Senior Director-Global Impact Lab

  • 550663
  • Morningside
  • EIS Climate School Admin
  • Full Time
  • Opening on: Jul 15 2025
  • Grade 15
  • Job Type: Officer of Administration
  • Bargaining Unit:
  • Regular/Temporary: Regular
  • End Date if Temporary:
  • Hours Per Week: 35
  • Standard Work Schedule:
  • Building:
  • Salary Range: $165,000-$185,000
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.
 

Position Summary

Reporting to the Associate Dean for Engagement and Impact, the Director will oversee the Global Impact Lab and our impact teams. The Lab will be a key space for the Columbia Climate School to engage with strategic partners, faculty and researchers in order to co-create, accelerate, translate, and scale impact initiatives in focus areas.   By building long-term relationships with our internal community and strategic partners, the Lab enables impact opportunities and facilitates the development of actionable and translatable research into policies, technologies, business models, communication materials, and more.  The Director also will communicate about the Lab with a wide audience of interested stakeholders.


Responsibilities

Global Impact Lab:

  • Oversee the sourcing, incubation, delivery, and scaling of impact initiatives with Columbia faculty and researchers and external partners on impact teams, using a rigorous and iterative incubator-accelerator model. Make improvements to the model with lessons learned.
  • Strategic Partnerships: Develop and maintain one or more strategic partnership arrangements with key organizations that are globally networked with policymakers, businesses, funders, governments, and other practitioners.  With additional funding, these arrangements are expected to expand over time.
  • Develop and maintain creative partnership and funding models to raise funds to support the operation of the lab and specific impact initiatives. In collaboration with the Associate Dean, Development team, and Dean’s Office, serve as a steward of program activity, interacting with existing and future donors, and raising additional funds to support the lab.
  • Policy Research and Field Briefings: engage in a sustained manner with faculty and strategic partners to support the exchange of actionable research and insights with policymakers and practitioners.
  • Support proposal development for impact initiative teams.

Evaluation and assessment:

  • Oversee monitoring and evaluation of Lab programs, including progress toward goals, and report on progress to stakeholders and supporters.
  • Develop reports and recommendations for School leadership as needed.

 Collaborate on Impact Strategy and Student Opportunities development

  • Support overall impact strategy development and execution.
  • Collaborate with Climate School faculty, colleagues, and external partners to create opportunities for student engagement, learning, and leadership development.

 Outreach, Convenings, and Communications: 

  • Utilize media engagement, digital communications, and external representation to share lessons learned and impact case studies with a broad community of interested stakeholders.
  • Convenings: create events, roundtables, conferences, side events, and speaking opportunities organized around key moments on the global climate calendar (e.g., Climate Week NYC, upcoming COPs, Earth Day, etc.) to showcase the School’s impact, faculty, and partners and source initiatives.

Special projects and all other duties as assigned.


Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree plus 7 years of related experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master’s degree strongly desirable.             ·               
  • Outstanding organization and leadership abilities.
  • Excellent communication (oral and written) and public speaking skills.
  • Entrepreneurial, humble, creative, agile, and collaborative leader.
  • Experience in developing strategies and plans.
  • Deep knowledge of and commitment to principles of inclusive excellence.
  • Outstanding professional profile and trusted relationships with policymakers at a local, state, regional, and international level.
  • Experience delivering impact programs at the local, national, and global scale.
  • Ability to engage and partner with Faculty, external partners, and expert practitioners from across sectors, including policy, academia, industry, and media.
  • Deep domain climate change expertise on issues such as justice and equity, policy, finance, mitigation, nature-based solutions, and/or technology.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

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