Senior Associate (Climate Solutions)

CEA Consulting; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

CEA Consulting, an environmental consultancy, is seeking a Senior Associate in San Francisco to lead climate-focused engagements and manage complex projects for foundations, NGOs, and impact investors. The role requires intellectual rigor, strong writing and communication, and the ability to synthesize diverse information for actionable outcomes.

Travel is likely, and the successful candidate will interact with leaders in philanthropy and environmental policy.

Qualifications

• Experience leading complex consulting engagements.
• Strong research, writing, and analytical skills.
• Willingness to travel to client sites as needed.
• Ability to synthesize diverse information for reports.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day management of climate-focused consulting engagements.
• Collaborate with foundations, NGOs, and investors to define scope and deliverables.
• Prepare reports, briefings, and client-ready syntheses for senior leadership.

Skills

Project management

Research

Communication

Climate policy knowledge

Job description

CEA Consulting is an environmental consultancy based in San Francisco, CA. For more than 35 years, CEA has worked at the intersection of markets, business practices, public policies, and philanthropic, nonprofit, corporate, and impact investment strategies to achieve positive environmental outcomes. Our work is guided by a deep knowledge of the scientific, financial/economic, cultural, and sociopolitical underpinnings of our most pressing environmental problems. CEA has three practice areas: Philanthropic Services, Environmental Policy and Advocacy, and Recruiting and Organizational Design.

With roughly 25 employees across the firm, CEA strives to create a work environment that is collaborative and inclusive and where all consultants are supported in doing the work they are most passionate about, developing their skills, and bringing their whole selves to work. We believe that a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences promote innovation and make our team more creative, flexible, and productive. CEA is explicitly working to create more diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and has several active “DEI” working groups. For a more in-depth description of our services and examples of past work, please see our website. For a more in-depth description of our approach to work, please see our Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles.

CEA’s Philanthropic Practice Area

Our Philanthropic Services Practice Area supports environmental foundations, family offices, nonprofits, sustainability-oriented businesses, and impact investors. We pride ourselves on being client-oriented, insightful, and responsive. Our work covers a wide range of environmental topics, and many of our projects are international in scope. The majority of our work relates to climate change, marine conservation, climate resilience and justice, sustainable agriculture, land use and conservation, and freshwater management. We also occasionally work on transportation, wildlife protection, pollution, environmental justice, and urban sustainability. We often work at the intersection of these issues. Our primary offerings include:

• Program Design and Strategy Development
• Programmatic Research, Analysis, and Modeling
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
• Facilitation, Collaboration, and Grantee Convening
• Grant Support: Sourcing, Conducting Due Diligence, Making Grant Recommendations, Grantee Management
• Project Incubation, Nonprofit Business Planning, Organizational Development, and Staffing Support

ABOUT THE POSITION

CEA is seeking a Senior Associate to primarily support climate-related engagements within out Philanthropic Services Practice Area. The successful candidate will lead the day-to-day management of complex consulting engagements for clients, including large environmentally-focused foundations, family offices, NGOs, impact investors, and bilateral and multilateral agencies.

Our work environment is collaborative, intensive, and likely to require travel (when deemed safe). The position requires intellectual rigor; excellent interpersonal and communication skills; strong research, analysis, and writing capacity; an ability to synthesize findings from a range of different kinds of information; independence; project management; attention to detail; and a passion for climate solutions and environmental issues. This position will interact with leaders in the philanthropic field and the work will intersect a wide range of environmental issues.

COMPENSATION

$100,000 - $140,000 + Bonus