Short-term assignment leading Clean Air Fund’s Super Pollutant work

Short-term assignment leading Clean Air Fund’s Super Pollutant work 

Clean Air Fund’s cutting edge super pollutants work needs a leader for six to eight months in 2025, from April to October, while our Head of Portfolio takes a leave of absence. 

This is a fascinating opportunity for a dynamic leader with a strong scientific background and sophisticated political skills to join a talented team working at the nexus of climate and health. 

We want someone who can bring presence, initiative and programme management experience to drive our grant-making, our advocacy for action on super pollutants with governments and international bodies, and our support to new scientific thinking. 

We are open to secondments, temporary transfers or other arrangements that would enable the strongest talent from government, academia, the private sector or civil society to work with us.  

Please contact us directly at hr@cleanairfund.org if you think you meet the role description and wish to discuss how it might fit with your circumstances.   

Super Pollutants at the Clean Air Fund 

Super pollutants have contributed to half of global warming to date and represent the only near-term strategy to keep the Paris Agreement’s goals within reach. Clean Air Fund leads a portfolio of work tackling those super pollutants most closely linked to air pollution and contributes to the global effort to address the wider super pollutant challenge. 

As well as causing global warming, super pollutants (or short-lived climate pollutants) cause local environmental degradation, lower crop yields and harm human health. Continued inaction on super pollutants presents a missed opportunity for mitigating near-term warming, avoiding climate tipping points and reducing the global burden of disease caused by air pollution. 

CAF’s super pollutant programme has an initial focus on high-impact projects on black carbon and tropospheric ozone, while contributing to thinking and action by philanthropy, government and civil society on super pollutants more broadly. The team’s work spans research, campaigns and policy to drive increased country, city and corporate action on super pollutant emissions.  

Job purpose and scope 

Lead the Clean Air Fund’s work on super pollutants and deliver on the objectives of the black carbon and tropospheric ozone strategies, ensuring that projects are delivered effectively and achieve their desired impact. More specifically: 

• deliver the black carbon programme by leading a team and implementing systems, processes, grants and projects that secure the programme’s ambitious goals
• take forward the tropospheric ozone strategy, including external influencing with policymakers and funders
• lead Clean Air Fund’s overall work on super pollutants, including leading on relevant strategic and fundraising opportunities, and be the external face for CAF on the issue
• generate expertise and input on climate science and climate policy as required across the organisation.  

Key working relationships 

• Clean Air Fund senior leadership team
• Thematic and geographic portfolio leads
• Super Pollutants team
• External decision-makers on climate and air quality science and policy globally
• Our funders
• Key partner organisations, including the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the Arctic Council, UNFCCC, UNECE etc. 

Key accountabilities 

Programme management and team leadership (40%) 

• Lead the delivery of Clean Air Fund’s Super Pollutant programme, managing team workplans, systems, and other operational and programmatic activities.
• Lead the design and delivery of the portfolio of black carbon and tropospheric ozone grants and projects, working towards meeting key project milestones and objectives.
• Track and manage programme and project performance through regular, structured conversations with grantees, partners and funders. Propose appropriate and proportionate interventions to help projects stay on track. 

Policy, networking and fundraising (40%) 

• Ensure the Super Pollutants programme is actively supporting the drive toward global emissions targets set by leading international climate and health bodies.
• Proactively shape Clean Air Fund engagement approach with policy makers and the public to generate demand for fast action on super pollutants – working in close consultation and coordination with grantees, funders, partners, and other donors in the field.
• Alongside the CEO and Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships, identify, cultivate and manage relationships with funders to increase funding, support adoption, replication, or scaling-up of CAF programmes.
• Organise and attend events which convene key stakeholders in efforts to tackle super pollutants, identifying opportunities for greater engagement of governments, the private sector and civil society at global and regional scales.
• Act as a representative and advocate of CAF and its policy positions externally with a variety of audiences including politicians, global climate leaders, senior civil servants, NGO leaders, academics, business leaders and CAF’s donors.
• Keep abreast of developments within the global super pollutants field, establishing appropriate information, and gathering networks and channels to deepen professional knowledge and skills. 

Vision and strategy (20%) 

• Lead the development of Clean Air Fund’s growing work on super pollutants, including expanding the scope of the programme and ensuring that the work is strategically aligned to the organisations other thematic work and geographic portfolios.
• Work with the leadership team and other colleagues to embed super pollutants across Clean Air Fund’s programmatic work and lead strategic thinking on Clean Air Fund’s role at the intersection of climate and health, through the lens of super pollutants. 

 Person Specification  

Essential technical competencies 

• Substantial professional experience working on projects with varied deadlines and deliverables
• Experience with financial management, particularly managing large budgets ($10m+) and the ability to interrogate grant budgets
• Exceptional planning, time management, and multi-tasking skills while working on a wide variety of complex tasks with numerous deadlines and deliverables
• Experience of working on air pollution, super pollutants and climate change
• Ability to understand both the science and policy elements of air pollution and climate mitigation
• Strong interpersonal skills that translate to the ability to build effective networks and manage team members effectively
• Experience with philanthropy and grant making
• Fluent in English, excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. 

Desired technical competencies 

• Familiarity with environmental justice and fluency with equity, diversity and inclusion practices 

Behavioral competencies  

• Ability to cooperate with others across the project to achieve shared objectives
• Proven ability building strong formal and informal networks and relationships with diverse constituencies.
• Identifies and seizes new opportunities, showing initiative and encouraging it in others.
• Ability to plan and adjust effectively to create contingency plans.
• A self-starter, with resilience and interpersonal flexibility.
• Effective communicator (verbally and in writing) and able to adjust according to the audience.
• Organised, great attention to detail.
• Experience of working in a range of cultural and socio-economic contexts, adapting style and approach appropriately, alongside an ability to work collaboratively with partners located in multiple offices and time zones. 

 Further information 

• This is a full-time role, 6-8 months
• The role can be based anywhere, though candidates must be willing to spend time in the UK, where the bulk of the team are based
• Closing date - 12th January 2025
• Salary – Depending on location and experience
• Type of employment - We are open to fixed term employment or consultancy agreements 

As an employer, we are committed to ensuring the representation of people from all backgrounds regardless of their gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, returning parents, carers or any other aspect which makes them unique. We particularly welcome applicants from under-represented groups  to apply and would encourage you to let us know if there are steps we can take to ensure that the recruitment process enables you to present yourself in a way that makes you comfortable. We are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of our employees from all forms of harm.