All Things Urban

C40 connects more than 90 of the world’s greatest cities. It is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban citizens.

Background

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, now in its 15th year, connects 96 of the world’s greatest cities which have committed to tackling climate change. We bring mayors from around the world together to learn from each other in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating resilient, sustainable and low carbon cities. C40 cities represent more than 700 million urban citizens and their economies account for 25% of the global GDP. C40’s ‘Deadline 2020’ report sets out the critical role that the world’s major cities have to play in delivering the historic Paris Agreement to prevent catastrophic climate change.

C40’s team of 200+ staff is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, Beijing and Paris, and individual staff based across 25+ different locations, with the Office of the Chair based in Los Angeles.

The strategic direction of the organization is determined by an elected Steering Committee of C40 mayors which is chaired by the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. Three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the C40 Board of Directors, which is responsible for operational oversight. An eight-person management team, led by Executive Director, Mark Watts, leads the day-to-day management of C40. C40’s three core strategic funders are Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and Realdania.

Inclusive Climate Action Programme

The Inclusive Climate Action (ICA) Programme was established at the behest of a group of C40 mayors for C40’ business plan 2017-2020. The programme focuses on supporting mayors and cities to ensure local climate policies and initiatives are designed in an inclusive way and have equitable impacts, as a way to make the case for bold climate action and maximize its benefits across urban populations. The programme aims at delivering leadership and advocacy support, technical and strategic assistance, training and peer-to-peer exchange on assessing and understanding the wider benefits of climate action; increasing capacity to engage inhabitants and stakeholders; designing inclusive and just climate strategies.

About the C40 Cities Global Green New Deal (GGND) Initiative

Through a new initiative of the ICA Programme, C40 will be supporting targeted engagement in 20+ champion cities across 5 regions focusing on delivering inclusive climate action, a just transition and demonstrating what C40’s vision for a Global Green New Deal (GGND -- including a green and just recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic – looks like in practice in cities. The initiative will draw on C40’s expertise to advance climate mitigation targets, a just and equitable transition, and adaptive resilience in North America, Europe, Africa and Latin America. The aim is to ensure mayors and cities contribute as world leaders to reimagining societies and communities in a way that is low carbon, just and prosperous, to avoid climate breakdown.

The initiative will:

1. Provide cities with informed guidance and assistance to accelerate the inclusive and equitable implementation of their climate action plans and declarations, including just transition pathways to a new green and inclusive economy
2. Support mayors in putting inclusive climate action at the heart of urban decision making, through targeted support and best practice examples of policies and programs that create equitable outcomes
3. Showcase the results in order to spread success to cities around the world and influence the global narrative on climate leadership and Covid-19 recovery, supporting mayors to provide political leadership to compel adoption of more ambitious and equitable climate action and to nurture cross-sectoral coalitions
4. Create a Global Green New Deal platform around which climate movements can align, led by mayors and bringing into the fold organized labor, youth activists and business networks

Position Description

The C40 Inclusive Climate Action (ICA) City Advisor will act as the focal point for the City of Los Angeles for the delivery and implementation of support provided by C40’s new GGND Initiative. S/he will oversee and deliver deep-dive technical and strategic support to the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and the Office of the C40 Chair on the topics and areas of work related to the GGND initiative, as co-developed and co-defined with the city. S/he will be responsible for engaging internal and external stakeholders; facilitating knowledge transfer across the city and the wider C40 network; and provide high-quality tailored scopes of work, procure local consultancy support, provide guidance and review on city-based deliverables and coordinate with relevant ICA team members (including the ICA Technical Assistance Manager and the ICA Forum Manager) to ensure city’s needs and interests are met and addressed by the technical assistance support package, ICA academies, communication and knowledge products and any other relevant output and support mechanism. The ICA City Advisor will also support the set-up and delivery of C40’s technical assistance, engagement, diplomacy and coalition building activities relevant to the City of Los Angeles.

Technical and strategic assistance provided will need to be comprehensive and may consist of: a review of the city’s existing plan(s) and relevant programme/policies, climate and equity commitments; economic sectors or industries in the city that are being impacted by a transition to a low-carbon economy; workforce assistance and training programs; equity and inclusion assessments; stakeholder engagement and coalition building; benefits assessments; access to climate finance; strategic communications; and monitoring and evaluation.

The ideal candidate for the city of Los Angeles, USA will have a strong background in climate mitigation, and/or economic and workforce development. This post holder will have in depth and thorough understanding of just transition, workforce development strategies, and green job creation within key sectors of climate action. The candidate will bring experience working with and/or engaging labor unions, civil society and environmental justice stakeholders. The candidate will also have experience and deep understanding of inclusive climate action planning, delivery and monitoring within cities; and excellent project management and communication skills.

Working closely with the City of Los Angeles, C40’s ICA and Regions Teams, the Office of the C40 Chair, and any other relevant C40 team, and key stakeholders where relevant, the City Advisor will develop and implement a programme of work to support Los Angeles in delivering ambitious climate actions that are responsive to the principles of the Global Green New Deal, including a just transition and the creation of green jobs within key sectors of the city's Climate Action Plan. In particular, the ICA City Advisor for Los Angeles will:

• Lead and support the development, identification and tracking of relevant city-based work, including setting impact goal(s), work plans (incl. typology of support needed), coalition building/stakeholder engagement efforts and benefits assessments
• Lead in the assessment of mayoral and city government powers (city resilience, economic growth, social justice) related to the key areas of work
• Provide expertise on integrating workforce development strategies that support a transition to a low-carbon economy
• Engage with and build support and collaboration among key internal and external stakeholders such as industry leaders (employers and worker organizations), labor-management groups, local workforce development boards, training providers, climate impact organizations and/or other key community partners, related to the specific climate action/s identified with the city on the basis of their Climate Action Plan
• Support the identification of the city’s sister city(ies) that Los Angeles will engage with (through ICA Academies and in-person and virtual convenings) on just transition, workforce development, and job creation within key climate sectors
• Actively participate and, where relevant, support in the development and delivery of key technical assistance; peer-to-peer learning; online resources, knowledge products and content production; study visits; diplomacy/advocacy strategies development; strategic communications through in-person and virtual events that will include:
• A training of trainers for all ICA City Advisors
• ICA Academies and workshop/s with wider cohorts of cities
• Peer-to-peer webinars;
• City-based coalition building workshop/s
• Manage and support the identification, procurement and follow-up of local consultancies and their work with the aim to build city capacity to implement inclusive climate action with an emphasis on benefits assessments related to economic development and job creation;
• Facilitate the city’s engagement in C40 Cities networks and initiatives.

Person Specification:

• Demonstrable experience in government, business or NGO sectors with a focus on equity and inclusion, sustainability and/or climate change, and substantive experience working with or within municipal governments;
• Technical expertise in inclusive climate action planning, delivery and monitoring; knowledge and understanding of climate risks and actions specifically relevant to the City of Los Angeles
• Expertise in stakeholder engagement, in particular with labor unions, local CBOs, NGOs, City bodies that represent the voices of workers and businesses in the city and its surroundings.
• Thorough understanding and familiarity with the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) will be an asset
• Excellent project-management, strategic thinking and analytical capabilities
• Demonstrable problem-solving, budget and people management experience, including working with third party delivery teams, and ability to manage multiple parallel tasks;
• Strong interpersonal, relationship building and written and verbal communication skills, combined with English fluency. Spanish and other relevant languages to the city are a plus.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, convening and facilitation experience, as well as experience in developing or facilitating webinars and workshops;
• Capacity to work across different cultures, languages and time zones.

Other Requirements:

Applicants must already have the right to work in the USA. Some travel may be required as part of the role. This position is based in Los Angeles. The city government will provide a workspace.

Location: Los Angeles, USA

Term: Fixed Term Contract - 1 year (with possibility of extension depending on funding)

Salary: Competitive salary for NGO sector, commensurate with experience.

Previous applicants need not apply. If you have already applied, your application will still be taken into consideration.

Closing date for receipt of applications is Saturday 25 October 2020.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.