Director for Political Strategy Operations, Campaigns and Partnerships

Position title: Director for Political Strategy Operations, Campaigns and Partnerships

Department: Political Strategy and Advocacy

Reporting to: Managing Director, Political Strategy and Advocacy

Location: Brussels, Johannesburg, London - Please note that if your right to work in one of the listed locations is not confirmed at the time of applying, C40 will be unable to proceed with your application.

Salary: (Grade 1) Brussels EUR 140,796, Johannesburg ZAR 1,831,740, London GBP £92,767 (gross per annum) gross per annum - Due to its commitment to maintain equity and fairness, C40 operates on a spot salary model. This means that our employees are paid the same salary according to their grade and location.

Term: Fixed Term Contract – until 30th September 2027

Background

C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities, who are working to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis, and create a future where everyone, everywhere can thrive. Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. Through a Global Green New Deal, mayors are working alongside a broad coalition of representatives from labour, business, the youth climate movement and civil society to go further and faster than ever before.

C40’s team of 400+ staff is based in offices in London, in New York, Johannesburg, Singapore, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, Beijing and Paris, and individual staff based across 25+ different locations.

The strategic direction of the organisation is determined by an elected Steering Committee of C40 mayors, which is chaired by Mayor Sadiq Khan of London and Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Freetown. Three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the C40 Board of Directors, responsible for operational oversight. A regionally diverse management team, led by Executive Director Mark Watts, leads the day-to-day management of C40. C40’s two core strategic funders are Bloomberg Philanthropies and Realdania.

Our international staff work with the C40 network under the leadership of city governments to deliver this mission. Using a data-driven approach, our team identifies and promotes the exchange of proven programmes and policies developed by cities; provides world-class research, technical expertise and access to key partners to deliver new programmes and policies with cities; and communicates cities’ individual achievements and collective leadership.

Diversity Statement

C40 is committed to supporting and promoting equity and diversity and creating an inclusive working environment for everyone. We believe that when people with different life experiences are involved in decision-making, we deliver better.

We believe having a diverse workforce ensures we connect better with all the different communities and people affected by the climate crisis. This enables us to make better decisions which lead to better outcomes in the work we do through increased creativity, productivity, greater global impact alongside a broader perspective and approach to our work.

We welcome applicants that are diverse in terms of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective. Our goal is for C40 to be an environment where everyone, from any background, can flourish and can be themselves whilst contributing to our mission. If you identify as a person with a disability, we work to provide reasonable appropriate measures and any additional support needed to provide an equitable working experience. If you are living with a disability, chronic illness or neurodiversity please inform us, to provide you with the proper assistance in the application process.

C40 promotes a work culture where staff can input to improve equity, diversity and inclusion through staff-led groups and formal forums. We know that creating our ideal working environment is a learning process and we are committed to the ongoing effort.

Department description

The Political Strategy and Advocacy (PSA) department drives C40’s work to support collective mayoral leadership on the global stage and build public and institutional support for local climate action. The department brings together expertise in political strategy, diplomacy, campaigns, policy, strategic foresight, partner and youth engagement to strengthen mayoral leadership, influence global processes, and build public and institutional support for local climate action.

PSA works across C40 to drive the organisations’ political strategy, translate leadership priorities into coordinated action, support high-impact initiatives, and strengthen alignment between strategy, delivery and external engagement.

C40's political strategy helps C40 to accelerate the delivery of our mission by understanding and acting on external opportunities and threats. It ensures we stay relevant to our mayors and their residents, and ensures mayors continue to lead and influence others on climate. Each year, C40's Steering Committee of mayors agree on a few priority areas to champion on the global stage through strategic communication, collective mobilisation, diplomacy and campaigns.

Position description:

C40 is looking for a team leader and highly skilled professional to join the PSA department, reporting to the Department's Managing Director. The role will be critically focused on leading and managing the global campaigns, partnerships and youth functions - enabling internal strategy, operations and effective partner outreach for these functions. The Director will enable the team and wider organisation to provide timely and effective support to cities to build capacity, know-how and effective tactics to mobilise coalitions and build public support for climate action locally, regionally and globally.

This will also include overseeing C40’s Youth Programmes. In addition, the Director will critically serve as Chief Advisor to the design of C40’s political strategy and leadership priorities and responsible for turning the strategy into execution, driving the day-to-day operations to ensure successful achievement of leadership and milestones’ outcomes and approaches. The ideal profile is for a strategic thinker with excellent planning, organisational and managerial capability.

The key functions the Director will oversee are:

Campaigns

C40 Campaigns empowers mayors to build the public and political willpower necessary to accelerate climate action. By aligning with local policy timelines and priorities, it designs bespoke strategies that bridge the gap between technical assistance and community mobilisation. The multi-disciplinary approach leverages campaign design, engagement tactics and tools to drive change across different climate topics, from transport to resilience, from clean energy to air quality. The work includes: Horizon Scanning, Local Campaigns, Multi-City Campaigns, Campaign Tools and Rapid Mobilisation & Response.

Campaign Partnerships:

Campaign partnerships help bridge relationships between partners and mayors to accelerate ambitious climate action. This includes:

• Local Coalition Building: Provide deep dive support to cities to identify and mobilise partners in support of local climate action to reach new audiences, demonstrate the breadth and diversity of support, and boost the resilience of mayors as climate leaders.
• Global Platforms: Develop and deliver global activations that bring together mayors and civil society partners at C40’s global milestones to increase the capacity and confidence of mayors to deliver climate action.

Youth Programmes:

C40’s Youth Programmes cover a number of networks and initiatives, including the City Youth Engagement Network, Youth Hub, Reinventing Cities, Youth Climate Action Fund as well as work on resilience and adaptation in the Global South. The work broadly aims to:

• Enable collaboration between youth and mayors and amplify global leadership, especially on resilience.
• Empower cities and young people to co-create and co-deliver climate solutions through Youth Climate Councils.
• Build local support for climate action and facilitate finance for youth-led climate initiatives in cities aligned to city priorities.

Key Responsibilities:

Team leadership & management:

• Oversee and direct C40’s campaigns, campaigns partners and youth functions, workplans and related teams
• Working with the Department's Managing Director and the team, and building on existing programmes of work, design/update strong strategies and workplans for the above functions and define how they contribute to C40’s Leadership Standards, Leadership Priorities and to C40’s overall Business Plan and KPIs
• Ensure timely and effective strategic and operational guidance to the campaigns, partners and youth function, enabling growth and development of the team and ensuring effective, measurable and timely outcomes and impact
• Lead or support fundraising efforts for the Political Strategy and Advocacy Department
• Oversee effective Budget and Grant management
• Enable strong engagement with cities and partners on local and global campaign delivery driving the team and working closely with Regional and Policy teams

Political Strategy Operational delivery:

• Drive day to day operations on political strategy delivery, inc. translating into effective processes, operations and delivery plans strategic and political recommendations, initiatives and priorities
• Working closely with the Director of Priority Initiatives & Events oversee delivery & implementation of political strategy and leadership priorities
• Working closely with strategic leads across the organisation on organisational leadership priorities, ensure effective implementation and operations of leadership and political initiatives and deliverables, navigating day to day political and strategic hurdles and ensuring timely escalation
• Ensure the right operations in place to deliver on the political approach and outcomes for key milestones
• Ensure the building of coalitions and alliances at the global, regional, and local level to deliver C40’s missions, and mobilise partners and youth to support cities at key moments
• Possibly directly manage some key partner relationships

Political strategy Chief Advisor:

• Chief advisor to Managing Director on the development and update of C40’s political strategy and leadership priorities
• Define and understand broader political context: responsible for analysis, assessment, reporting, and embedding in C40 work - providing internal guidance on key political developments
• Advise and support the development of political messaging, content and outcomes
• Advise and support the development on strategic and political outcomes for C40 milestones
• Deputise Managing Director when needed

Mainstreaming across organisation:

• Mainstream the overall political strategy across C40 internally, working across key teams to ensure strong internal communication and coordinated delivery against key targets
• Ensure appropriate alignment and coordination across the organisation on partners engagement with regards to key strategic global partners
• Provide support and strategic engagement to Regions, Policy and Communication teams on delivery of Leadership priorities and related projects
• Oversee and guarantee effective engagement of the campaigns, partners and youth functions in cross organisational processes and boards (ie. Funding Development Board, Operational Management Team and Senior Leadership Team) to build alignment, highlight successes and increase collaboration
• Participate in the internal Leadership Priorities Board

Person specification:

• Minimum 8-10 years of experience working in government, political and/or civil society organizations
• Proven experience of designing and delivering campaigns, political initiatives and/or strategic programmes for government or civil society organizations, including programme design and operations, resource and financial management, ensuring high quality delivery within time and resource constraints
• Strong political analysis skills, including the ability to spot opportunities and threats to climate action and deliver responses.
• Strong experience and track record of highly skilled project, budget, operations and stakeholder management
• Strong experience and proven track record of building, leading and managing both specialist teams and cross-functional matrix teams to deliver organizational goals
• Exceptional ability to influence (even without authority), motivate teams, and bring clarity to complexity.
• Analytical ability and subject-matter knowledge needed to provide effective, strategic advice and steer to senior leadership, team and peers.
• Excellent team player/collaborator with strong relationship management skills.

• Skilled in building trust, aligning diverse stakeholders, and driving action in matrixed environments.
• Strong judgement and comfort operating at pace under pressure.
• Outstanding interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.

• Experience of climate and youth movements is ideal.
• Experience of fundraising and funder management is ideal but not essential.

Other Requirements:

Applicants must already have the right to work in the listed locations. Moderate travel will be required as part of the role.

We seek to recruit individuals who not only have the appropriate skills and experience for the role, but are committed to carrying out their roles in line with our organisational values.

C40 offers a comprehensive benefits package to support employee well-being and work-life balance:

• Paid Time Off: Full-time employees receive 35 days of paid time off annually, which includes all national holidays.
• Company Shutdowns: In addition to the standard paid time off, C40 provides two non-contractual, non-statutory shutdown weeks each year (mid-year and end-of-year) for a full break.
• Parental Leave: All employees are eligible for up to 52 weeks of parenting leave. The first 16 weeks are paid at 100% of the employee's current salary. Weeks 17 through 52 are unpaid by C40, unless payment is required by national law.
• Flexible Working: C40 supports flexible working arrangements to enhance work-life balance, provided they align with business requirements.
• Time off in Lieu (TOIL): Employees can take TOIL to recover following periods of excessive hours or travel.
• Sick Leave: Entitlement to sick leave increases upon the successful completion of the employee's probation period.
• Employee Training: Training and development opportunities are available to all staff (excluding temporary staff and interns) after they have completed and passed their probation period.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): Confidential services, such as counselling, are accessible for short-term support.
• Pension scheme: C40 offers a pension scheme to employees in eligible locations. Availability is determined by the country of employment.
• Private Health Insurance: This is provided in countries where publicly funded healthcare is not available.

Application Process:

Closing date for applications is Thursday, 7th May at 5pm UK Time. C40 reserves the right to close this job opening before the closing date for applications so please do submit applications early.

To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit www.c40.org, follow us on Twitter @c40cities and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/C40Cities.

For any queries about the role, please contact careers@C40.org. Kindly note that this email address is for recruitment related queries only. We are unable to accept CVs and cover letters sent to this inbox. We can only accept and process applications that are submitted via our website.

C40 is an equal opportunities employer.