NRDC is seeking a City Advisor to work with the City of Atlanta as part of the American Cities Climate Challenge (ACCC). The American Cities Climate Challenge is an unprecedented opportunity for 20 ambitious cities to significantly deepen and accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for their residents. The City Advisor will be based within the Mayor’s Office of Resilience, working with city officials across departments to assist with the execution of initiatives designed to advance carbon reductions through policies and programs focused primarily on transportation with potential to work on buildings and energy. The City Advisor will be part of a network of similar positions located in cities across the country to support these building, energy, and transportation initiatives and will therefore be engaged at the local, regional, and national levels to advance the city’s goals. The position will interface with key influencers and decision-makers within city government, the real estate and/or transportation sector, utility companies, industry, and other organizations in the community.
- Project Management: Develop and execute a detailed work plan to implement the city’s plans for climate mitigation through transportation and buildings policies and programs with expertise in performance management.
- Stakeholder Outreach and Management: Lead various work streams including but not limited to outreach to stakeholders, both internal to city government and the broader community of private sector, non-profit, philanthropic, and community partners; drafting internal and public-facing documents; navigating internal city processes in coordination with our partners; develop public outreach and engagement strategies for transportation priorities including traffic and parking management and safer streets improvements. Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities, including communities of color, in the consideration of impacts and outcomes of a decision-making process.
- Education and Policy Engagement: Educate city stakeholders and the local community on the importance of addressing climate change through transportation and buildings policies and programs. Successfully support sustainability measures in the face of competing city priorities. Provide legislative review and policy research and analysis, with a focus on transportation policies and programs, specifically traffic management, parking management and zoning regulations, first and last mile connectivity, and sidewalk asset management. Develop an engagement strategy to better represent Atlanta residents and stakeholders on climate issues, focusing on frontline communities that are often underrepresented in civic forums.
- Network Development: Develop and manage strong relationships with the city government, key stakeholders, and partners in the community. Maintain appropriate communication and information flow with community partners.
- Challenge Participation: Actively participate in the ACCC network of cities. This includes joining regularly scheduled calls, participating in online trainings, and attending in-person convenings. Assist in ensuring appropriate bi-directional communication and information flow with NRDC and its identified partners to ensure the organization’s capabilities are fully leveraged on the ground
City Role: Work in close collaboration with the Energy Programs Manager in the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Resilience on all the city’s initiatives supported by this project. Working with Atlanta’s Energy Programs Manager, ensure accurate reporting to NRDC leadership.
- At least 3 years of advocacy experience on climate and transportation policy. Additional experience with buildings or clean energy policy preferred.
- Experience working at the city level preferred
- Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical, and interpersonal skills
- Experience managing projects in a team setting, including developing project plans and managing timelines
- Experience working at the intersection of equity and environment preferred
- Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders to achieve goals. Excellent writing skills, strong verbal communication, and confident public speaker with an ability to present to diverse audiences, specifically racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse communities.