Santa Barbara, CA

Position Title: Academic Coordinator

Organization: Institute for Energy Efficiency UCSB 

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Position Overview:

Through the UCSB Institute for Energy Efficiency, the 2035 Initiative is seeking an Academic Coordinator I (Deputy Director) who will work closely with the 2035 Initiative’s Director, Principal Investigators, and researchers working on domestic and international projects. The 2035 Initiative is a collaboration between environmental policy and politics research labs at the University of California Santa Barbara. The Initiative uses cutting-edge empirical research, policy development, and media engagement to support transformational policy change in the United States and across the planet.

Approximately 50% of the Academic Coordinator’s time will be focused on providing administrative, operational, communications, and fundraising support and the other 50% will be focused on assisting in the management and execution of specific research projects. We are looking for a detail-oriented team player with the ability and willingness to juggle a broad spectrum of responsibilities to fill this dynamic role.

Duties:

• Lead policy development activities, including conducting policy research, drafting policy memos and whitepapers, and collaborating with nonprofit and public-sector partners, creating dynamic policy interventions based on empirical research;
• Lead outreach and engagement activities with community members, community-based organizations, and nonprofit partners;
• Lead fundraising efforts, including managing extramural grant applications, grant writing, and developing reports and presentations;
• Collaborate with Initiative faculty to identify high-impact research opportunities and support applied research projects;
• Engage with coalition partners and the broader climate advocacy community to bring empirical findings into conversation with advocates and policymakers;
• Support communications and outreach efforts, including drafting public-facing materials to reach broad public audiences;
• Support management of the Initiative, including providing project management support, facilitating the Initiative’s student mentorship programs, tracking project deliverables, and following up on next steps from meetings and workshops;
• Broadly lend support to the Initiative team where needed and tackle special projects where appropriate.

Qualifications: 

Basic Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in political science, sociology, economics, environmental studies, environmental science, public policy, public administration, communications, or a related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree
• Excellent writing skills;
• At least 1-3 years of policy development and/or community engagement experience, preferably in climate, energy, or environmental fields;
• At least 1-3 years of administrative support or project coordination experience and a proven track record of excellence in administrative and logistical support;
• Knowledge of environmental politics, policy, and institutions;
• Ability to handle a diverse portfolio of responsibilities simultaneously, with speed, accuracy and courtesy;
• Ability to plan and sequence tasks and projects;
• Ability to efficiently and accurately analyze problems, gather relevant information, propose and implement practical solutions with varying levels of input from senior staff;
• Experience working with interdisciplinary teams and adapting to support multiple work styles;
• Experience supporting fundraising efforts, including writing and formatting proposals, reports to funders and other written materials;
• Experience using project management or collaboration platforms such as Slack, Asana, Basecamp, etc.;
• Experience tracking milestones and deliverables to keep projects on track;
• Excellent computer skills, such as fluency in MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Google Docs, Gmail and Google Calendar.
• Experience developing systems and processes to increase organizational efficiency;
• Strong work ethic—highly motivated to go above and beyond a job description to support the team as needed, including a willingness to take on any task or to take the initiative to develop a deeper understanding of policies or protocol in areas that will clearly benefit the organization’s operations.

Start/End Dates:  Anticipated Start Date: June 1, 2024 or later

Salary/Pay: $72,000-$88,000

Application Deadline: Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

How to Apply: Please use the online application to view the full job description as well as how to apply.