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About the Role

The Director provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for a multi-year, Africa-wide initiative focused on advancing climate resilience, expanding clean energy access, and accelerating climate finance. This role is key in building out a nascent program, strengthening existing efforts, and scaling the initiative by incorporating lessons learned, refining country priorities, and advancing core operational elements. The Director will ensure effective coordination, execution, and continuous improvement through collaboration with internal teams and external partners. A strong project management background and a comprehensive understanding of the climate, nature, and development landscape, as well as the energy transition environment, are essential.

Responsibilities

Support the development and evolution of the initiative’s strategic vision, multi-year roadmap and annual workplans for NRDC’s Africa Initiative.
Work with leadership to translate institutional goals into regional strategies, annual plans and resourcing decisions.
Implement monitoring, evaluation, learning, and adaptive management to ensure evidence-based decisions.
Manage day-to-day delivery of overall program performance, including outcomes across climate and nature resilience, clean energy, and sustainable finance workstreams into a cohesive, high-impact portfolio.
Identify emerging operational challenges and propose practical solutions to help team adapt to changing circumstances.
Contribute to shaping the program’s evolving organizational structure as it grows to be high-functioning and tightly coordinated despite its regional distribution.
Collaborate closely with teams across the organization to coordinate activities, share information, and support effective implementation within a highly matrixed organization.
Strengthen team capability by coaching staff and enhancing cross-functional collaboration, and fostering a high-performance, inclusive culture.
Partner with senior leaders across the organization and with external stakeholders to align priorities, secure resources, and drive successful advancement of program objectives.
Provide operational and analytical support to the Senior Vice President of International Programs, Chief Program Officer and other executive stakeholders.
Supervise and support a small but growing team that will be distributed over multiple continents, in the U.S., Africa and potentially Europe who support the various program workstreams.
Establish and maintain high-impact partnerships with African-led organizations, governments, regional institutions, and multilateral entities and other global partners.
Represent NRDC at selected global and regional forums (e.g., COP, Africa Climate Week, Mining Indaba), contributing to discussions aligned with program.
Facilitate strategic South–South and South-South-North collaboration, including India–Africa knowledge exchange.
Manage the financial performance and stewardship of a multi-million and multi-year budget ensuring strong financial discipline.
Support fundraising to close the existing budget gap and sustain work beyond the initial term.
Prepare grant reports, donor updates, and impact summaries.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive leadership experience in climate resilience, clean energy, climate finance, or sustainable development.
Demonstrated success building and leading large, complex, multi-country programs, preferably across Africa.
Strong operational background, including development, deployment and monitoring of project budgets; designing organizational structures; and recruiting and managing talent.
Deep understanding of community-driven development, energy systems, and/or natural climate solutions.
Proven ability to lead through managers and influence senior stakeholders across organizations.
Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with experience navigating complex and ambiguous environments.
Exceptional communication, diplomacy, and cross-cultural leadership capabilities.
Willingness and ability to travel frequently across Africa and globally.

Skills

Climate resilience
Clean energy
Climate finance
Sustainable development
Project management
Energy transition
Community-driven development
Energy systems
Natural climate solutions
Strategic leadership
Analytical skills
Problem-solving
Communication
Diplomacy
Cross-cultural leadership
French
Portuguese

Location

Washington, D.C.
London

Work Type

Hybrid
Limited Term

Experience Level

10+ years of progressive leadership experience

Education Level

Advanced degree in climate policy, environmental science, public policy, international development, or related field.

Salary/Compensations

$110,000 to $150,000

Benefits

Competitive salaries
Excellent benefits
Supportive working environment

About the Company

NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the Earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
NRDC combines the power of more than 3 million members and online activists with the expertise of some 800 policy advocates, lawyers, scientists, and communication experts to confront the climate crisis, protect nature, ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities.
As an international nonprofit environmental organization, NRDC is working to address the world’s most urgent environmental challenges, and advance innovative, science-based, and enforceable solutions.
Since our founding in 1970, NRDC has helped craft and deliver many of America’s foundational environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.
Today, we continue to lead in advancing and defending strong environmental protections at the local, state, federal and international levels, as well as through the marketplace.
Our team works across the United States and around the world, from offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as in Beijing, and New Delhi (a subsidiary of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd.).
Supported by our members and online activists, NRDC is driving impactful solutions that confront the climate crisis, defend nature and safeguard public health across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
At NRDC, we believe lasting change happens when people bring their talent, passion, and expertise together for a common purpose: to build a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient world.
Learn more at nrdc.org

Equal Opportunity

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace.
We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement.
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.