including overnight stays. Compensation is competitive with jobs in the environmental sector.
To Apply
To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@cascadiaconsulting.com and indicate “Climate & Sustainability Associate – [Your Name]” in the subject line. Your cover letter should address your ability to meet the criteria in the Candidate Profile section and highlight relevant experience, education, and why you are interested in this position. Please state where you learned about the position. Applications will be accepted until midnight on October 22, 2017.