Program Assistant, Awardee Support

Position description

Climate Breakthrough is a global philanthropy supporting extraordinary climate leaders to pursue ambitious and transformative climate endeavors through the Climate Breakthrough Award: a multi-million-dollar, multi-year, flexible grant. Our mission is to make an outsized impact in resolving the climate crisis by freeing leaders to translate their boldest ideas into transformative climate action that swiftly and justly closes the gap between the world today and a sustainable future.

Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Climate Breakthrough is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, The Lemelson Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Oceankind, and Vere Initiatives. For more information, visit www.ClimateBreakthrough.org.

About the Role

Climate Breakthrough’s Awardee Support team is responsible for supporting awardees through their tenure in the program – from onboarding, strategy development and strategy implementation, to exiting and support for alumni. This includes working with a small, tight-knit team spanning impact and learning, fundraising, communications, and grants administration. Reporting to the Portfolio Manager, the Program Assistant will support the Awardee Support team’s day-to-day operations, knowledge management, key events, community activities, and provide executive support to the Director of Programs.

This is a great opportunity for an organized, proactive, early-career individual who is passionate about project management, ensuring efficient processes, and has some knowledge of climate and international affairs.

The Program Assistant, Awardee Support’s work will be divided into the following areas:

Support Day-to-Day Operations of the Awardee Support Team

• Perform complex scheduling with internal and external stakeholders.
• Undertake note taking and organizing of information and documents for the Awardee Support team.
• Update project trackers and schedule follow-ups.
• Assist with knowledge and data management (contracts and grants data, consultant lists, awardee fundraising data, and other similar data management for projects in support of awardees).
• Support with maintaining file hygiene and compliance with organizational policies.

Event Management Support

• Work closely with the Portfolio Manager and team in support of international logistics and execution of the annual Awardee Onboarding).
• Work closely with the Portfolio Manager and Director of Programs in support of logistics and execution of other organizational events as needed, such as conference side-events.
• Work closely with the Operations Manager and team in support of logistics and execution of the annual Awardee Retreat, which takes place in a new international location every summer, including coordinating with international event planners and local partners, doing location, venue, and activity research, menu planning for complex dietary needs, participant coordination and support, travel planning and booking, expense tracking and reporting, and on the ground event execution.

Awardee Community Engagement Support

• Work closely with the Director of Programs and team to plan and execute virtual and in-person events that bring together the awardee community, including coordinating stakeholders, researching topics and networks, capturing learnings and next steps, monitoring and supporting facilitation of the awardee connection platform, and supporting technical management of virtual connection events.

Support for the Director of Programs

• Perform complex scheduling in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Arrange travel, meeting spaces, agendas, and assemble necessary documents.
• Ensure the Director is fully briefed and prepared for meetings, events, and trips by coordinating with staff to compile and provide background information and reference materials.

This role will also provide ad hoc organizational support, such as special projects and other administrative responsibilities, as needed.

Qualifications

Successful applicants will have most of the following qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent skills gained through alternative routes, and around 1 year of relevant work experience, including internships and fellowships.
• Content knowledge and professional interest in climate change mitigation, global climate affairs, and systemic change.
• Excellent administrative and organizational skills, with the ability to work independently and proactively.
• Experience in a project management role coordinating multiple stakeholders (internal and external) is a plus.
• Experience coordinating events, including international travel arrangements. Experience supporting senior leaders is a plus.
• Strong writing and communication skills and the ability to communicate professionally with high-level stakeholders.
• A desire to work with a small, collaborative team.
• Ability to prioritize, adapt to changes, and nimbly shift between projects.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced and changeable organization.
• Demonstrated attention to detail.
• Self-motivation, initiative, resourcefulness, dependability, and the ability to work effectively and efficiently.
• Commitment to, and enthusiasm for, the mission of Climate Breakthrough.
• Cross-cultural sensitivity and awareness and commitment to justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity.
• Written and verbal fluency in English required, additional language skills a plus.
• Comfort working across time zones, occasionally outside of normal business hours.
• Ability to travel internationally at least twice annually for work events.

Position Details

This role is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, with a commitment to come into our office one day per week. Additionally, attendance is expected at twice annual team onsites in San Francisco. Please note that Full Time at Climate Breakthrough is 35 hours/week; we also have a 31.5 hour/week option (90% time), for which salary is adjusted accordingly.

The desired start date for this position is February 1, 2026.

The salary for this role is $75,000. To advance our commitment to internal equity the salary for this position has been set at our highest and best offer within our established compensation framework and is not subject to negotiation. Climate Breakthrough offers a generous benefits package that includes the following:

• 35-hour workweek, with a reduced hour workweek (31.5 hrs/wk) option available
• Medical (PPO and HMO), Dental, and Vision plans with 100% employee coverage and >50% coverage for dependents
• 20 days paid vacation per year, with 25 days after two years
• 11 days paid sick leave per year
• All federal holidays observed, plus Christmas Eve and the day after Thanksgiving, as well as two floating holidays and birthday off
• 401k plan with 6% employer contribution
• Long-term disability and life insurance.
• Stipend support for professional development, home office, and business travel

Application instructions

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