Open Position:
Director of Education

Position Summary
Climate Change AI (CCAI) empowers a global community of innovators, practitioners, and decision-makers to accelerate responsible climate action through the use of AI, by addressing critical gaps in expertise, education, coordination, and research-to-deployment infrastructure. CCAI is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and is run by a small team of staff alongside a dedicated team of volunteers hailing from five continents and bringing significant breadth and depth of expertise on both AI and climate change.

We are seeking a paid Director of Education to support the activities of our organization. You will join a dedicated and mission-driven team of experts and work in close collaboration with staff members and core team volunteers to lead educational programs and oversee their implementation and execution. Such programs include virtual summer schools, in-person summer schools, and a massive open online course (MOOC).

Applicants to this position should have a proven ability to translate organizational strategy into educational project design and execution, as well as pedagogical experience, background in topics related to climate change and/or machine learning, and experience in multi-stakeholder communities and working with volunteers. Applicants should also be amenable to working in a startup-style environment and able to work independently and proficiently in a remote setting.

Day-to-day collaboration with team members will be virtual, as the CCAI team is distributed worldwide across several time zones. A collaborative mindset focused on continuous improvement and learning, combined with clear and transparent communication and documentation related to process design, project planning, and task execution, is essential for success in this role.

We are an interdisciplinary and international team and believe that diversity, inclusion, and equity are not only fundamental to the organization but also to progress in addressing climate change as a whole.

Start date: Immediate

Commitment: Full-time or part-time (20 hours/week minimum)

Location: Remote within the United States. We may also be able to consider applicants who would work remotely from one of the following other countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, the United Kingdom, or Spain.

Eligibility: The applicant must be legally authorized to work in the location where they will be based without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

Compensation: $120K (USD) annually for the full-time role, or $57.70/hour for a part-time role, for employees based in the United States. Compensation may be adjusted for employees based in other countries, based on factors such as cost of living, local salaries for similar roles, and employment fees.

Benefits include:

• Remote-first team
• 401(k) with 4% employer match
• Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA)
• Unlimited vacation policy
• Unlimited sick days
• CCAI holiday period from December 24-January 1

Roles and responsibilities

• Oversee strategic execution and coordination of CCAI’s educational programs, towards the goal of democratizing education and expertise on AI and climate change and enabling effective coordination across sectors, disciplines, and geographies
• Shape development of CCAI’s educational programs
• Manage project teams, including staff and/or volunteer teams
• Shape project teams and personnel allocation, including participation in recruitment
• Oversee coordination and project management of content creators, instructors, and mentors
• Set standards for educational content, participate in content review processes, and provide pedagogical guidance
• Oversee development and execution of summer school programs
• Oversee administration and implementation of MOOC
• Oversee, maintain, and improve the public presence surrounding CCAI’s educational programs, including the associated webpages on the CCAI website
• Participate in hands-on execution of educational programs as needed, including logistical coordination and content creation
• Participate in fundraising for CCAI’s education programs, and liaising with external partners and funders
• Coordinate with the Executive Director and other staff to ensure alignment of the programs with CCAI’s organizational strategy and other activities
• Oversee impact assessment of the organization’s educational activities, including coordination with overall organizational impact assessment.

Qualifications

Required skills:

• Demonstrated experience in planning, executing, and monitoring educational projects (e.g., university courses, summer schools, professional training programs, etc.) to ensure they are completed according to established strategic goals, timelines, quality metrics, and budget
• Demonstrated experience in leading curriculum design and development of educational materials
• Experience with professional training, leadership training, communications training, higher education, and/or curriculum design in other similar contexts
• Demonstrated event planning experience appropriate to organize large-scale virtual programs and cohort-based in-person programs
• Demonstrated ability to build, mentor, and manage teams of staff and volunteers, fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment that aligns with organizational values, strategy and culture
• Technical skills for developing and implementing a learning management system (LMS)
• Experience with measuring outcomes and impact, and in shaping program design based on impact objectives
• Background in climate change and/or machine learning topics, including some experience with programming
• A strong track record of engaging effectively with cross-sectoral stakeholders and community groups, e.g., in academia, communities of practice, policymaking, etc, as part of internal and external facing activities
• Strong problem solving, organizational, time-management, and project management skills, including expertise in coordinating multiple work streams and synthesizing data
• Strong communication skills in spoken and written English
• Experience designing budgets to meet project goals
• Proactivity and autonomy
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
• Proven experience and proficiency in working within a remote environment

Preferred skills:

• Experience in data analysis, database management, and reporting tools
• Familiarity with basic website development and maintenance
• Eagerness to learn and adopt appropriate tools and technologies to enhance operational toolchains and efficiency
• Ability to engage in occasional job-related travel (expenses paid)

Additional Attributes

We look for the following in all CCAI team members, in addition to the role-specific requirements listed above:

• Mission alignment: Team members must be passionate about catalyzing impactful work at the intersection of climate change and machine learning, per CCAI’s mission, goals, and guiding principles.
• Proactiveness and responsibility: Team members must be proactive and responsible to ensure our organization can run as effectively as possible.
• Attention to detail: Team members are mindful of the work that they carry out, which helps CCAI ensure high quality of its activities.
• Team ethic: Team members must be able to work productively and collaboratively with team members, and otherwise foster a collegial environment.
• Comfort working in a digital environment: CCAI’s team is based across the world, and communicates primarily using Slack and video conferencing tools. While we are happy to onboard newcomers to the particular technologies we use, team members must in general be comfortable working and collaborating in a primarily digital environment.
• Curiosity: CCAI is always embarking on new initiatives to catalyze impactful work. We encourage new ideas from within (and outside) the team!
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion: We are an interdisciplinary and international team and believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are not only fundamental to the organization but also to progress in addressing climate change as a whole. Team members are expected to hold DEI as a central consideration when organizing and executing CCAI activities.

About CCAI
Climate Change AI (CCAI) empowers a global community of innovators, practitioners, and decision-makers to accelerate responsible climate action through the use of AI, by addressing critical gaps in expertise, education, coordination, and research-to-deployment infrastructure. Since 2019, CCAI has inspired, informed, and connected thousands of stakeholders through networking and knowledge-sharing events, summer schools and other educational programs, international policy reports, and multi-million dollar global grants programs. See the CCAI website for further details.

Application

To apply, please send the following to apply+education@climatechange.ai:

• Your current CV or resume
• Cover letter discussing why you are interested in this position and in working with CCAI, and providing examples of relevant past experiences

The selection process will include both interviews and technical assessments. References may be requested at a later stage of the process.