Associate Director of Development and Communications

Carbon Containment Lab; New Haven (CT); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Flexible schedule

Insurance

Retirement plan

Professional development

Paid time off

Team outings

Job summary

The Carbon Containment Lab in New Haven, Connecticut is seeking a Development and Communications Associate Director to expand funding and sharpen public messaging. This senior role blends strategic leadership with hands-on execution, working closely with senior leadership and program staff.

You will drive fundraising, donor stewardship, grant writing, and communications across websites, newsletters, and external materials, translating complex climate science into clear narratives for donors,

Qualifications

• Minimum 6 to 10 years in development, fundraising, strategic communications, or public affairs.
• Success securing philanthropic support from foundations and aligned donors.
• Ability to translate technical material into clear external messaging for non-technical audiences.
• Experience in entrepreneurial, fast-moving environments with ownership and coordination.
• Strong writing, editing, and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Build on and improve our multi-year development strategy aligned with priorities and revenue goals.
• Draft and manage grant proposals, donor briefings, reports, and fundraising materials.
• Maintain and advance donor relationships, outreach, meetings, and stewardship planning.
• Identify new funding opportunities in partnership with leadership and program staff.
• Strengthen systems for tracking proposals, reporting deadlines, and pipeline development.
• Represent the CC Lab at meetings and events with partners and funders.
• Manage strategic communications across website content, newsletters, social media, and events.
• Translate technical and policy content into clear narratives for donors and climate audiences.
• Draft and manage public-facing materials and briefing documents; support conference participation.
• Collaborate across teams to ensure consistent voice and brand; mentor junior staff as needed.

Skills

Fundraising

Grant writing

Strategic communications

Donor stewardship

Messaging

Public affairs

Project management

Leadership

Editorial writing

Tools

CRM software

CMS platforms

Google Workspace

Microsoft Office

Airtable

Job description

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. The Carbon Containment Lab (CC Lab) is dedicated to advancing scalable and cost-effective climatesolutions.

We are seeking a key member of our team, a Development and Communications Associate Director, to join us in New Haven, Connecticut. This position will help to grow and deepen the CC Lab’s existing funding base, and strengthen communications about the CC Lab’s unique and exciting contributions to deploying climatesolutions.

This senior role is designed to combine strategic leadership with hands-on execution, supporting fundraising, donor stewardship, messaging, and public-facing communications in close partnership with senior leadership and program staff.

Key Responsibilities

Development and fundraising

• Build on and improve our existing multi-year development strategy aligned with organizational priorities and revenue goals.
• Draft and manage grant proposals, concept notes, donor briefings, reports, presentations, and other fundraising materials tailored to foundations, major donors, and aligned philanthropic partners.
• Maintain and advance our current portfolio of donor and prospect relationships, including outreach, meeting preparation, follow-up, and stewardship planning.
• Partner with leadership and program staff to identify new funding opportunities.
• Strengthen internal systems for tracking proposals, reporting deadlines, donor communications, and pipeline development using shared organizational tools.
• Represent the CC Lab at meetings and events, connecting with partners and funding providers, and community audiences.

Strategic communications

• Manage, expand, and execute our strategic communications plan spanning website content, newsletters, social media, events, and external materials.
• Shape messaging that translates technical and policy-heavy subject matter into clear, compelling narratives for donors, partners, policymakers, and broader climate audiences.
• Draft, edit, and manage public-facing written products such as blog posts, impact stories, project updates, talking points, and briefing materials.
• Support organizational visibility through conference materials, speaker preparation, campaign coordination, and external announcements.

Cross-functional collaboration

• Work across program, research, and leadership teams to identify milestones, insights, and stories that can support fundraising and communications goals.
• Help maintain consistency in voice, tone, and brand across external outputs.
• Mentor junior staff, interns, or contractors contributing to writing, communications, or development operations as needed.
• Develop a system to track CC Lab’s impact and reach.

Desired Qualifications

• Minimum of 6 to 10 years of relevant professional experience in development, fundraising, strategic communications, public affairs, or related work, ideally in climate, science, environment, or policy-focused organizations.
• Demonstrated success securing and managing philanthropic support, especially from foundations and mission-aligned donors.
• Strong record of translating complex technical or policy material into effective external communications for non-technical audiences.
• Experience operating in entrepreneurial or fast-moving environments with a high level of ownership, coordination, and judgment.
• Excellent and compelling writing, editing, and verbal communication skills.
• Strong project management, coordination, and prioritization ability across multiple deadlines and workstreams.
• Excellence in collaborating with technical experts and synthesizing scientific, policy, or market-oriented content for fundraising and communications purposes.
• Familiarity with common productivity, CRM, website, and communications tools such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Airtable, CMS platforms, social media platforms, and basic design tools.
• Experience with managing external contracted design and web-design firms.
• Strong alignment with CC Lab's mission and demonstrated interest in emerging climate solutions.

Salary and Benefits

The Carbon Containment Lab offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including:

• Salary of $100,000-$130,000/year commensurate with experience
• Flexible schedule, Mondays-Thursdays in our office in New Haven, Connecticut, most Fridays remote (preferred); potential for more days remote
• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• Retirement savings plan
• Professional development and learning opportunities
• Generous paid time off, parental, and sick leave
• Team outings and retreats

Diversity

Recruiting, hiring, and retaining a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we work with is critical to the Carbon Containment Lab’s success.

The Carbon Containment Lab is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates from all backgrounds to apply. We celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive environment for every member of our team. The CC Lab does not discriminate against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.