Open Position:
Development Director

Position Summary
Climate Change AI (CCAI) empowers a global community of innovators, practitioners, and decision-makers to accelerate responsible climate action through the use of AI, by addressing critical gaps in expertise, education, coordination, and research-to-deployment infrastructure. CCAI is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity, and is run by a small team of staff alongside a dedicated team of 50 volunteers hailing from five continents and bringing significant breadth and depth of expertise on both AI and climate change.

We are seeking a full-time paid Development Director to oversee fundraising efforts to support the organization’s mission. You will join a dedicated and mission-driven team of experts, work in close collaboration with the Executive Director and Director of Operations & Projects, and make a substantial contribution to how the organization develops.

Applicants to this position should have a proven ability to co-develop fundraising strategy and materials, and ability to implement organizational infrastructure and practices to support fundraising activities. Applicants should also be amenable to working in a startup-style environment.

Day-to-day communication with most team members will be virtual, as the CCAI team is distributed worldwide. We are an interdisciplinary and international team and believe that diversity, inclusion, and equity are not only fundamental to the organization but also to progress in addressing climate change as a whole.

Start date: Feb–Mar 2025

Commitment: Full-time (40 hours/week)

Location: Remote within the United States

Eligibility: The applicant must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future

Compensation: $100K-$120K (USD)

Roles and responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Executive Director to develop fundraising goals and strategies that align with the organization’s mission and values.
• Lead and conduct donor research, prospecting, and acknowledgement.
• Create and manage donor CRM database, expense tracking, and reporting systems
• Play a key role in donor outreach and discussions with current and prospective donors.
• Prepare and manage funding applications, including writing grant proposals, budgets, and reports.
• Assist in providing updates to donors and organizational partners about the organization’s activities and progress.
• Assist in impact assessment of the organization’s activities.
• Publicly represent the organization in fundraising activities.

Qualifications

Required skills:

• Demonstrated experience in raising funds for nonprofit organizations, from, e.g., individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies.
• Experience building and maintaining donor databases and working with CRM software.
• Strong management and administrative skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently without close supervision.
• Full professional proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred skills:

• Background or strong interest in climate change and/or machine learning topics.
• Basic familiarity or aptitude in dealing with administrative tasks and legal obligations of a non-profit organization, particularly a US 501(c)(3) public charity.
• Strong problem solving, organizational, time-management, and project management skills, including expertise in coordinating multiple work streams and synthesizing data.
• Ability to engage in occasional job-related travel (expenses paid).

Additional Attributes

We look for the following in all CCAI team members, in addition to the role-specific requirements listed above:

• Mission alignment: Team members must be passionate about catalyzing impactful work at the intersection of climate change and machine learning, per CCAI’s mission, goals, and guiding principles.
• Proactiveness and responsibility: Team members must be proactive and responsible to ensure our organization can run as effectively as possible.
• Attention to detail: Team members are mindful of the work that they carry out, which helps CCAI ensure high quality of its activities.
• Team ethic: Team members must be able to work productively and collaboratively with team members, and otherwise foster a collegial environment.
• Comfort working in a digital environment: CCAI’s team is based across the world, and communicates primarily using Slack and video conferencing tools. While we are happy to onboard newcomers to the particular technologies we use, team members must in general be comfortable working and collaborating in a primarily digital environment.
• Curiosity: CCAI is always embarking on new initiatives to catalyze impactful work. We encourage new ideas from within (and outside) the team!
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion: We are an interdisciplinary and international team and believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are not only fundamental to the organization but also to progress in addressing climate change as a whole. Team members are expected to hold DEI as a central consideration when organizing and executing CCAI activities.

About CCAI
Climate Change AI (CCAI) empowers a global community of innovators, practitioners, and decision-makers to accelerate responsible climate action through the use of AI, by addressing critical gaps in expertise, education, coordination, and research-to-deployment infrastructure. Since 2019, CCAI has inspired, informed, and connected thousands of stakeholders through networking and knowledge-sharing events, summer schools and other educational programs, international policy reports, and multi-million dollar global grants programs. See the CCAI website for further details.

Application

To apply, please send the following to apply+development@climatechange.ai:

• Your current CV or resume
• Cover letter discussing why you are interested in this position and in working with CCAI, and providing examples of relevant past experiences

The selection process will include both interviews and technical assessments. References may be requested at a later stage of the process.