How to Apply

Applications are welcomed and encouraged from all qualified individuals regardless of background and identity. To apply, please complete the application on the U-M Careers site. A one page cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline experience that is directly related to this position.

Summary

The School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the University of Michigan (U-M) seeks an entrepreneurial, active listener, convener, relationship-builder, and strategic thinker with a business, government, and community engagement mindset to play a lead role in building a new University of Michigan Sustainable Climate Action Initiative. The Director, reporting directly to the SEAS Dean, will be a transformative force in linking the university's expanding collaborations and actions with external partners to accelerate climate action and sustainability. Candidates are sought with experience across a range of disciplines and topics related to sustainability and lowering the carbon footprint of society, including the clean energy transition and nature-based solutions to carbon storage. Candidates should bring significant previous experience in the management and administration of complex projects or institutions.

The Director will have an exceptional opportunity to help shape and lead Sustainable Climate Action as a new initiative in SEAS and across the whole of the University of Michigan. The initiative will involve students, staff, and faculty in SEAS, developing collaborations for climate action across all the University of Michigan Campuses, and building partnerships among residents, communities, industry, philanthropy, academia, government, and NGOs in Michigan, the Great Lakes region, and beyond. The Director will convene discussions and planning of climate-action implementation among university researchers and public and private partners.

The Director will help create an expanded university framework for engagement in society, one that facilitates the co-production of knowledge and actions between the university community and non-university partners. The Director will bring experience working in both rural and urban communities in Michigan, as well as governmental entities, businesses, and other organizations, all with the goal of expanding private and public support for accelerating Sustainable Climate Action.

The Director will work with SEAS leadership, SEAS Communications, and SEAS Development to build a framework that is able to attract significant donor funding for Sustainable Climate Action, as well as implement such funding rapidly, effectively, and with accountability. The Director should bring experience in finance and compliance and be able to supervise a staff that will work closely and consistently with the SEAS Finance team.

Term Appointment Language

The Director of Sustainable Climate Action will be a 3-year full-time staff position with the possibility of renewal.

Mission Statement

The School for Environment and Sustainability (https://seas.umich.edu/) is a collaborative and interdisciplinary school. Our mission includes contributing to the protection of environmental resources and the achievement of a sustainable society. We accomplish this by generating and sharing knowledge, contributing to policy and engaging managers and stakeholders. The University of Michigan is a top-ranked public university with excellence in research and teaching. Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, is a town known for arts, culture, parks and restaurants.

SEAS works to transform higher-education impact through research, teaching, training, and engagement in society, and is focused on accelerating the end to climate change and creating a world that is environmentally sound, sustainable, and just, from watersheds and communities in Michigan to the scale of the planet. SEAS contributes new scientific knowledge, visionary leadership, and the training of sustainability professionals toward that end. SEAS is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and seeks to serve as an inspiration for the next generation of sustainability professionals. The faculty at SEAS is diverse, with natural scientists, social scientists, engineers, policy and governance professionals, business professionals, and designers working collaboratively in an integrative setting. A professional school set within a major research university, SEAS provides a model of interdisciplinary and applied research and a focal point of research, teaching, and societal engagement on sustainability. SEAS focuses on key cross-cutting sustainability themes, including climate and energy; water; food, land use and agriculture; conservation and restoration; and cities, the built environment, and mobility.

Why Work at Michigan?

Founded in 1817, the University of Michigan is one of the premier institutions of higher education in the nation and world. It has a total budget of just under $11 billion and an endowment of $17.3 billion. Broad and balanced excellence, a sense of social mission befitting a public institution, and widespread cross-disciplinary interactions distinguish the University.

The University has world-renowned faculty, rigorous academic programs, and diverse cultural and social opportunities in a stimulating intellectual environment. The various undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs on the Ann Arbor campus are offered within a framework of 19 schools and colleges. The schools and colleges operate in a decentralized fashion. In its pursuit of excellence in learning and research, the University recognizes the importance of diversity in maintaining and enhancing that excellence. As the University recruits students, faculty, and staff, it seeks people with diverse backgrounds, intellectual perspectives, and life experiences, because it knows that a diverse campus provides a richer learning environment for students, and that diverse groups produce better solutions to the challenging problems that are the focus of the University's research. Additional information about the University can be found at http://www.umich.edu/.

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, The University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:

• Generous time off
• A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting
• Many choices for comprehensive health insurance
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses

Required Qualifications*

The successful candidate will need well-honed organizational and communication skills. They should have a strong commitment to environmental justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.They should also have skills in environmental policy analysis and implementation, participatory environmental planning, strategic communications, and public engagement, as well as familiarity with municipal planning and public and private land management. The Director should bring the ability to develop widely shared visions of sustainable futures that include environmental justice. The successful candidate should have close familiarity with climate action issues in the state of Michigan and with the MI Healthy Climate Plan.

Additional Information

Salary will be determined based on experience.

Remote and flexible work agreements may be made to support partial off-site work at a remote location.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

Applications will be reviewed as received throughout the posting period and continue until the position is filled.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.