Climate Lead/Head
Developing communities, insights, partnerships to position Asian philanthropy for impact on climate change
Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) is a community of philanthropists who are collaborating to chart a fair, prosperous, and sustainable future for Asia. Our members, across 13 markets, champion social innovation for public good, and pioneer collaborative approaches to address systemic challenges. Through our collective impact, APC aims to accelerate public good for a better Asia. We are a registered charity headquartered in Singapore.
Founded by Asian philanthropists, APC furthers the aspiration for collective impact through peer exchanges, collaborative projects and the development of initiatives and knowledge resources to build the regional social impact ecosystem.
APC’s new 2023-2027 strategy focuses on amplifying the collective impact of our close-knit community through continuing to grow community & capacity for strategic giving, through seeding collaborative initiatives and through ecosystem building and strategic partnerships for scale. A major portfolio is developing around climate, particularly its intersections with other SDGs and key areas of societal development in Asia. Hence, we are looking for a Climate Lead/Head to spearhead our efforts in supporting members and the wider ecosystem with climate action. This person will lead the development of a portfolio of work that would include community & relationship building, conducting research that leads to action; conceptualizing and driving climate-focused projects; and establishing productive working relationships and impactful collaborations between APC members and with the wider climate and development impact ecosystem.
Responsibilities
This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate and driven leader with experience at organizations dedicated to inspiring and engaging people through game-changing insights and action to shape the future of climate philanthropy in Asia, building on the successes of the two-year APC Climate Collective. Responsibilities include:
1. Develop and execute APC’s Climate Portfolio
• Lead scoping, design, and research. Drive the development of insights into actionable ideas for addressing climate change in Asia and their intersection with development, in order to identify the highest-impact interventions for Asian philanthropy to engage on the issue.
• Deliver recommendations for projects that ground APC members in climate issues and action. Provide clear, effective evidence-based recommendations for philanthropic and stakeholder action, by cutting through complexity to propose collaborations and/or solutions with a good chance of success.
• Proactively identify common themes for collaborative action. Identify and share avenues for collective action with members, including with regional and international climate actors and other collectives. Facilitate the collaboration process to co-fund climate projects.
2. Build a Community Around Climate Issues
• Plan, coordinate and facilitate the Climate Portfolio’s activities to provide a fulfilling experience for different types of members in their journey exploring climate philanthropy
• Engage with APC members to understand interests and create interesting interactions. Based on collective intelligence from research, projects or member experience, develop tools, resources and events for learning and action in the areas of biggest need.
• Inspire stakeholders toward action, by connecting with new knowledge and interesting partners. Manage multi-stakeholder projects / teams to common outcomes and deliverables.
• Provide targeted issue-based research support to help groups of members strategise and implement their climate philanthropy activities.
• Build strong relationships with ecosystem stakeholders (e.g. academia, civil society organizations, government, intermediaries etc.)
3. Amplify Portfolio’s Impact through Communications and Partnerships
• Enable APC to exercise thought leadership. Create or facilitate creation of content for publication in-house or in industry publications, news media, social media etc. with support from others no the team including leadership team and the Communications Manager.
• Develop and execute influence and partnership strategies. With team support, identify key target audiences and develop narratives, communications strategies, and partnership strategies to achieve impact goals identified for climate in Asia. May include building coalitions and partnerships to navigate political landscapes and accelerate action.
• Lead content for climate-focused events, executing communications in close partnership with the APC Communications Manager. Represent APC on climate issues and act as liaison with external stakeholders and potential partners.
4. Contribute to a Positive Team Culture
• Drives the climate portfolio, with team support. Thoughtfully leads self, and where appropriate, provides direction, cultivates ownership, and removes obstacles to work for other team members, including staff at related organisations.
• Develops talent. Proactively manage their own professional development together with the direct supervisor, and formally supervise and/or informally mentor others
• Nurtures innovation. Build a culture of openness to feedback, learning and innovation and that reflects APC’s values and actively seek out opportunities to identify and implement initiatives to increase effectiveness across the team or portfolios of work.
This is a full-time role based in Singapore. An integral part of the team, this candidate will be involved in multiple aspects of APC’s work with other team members. This is an opportunity to shape the growth of Asian philanthropy at multiple levels.
Qualifications
• 5-10+ years of relevant work experience preferably in a strategic or stakeholder management role, especially with regular interactions with senior stakeholders
• Past experience in climate, nature and/or environment issues
• Adept with a variety of writing and communication styles to frame ideas and concepts effectively for different target audiences
• Desirable: Track record of community building
• Desirable: Experience in the social impact or public sector, or at least demonstrated interest and/or experience in nonprofits, philanthropy/grant-making and/or public policy
About you
• Strategic, systems thinker with a passion for solving complex societal issues and keen to apply skillset toward social impact / philanthropy
• Knowledgeable about climate issues and stakeholders in Asia and can build on this experience to develop the portfolio and support stakeholders effectively for impact.
• A community builder, with strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills and the confidence to build relationships and communicate regularly with very senior leaders. You engage stakeholders in sharing their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver valuable contributions and can build relationships with, and proactively include people whose identities and backgrounds differ from your own
• Analytical rigor and problem-solving skills, able to analyze problems, structure approach, synthesize complex information and develop actionable recommendations. You demonstrate good judgement and clear analytical thinking in gathering and leveraging useful data to build and inform strategies for action
• Drives to action. Grasps ideas on-the-go and able to quickly translate concept to output.
• Hunger and humility to learn given the diverse skillsets needed in a fast-evolving field
• Entrepreneurial mindset, adaptable, proactive, and operates with a sense of urgency. You feel confident managing projects with multiple workstreams, and aligning teams on goals and objectives, with the ability to organise and prioritise your work over a period of time.
• Enjoys working with a culturally diverse team in a mix of remote and hybrid arrangements
Apply
Interested candidates should write in with your CV and areas of interest to [email protected]
