About Us

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. Climate Lead equips new climate philanthropists with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions by serving as an impartial guide. We cut through the complexity by curating roadmaps in partnership with a diverse network of experts to help philanthropists make a bold impact on climate from day one.

Summary

The Associate Director, Philanthropic Advising, is the architect of Climate Lead’s donor support ecosystem. This role leads the team of Philanthropy Project Managers who serve as the critical backbone for our Relationship Managers. Your first mission is to transition the organization from a variable-support model to a unified donor service engine as we grow.

The Associate Director serves as a high-level coach, force multiplier, and strategist, ensuring that every project manager has the skills, tools, and leadership required to deliver elite support to our Relationship Managers (also known as Advisors). By bridging the gap between team performance and donor outcomes, you will ensure our Advisors have the capacity and high-caliber deliverables required to secure transformative climate gifts.

Managerial Responsibilities

This role has 4 direct reports to start - a team of philanthropic project managers that will grow alongside the relationship management/donor advisory team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Talent Development (50%)

• Serve as the primary mentor for a team of Project Managers, shifting from task supervision to coaching that fosters independent problem-solving.
• Define, implement, and continuously refine guidelines for donor support to ensure a consistent, high-quality experience for Relationship Managers and donors, regardless of which Project Manager is assigned to the portfolio.
• In partnership with the People Team, develop and maintain a clear competency framework and growth paths to ensure team members acquire new skills and have the tools and support needed to map and lead their own growth and development. 
• Lead the design of a robust training program that equips new project management hires with a deep understanding of climate philanthropy, internal systems, and donor-stewardship best practices.
• Dynamically manage team assignments to balance workloads, ensuring that high-priority donor "big bets" have the necessary support while preventing burnout.
• Drive annual individual goal-setting to support the achievement of each team member’s highest potential; deliver performance reviews that unlock continuous growth, development, and improvement. 

Strategic Relationship Manager Partnership (50%)

• Strengthen existing post-production reviews and feedback structures with Relationship Managers and key internal partners throughout the organization to inform the growth and evolution of the project management function, ensuring the group's direct contribution to the broader Philanthropy Team’s success.
• Partner with Philanthropy leadership to align team capacity with organizational ‘Key Results.
• Oversee the evolution of donor deliverables (outreach plans, roadmaps, etc.), ensuring they remain market-leading and impactful.
• Act as the primary implementation partner for key cross-functional team members and partners; translate best practices and feedback loops into the daily team operations; help evolve organizational practices and playbooks. 
• Collaborate with Operations to ensure Salesforce and project management tools are utilized to provide data-driven insights into team productivity and donor progress.
• Collaborate with the Communications and the New Donor Strategy team to define and further evolve project managers’ roles in events and events strategy.

Success Criteria

Leading: creates an environment where others feel supported, empowered, and able to contribute fully by

• Ensuring growth and development, as demonstrated by high team morale and a measurable increase in the independence and strategic contribution of direct reports. 
• Balancing individual growth with collective urgency.
• Adapting communication so others understand and engage more easily.
• Creating space for others to be themselves and fully contribute to climate work.
• Modeling healthy, balanced, and effective work practices in a high-stakes environment.
• Collaborating: builds bridges across individual differences to multiply our collective impact, creating connections that strengthen our whole ecosystem by
• Shaping a consistent experience: Relationship Managers and cross-functional partners report reliable, high-quality support.
• Facilitating conversations rather than dominating them.
• Helping team members build their own cross-functional relationships.
• Translating between different perspectives and working styles.

Driving Results: balances urgency of climate solutions with sustainable, human-centered progress by

• Delivering quality: internal and external stakeholders recognize donor-facing materials as consistently accurate, professional, and strategically aligned.
• Unlocking fundraising velocity: the donor-support engine reduces the administrative burden on Relationship Managers, directly increasing the time they spend in front of donors.
• Helping team members connect daily work to climate impact.
• Making difficult prioritization decisions with transparency.
• Protecting the team from unnecessary urgency while maintaining focus.
• Being the expert: sharing knowledge generously while staying curious and humble by
• Teaching through powerful questions and mutual learning.
• Connecting team to learning opportunities.
• Modeling continuous learning in a rapidly evolving field.

Required Experience

• 7–10 years of experience in philanthropy, donor relations, or high-touch client service operations.
• 5-10 years of experience leading a hybrid, and distributed team, with a proven track record of managing a number of individual contributors or project managers with similar roles.
• Demonstrated ability to support team members in finding their professional development paths. 
• Deep understanding of the principal gift development cycle and the nuances of stewarding high-net-worth individuals.
• Experience building or growing support functions within a growing organization; finding economies of scale while maintaining high staff engagement and high-quality work. 
• High proficiency in Salesforce, project management best practices, and project management software (e.g., Asana).
• Exceptional ability to translate complex climate strategies into clear, persuasive donor communications.
• Experience working internationally or with European colleagues preferred.

Salary Range: $169,000 - $188,000

Work Environment

Climate Lead is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. This position operates in a hybrid environment and is based in our San Francisco, CA, office. Staff in the San Francisco Bay Area currently work in the office Tuesday through Thursday each week and typically work from home the other days. 

At the Climate Lead, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of or traits historically associated with race, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.

About Us

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. Climate Lead equips new climate philanthropists with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions by serving as an impartial guide. We cut through the complexity by curating roadmaps in partnership with a diverse network of experts to help philanthropists make a bold impact on climate from day one.

Summary

The Manager, Presidential Advising, serves as a high-level strategic partner, proxy, and force multiplier for the President. In an organization where the President’s time is the most finite resource, this role ensures that her donor engagements, ambassador relationships, and influence work move at the speed of the climate crisis.

This is not a traditional support role; it requires a sophisticated professional who can navigate Ultra-High-Net-Worth environments, exercise exceptional discernment, and act independently to advance the President’s portfolio. The incumbent will serve as the connective tissue between the President and the broader Philanthropy Team (PT), ensuring seamless information flow, vetting high-consequence requests, and executing follow-up with the precision and tone of the President herself.

Managerial Responsibilities

This role has no direct reports or managerial responsibilities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Proxy & Portfolio Integration (60%)

• Attend high-level donor and ambassador meetings alongside the President to capture nuances, pull strategic threads, and identify immediate next steps.
• Draft high-stakes follow-up communications, executive summaries that reflect the President’s voice and ensure momentum is never lost.
• Project manage donor deliverables and other donor-related work streams as defined by strategies set by the President, including but not limited to developing and managing or leading work plans, timelines, and tracking status of all the moving parts to meet internal and external deadlines.
• Act as the primary filter for the President; vet the high volume of internal and external requests to prioritize the utmost essential items that require her immediate attention.
• Act as a proxy for the President in Philanthropy Team meetings and cross-functional forums, absorbing new systems, processes, and news to "lift" into the President’s conversations.
• Manage the President’s donor data by ensuring Salesforce and project management tools are updated in real-time, allowing the President to focus entirely on relationship strategy.

Anticipatory Management of Advising Functions (40%)

• Manage, prioritize, and curate all action steps for Presidential prospects. 
• Identify and clear roadblocks before they reach the President; understand the sequencing of complex philanthropic "big bets" and their impact on the broader organizational strategy.
• Navigate a broad domain including donors, ambassadors, and pipeline opportunities, picking up "outside the box" projects to minimize the number of direct interactions the President must manage personally.
• Partner with Philanthropy Team members to ensure the President’s work is tethered to the organization's latest strategies and insights.
• Exercise high-level judgment about when to act independently and when to escalate, ensuring the President is involved at the most impactful decision points.
• Tailor and standardize the President’s portfolio and action steps to unlock the highest value donor opportunities for Climate Lead. 

Success Criteria

• Amplification of Impact: The President’s capacity to handle UHNW relationships and high-consequence moments is significantly increased due to this role’s proactive management.
• Seamless Integration: The incumbent is viewed as a "seamless extension" of the President, capable of representing her interests accurately across the organization.
• Operational Velocity: Follow-up items, donor plans, and Salesforce entries are executed with near-instant speed, ensuring no donor or ambassador relationship is slowed down.
• Strategic Discernment: The President receives only the most critical, vetted information and "pre-baked" options for decision-making.

Required Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• 7-10 years of experience in high-stakes project execution, chief of staff functions, or principal gift fundraising.
• Proven experience navigating the complexities of working with ultra-high-net-worth individuals and global influencers.
• A track record of enabling leadership, anticipating needs before they are articulated, and moving at a rapid executive pace.
• Ability to write and speak with the nuance, gravitas, and clarity required for presidential-level donor work.
• Strong ability to synthesize complex information from across a philanthropy team and identify what is strategically relevant to the President.
• High proficiency in Salesforce and project management platforms (e.g., Asana) with an eye for using these tools to drive efficiency.
• Extreme discretion and the ability to maintain a "low-profile" presence in intimate donor settings while remaining a highly effective observer and actor.

• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-stakes, and highly collaborative environment.
• Comfort working across global, multi-cultural teams.

Salary Range: $ 144,000 - $160,000

Work Environment

Climate Lead is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. This position operates in a hybrid environment and is based in our San Francisco, CA, office. Staff in the San Francisco Bay Area currently work in the office Tuesday through Thursday each week and typically work from a home location on other days.

At the Climate Lead, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of or traits historically associated with race, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.

About Us

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. By serving as an impartial guide, Climate Lead equips new climate philanthropists with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions. We cut through the complexity by curating roadmaps, in partnership with a diverse network of experts, to help philanthropists make a bold impact on climate.

Summary

The Director will lead key team operations, including planning, budgeting, and project distribution, and will manage the team responsible for the Knowledge Management System (KMS) of climate solutions in order to expand the Global Climate Strategies team’s capacity to deliver high-impact solutions, expertise, and advisory services for new climate philanthropists.

Managerial Responsibilities

This role has two direct reports: 

• Assistant, Knowledge Management System (KMS)
• Analyst, KMS

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Team operations (55%)

• Serve as a senior member of the GCS team (5%) 
• Together with the Managing Director, Deputy Managing Director, Directors and the Associate Director of Partnerships, foster a collaborative GCS team environment
• Providing proactive mentorship and leadership for new and existing teammates. 
• Support the MD and DMD in socializing and implementing organizational priorities and conducting special projects, as needed.
• Lead hiring and onboarding for GCS (10%)
• Lead GCS team onboarding plan development and implementation
• Lead recruitment and onboarding of GCS operations staff
• In collaboration with People team, support the onboarding of other Climate Lead staff
• Lead team planning and tracking (10%)
• Lead development and tracking of annual budget
• Develop and implement processes to set the team's strategic objectives
• Lead tracking and review of team objectives and reporting. 
• In close partnership with the MD, update the Leadership Team and cross-team peers on progress, challenges, and any changes needed to achieve priority goals.
• Lead team meetings, retreats, and communication (15%)
• Plan team meetings to advance priorities and foster learning.
• Lead planning and execution of team retreats to drive alignment, innovation, and team unity.
• Partner with MD on team communications and strategically share with the broader organization as needed.
• Oversee systems, processes, and data (15%)
• Design and deploy tools, systems, and processes that enable the work to flow within and across teams, partnering closely with Salesforce counterparts on other teams. 
• Advance the team’s capabilities to leverage data in decision-making and prioritization by sharpening definitions of priority metrics, simplifying data collection and cleaning, and strengthening analysis and dashboards. 
• Oversee optimization of Salesforce and the team’s knowledge management system, including new development, protocols, trainings, and driving adoption.
• Oversee risk management for GCS systems and data, and coordinate with the Climate Lead Operations team to share learnings and best practices.

Management responsibilities (20%)

• Hire, train, and supervise a team of two individuals focused on the organization’s knowledge management system.

Cross-Team Operations (25%)

• Strategic cross-team collaboration (20%)
• Partner closely with Philanthropy and Communications teams to promote strategic alignment and a strong culture of collaboration.
• Work with the Philanthropy and Communications teams to help organize project teams for specific donor touchpoints/products. Spot and lift bandwidth trade-offs to ensure prioritization of the highest-impact work.
• Cross-team collaboration on specific projects (5%) 
• Contribute to Climate Lead organizational goals and culture through active participation in cross-team workshops and working groups (e.g., Values Working Group, X-team process workshops, etc).

Success Criteria

Embraces collaborative teams: Help build, lead, and coach high-performing and highly collaborative teams; bring a genuine respect for Climate Lead's collaboration model, working in a participatory way across the organization.

Systems Orientation: Excited by opportunities to create or improve existing systems and processes to effectively meet organizational demands and promote operational excellence, while simultaneously planning for future growth needs that will allow the GCS team to scale their capabilities and bandwidth. Focused on solutions that put human users at the center and align with the organization’s culture.

Entrepreneurial: Self-starter with a strong entrepreneurial orientation thriving in new, fast-paced ventures; energized by helping to build something new and innovative; objective approach to the full breadth of climate strategies and solutions will be essential in order to work effectively across a wide spectrum of networks, partnerships, and funder groups. Capable of being both a strategic contributor and a tactician, comfortable with hands-on implementation and administration.

Servant leadership: Active inquiry and learning; thrive by creatively synthesizing ideas and input from multiple sources, and an ability to recognize excellence; pinpoint key questions, distill frameworks, weigh competing points-of-view, and synthesize actionable findings with rigor and speed. Appreciates working in an advisory or consultative setting.

Emotional Intelligence: Comfortable considering multiple points of view and encouraging constructive feedback.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Minimum of BS or BA in a relevant field
• 10+ years experience leading and managing teams
• Experience scaling processes and operational functions, ideally in a philanthropy or non-profit
• Experience with Salesforce or other relational databases 
• Ability to help define and support the growth of the team and the organization with vision, creativity, and commitment.
• Demonstrates broad climate experience and expertise working across sectors and ideally brings an ability to think globally and have an international network.
• Demonstrates an understanding of how philanthropies function, ideally in the climate space 
• Outstanding writing, editing, and verbal communication skills with an emphasis on clear, compelling presentation for audiences new to climate change.
• Understanding of and experience with knowledge management systems and using data for decision making
• Passion for and belief in the importance of creating a team and work environment in which people from diverse cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds can thrive.
• Exhibits strong ethics, judgment, and discretion required when working with and supporting high-profile philanthropists.

Salary Range: $198,000- $221,000

Work Environment

Climate Lead is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. This position operates in a hybrid environment and is based in our San Francisco, CA, office. Staff in the San Francisco Bay Area currently work in the office Tuesday through Thursday each week and typically work from home the other days. 

At the Climate Lead, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of or traits historically associated with race, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.

About Us

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. Climate Lead equips new climate philanthropists with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions by serving as an impartial guide. We cut through the complexity by curating roadmaps in partnership with a diverse network of experts to help philanthropists make a bold impact on climate from day one.

Summary

Reporting to the Senior Executive Assistant to the President, this Executive Assistant role plays a key role in optimizing the work of the President and of the Senior Director, People, and their teams. This role will own schedule coordination, and meeting logistics, preparing meeting materials, arranging travel, team retreats, and supporting the daily work of the President, the Senior Director, People, and the People Team. 

Managerial Responsibilities

This role does not have any managerial responsibilities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Administrative Support to President (50%)

• Manage the President’s calendar and time, performing complex scheduling across global time zones, actively maintaining project time requested, ensuring that issues and schedules are shared as appropriate. This requires scheduling complex meetings, sometimes in many time zones. 
• Arrange the President’s complex international and domestic travel, meeting space, agendas, written materials, and assemble documents as needed to prepare for each.
• Ensure that the President is fully briefed and prepared for meetings, events, and trips by proactively providing or obtaining background information for these commitments and thinking through next steps.
• Ensure that files, both electronic and paper, are organized and current using Climate Lead systems.
• Proactively manage, complete, and process own expense reports as well as reports for the President and President’s Office invoices and contracts.
• Generate and implement ideas for systems, programs, and operational improvement to support the team and the President’s work.

Administrative Support to Senior Director, People 35%

• Manage the  Senior Director, People’s calendar and time, performing complex scheduling across global time zones, actively maintaining project time requested, ensuring that issues and schedules are shared as appropriate. This requires scheduling complex meetings, sometimes across time zones. 
• Arrange  Senior Director, People’s international and domestic travel, meeting space, agendas, written materials, and assemble documents as needed to prepare for each.

• Prepare, research, and compile materials for meetings and presentations, including PowerPoint presentations.
• Draft communications for the Senior Director, People and/or review communications and documents for accuracy, completeness, format, and grammar.
• Ensure that files, both electronic and paper, are organized and current using Climate Lead’s systems.
• Coordinate team projects within established timeframes; assist the Senior Director, People in tracking deadlines and follow-ups.
• Proactively manage, complete, and process own expense reports as well as reports for the Senior Director, People. Provide support to Senior Director, People in processing invoices and contracts.
• Generate and implement ideas for systems, program, and operational improvement to support the team and the Senior Director, People’s work.
• Lead special projects or assignments from the Senior Director, People.

People Team Administrative Support (15%)

• Ensure overall smooth and effective daily administrative operations of the People Team (this includes posting reminders on Slack, managing the People Team calendar). 
• Assist in preparation, coordination, and execution of team meetings, including creating agendas, taking meeting notes, disseminating necessary information before/after, managing Zoom bookings/troubleshooting, and calendar invitations.
• Manage calendaring for People Team events and partner where necessary with relevant Executive Assistants on planning and logistics.
• At the request of the Senior Director, People, provide support to the team for complex calendaring and meeting prep.
• Maintain collaborative relationships with peers and colleagues, contributing to a positive working environment in alignment with Climate Lead’s mission and values, and as a representative of both the President and the Senior Director, People.

Success Criteria

• Exceptional Workflow and Time Management: Proactively initiates action, efficiently manages complex calendars and events, and resourcefully provides creative, proactive solutions to problems.
• Prioritization and Flexibility: Expertly multitasks and prioritizes conflicting demands from all stakeholders, maintaining composure and flexibility while working effectively under pressure.
• Quality and Detail Orientation: Maintains exceptional attention to detail and accuracy across all responsibilities, with equal commitment to both administrative and strategic tasks.
• Collaborative Communication: Thrives in a fast-paced team environment, communicates confidently and professionally with a wide variety of individuals, and is able to clearly articulate if and when a rebalance is needed.

Required Experience

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• 5+ years of administrative work experience and 2+ years in a senior administrator/executive assistant role or equivalent.
• Past experience interacting with high-level leaders from many different disciplines, businesses, and philanthropic organizations.
• Exhibits strong research and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication skills:  written, verbal, and presentation preparation.
• Highly proficient in both Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides) and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), project management software (Asana).
• Strong ability to prioritize and influence others at all levels of the organization.
• Maintains high performance and focus during periods of organizational change or shifting priorities.
• Demonstrates patience, flexibility, professionalism, and the highest integrity.
• Serves as a trusted partner by managing privileged information with the utmost confidentiality and diplomacy.
• Highly organized and “forward thinking” (i.e., looking ahead to deadlines and conflicts). 
• Experience coordinating and creating collaborative environments among organizations is preferred.
• Experience working in a new organization or startup environment is a plus.
• International work experience or past experience supporting leaders working internationally is a plus.

Salary Range: $115,500 - $130,000

Work Environment

The Climate Lead is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. This position operates in a hybrid environment and is based in our San Francisco, CA, office. Staff in the San Francisco Bay Area currently work in the office Tuesday through Thursday each week and typically work from a home location the other days.

At the Climate Lead, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of or traits historically associated with race, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.