Recovery & Resilience Director

The Montpelier Commission on Recovery and Resilience seeks an experienced and highly motivated Director to help a vibrant community thrive in a future of climate uncertainty.

In July 2023, Montpelier, Vermont and many of its neighboring communities suffered a devastating flood. In the wake of that disaster, the residents of Montpelier conducted a series of community forums to determine a path forward. Momentum was generated to work toward two foundational goals. 1) Help the city and its people recover from this most recent disaster, and 2) Help to ensure that Montpelier and its surrounding region are positioned to successfully withstand the future climate-related challenges that are sure to come our way.

Eager to capitalize on that momentum, the community established the Montpelier Commission on Recovery and Resilience, and tasked it with the continued pursuit of those twin goals. The Commission now seeks a Director to help lead this exciting mission.

The Director will serve as both hand and voice for the commission and the community by implementing and executing the various projects and efforts set forth by the commission and by managing and delivering the recommendations and messaging of the commission. The Director will speak for and be answerable to the powerful as well as the voiceless, the privileged as well as the vulnerable, and the majority as well as the marginalized few. The Director is an ex-officio, non-voting participant in the Commission

The initial mission of the Commission and Director will be for a term of two years. At that point the team will assess the need for continuing work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Take Action

• Proactively drive initiatives and projects forward, ensuring timely execution.

Organize

• Keep tabs on policy issues, projects, initiatives, and coordinate relevant actions.
• Provide regular reports on the progress of advocacy and policy-related activities to the Commission.
• Support (not lead) fundraising efforts by the Commission – develop needs menus, collaborate on events and in-person meetings.
• Manage personnel, contractors, and consultants.
• Manage administrative and financial matters of the Commission.

Communicate

• Communicate policy positions and updates to stakeholders.
• Manage the flow of public information about key policy issues as well as the Commission’s positions
• Ensure consistent Commission messaging on those positions in collaboration with the Commission.

Educate

• Gather and organize quality information on best practices for flood resiliency, design visions, policy, and funding.
• Constantly and consistently educate stakeholders.

Synthesize / Analyze

• Analyze complex information, policies, and political landscapes.
• Identify connections and opportunities in these situations, and act on them.

Advocate

• Plan and execute advocacy and policy-related activities and events in collaboration with the Commission.
• Advocate for our organization’s interests to influence policy decisions.
• Lead the community to activate solutions and disentangle gridlock
• Champion high priority initiatives in collaboration with the Commission.

Connect & Network

• Build and maintain relationships with key individuals, organizations, and government bodies.
• Act as a liaison between the organization and government entities at various levels.

Collaborate – Convene

• Foster collaboration among various stakeholders.
• Convene meetings and discussions.
• Engage with and understand the needs of various communities with an equity mindset.

Qualifications, Attributes, Characteristics:

• Advocacy: Demonstrated experience in advocating for organizational interests.
• Communications: Strong written, verbal, and social media communication skills.
• Organized: Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Networker: Proven ability to build and maintain a strong network of contacts.
• Creativity: Ability to think creatively in solving advocacy and policy challenges.
• Administration: Experience with project oversight and managing public and philanthropic funds.

Beneficial:

• Policy-Mind: In-depth knowledge of policy issues and their implications.
• Business-Mind: Knowledge of business operations, capitalization, funding instruments, and their relationship to real estate, development, and policy issues.
• Climate and Environmental Justice-Mind: Knowledge of or experience with climate change issues and resulting environmental and social impacts.

Compensation:

Compensation is negotiable within a range of $80k-120k inclusive of all benefits.

To Apply:

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their relevant experience and qualifications to contactmcrr@gmail.com. Please include references if available.