We are hiring: Head of Climate Response

We are hiring: Head of Climate Response

We are recruiting for Head of Climate Response

We are recruiting for a Head of Climate Response to join Challenge Works. The successful candidate will be passionate about harnessing the power of entrepreneurship and technology to mitigate climate disaster and to enable adaptation. We are looking for someone with substantial experience in innovation associated with climate response, who can come up with ambitious ideas and build credible partnerships and teams to deliver meaningful change.

Overview of the role

Job type: Permanent This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them.
Salary: £75.4k-£85.3k, plus excellent benefits
Location: Blackfriars, London – hybrid working
Closing date: 8am on Monday 2nd December 2024

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The role

As the primary expert on innovation in climate response within the Challenge Works team, you will lead the development of a portfolio of related prizes, creating new ideas, securing partnerships and unlocking funding to take these forward.

You will have a lot of flexibility to shape the portfolio, exploring opportunities (both in the UK and globally). The opportunities could be across both mitigation and adaptation and although you might have more experience in one rather than the other you will also need to be aware of the connections between the two in order to also explore integrated approaches.

You’ll be an advocate for innovation as a response to climate change, and passionate about the creation of ground breaking new technologies, ideas, uses of data, businesses or services to contribute towards a better future.

You will be able to navigate the landscape of climate change and wider issues related to climate confidently, and have strong networks. Our prizes are multi-million pound endeavours and we create them through partnerships with the likes of the UK Government, USAID, ARIA, UK Space Agency, Ofwat and Toyota Mobility Foundation. We are looking for someone capable of building a portfolio of climate related programmes that match this ambition.

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Main responsibilities

The person

We are looking for someone with substantial experience in innovation associated with climate response, who can come up with ambitious ideas and build credible partnerships and teams to deliver these. Whilst climate adaptation will be your priority, you will be aware of the connections between adaptation and mitigation in order to also explore integrated approaches and have the skills and flexibility to engage across a wide set of associated themes.

You will be able to navigate the landscape of climate change and wider issues related to the climate space confidently, and have strong networks, but you could have built up this experience and these networks in a variety of contexts for example in consultancy, industry, through technology policy or from your own experience as a climate entrepreneur.

Experience:

The successful candidate will be passionate about innovation and bring a creative mindset to delivering impact through harnessing the power of entrepreneurship and technology.

  • A strong track record of leading teams or organisations and of delivering at pace
  • Strong track record of coming up with big ideas and scoping new opportunities, and converting these into new projects.
  • Experience and contacts in science and technology ‘futures’, academia, industry and government.
  • Excellent partner and client relationship management, with experience of collaborating with a diverse range of partners e.g. government, philanthropists, businesses, foundations, including securing significant funding
  • Experience securing funding and negotiating complex programme scopes and budgets with ambitious partners and backers to ensure resources and timescales match ambition.
  • Natural networker and convener and can manage a multitude of external relationships.
  • A skilled communicator and influencer adept at speaking to senior audiences in a range of different organisations.
  • Experience and interest in managing and supporting team members to deliver the greatest possible impact through innovation.

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What we offer

Salary: The salary band for this position is Band 6 (£75,400 – £85,300) plus an array of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more. Offers are expected to be made at the bottom of the band.

Location: This role is based in London, Blackfriars, hybrid working arrangement with a minimum of two days in the office. These are currently Tuesday and Thursday.

Term: Permanent

Hours: This role is full time but could be reduced to 80% for the right candidate if preferred. We offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

 

Making an application

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8am on Monday 2nd December 2024.

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About Challenge Works

In 2012, Challenge Works (Previously known as Nesta Challenges) was established in partnership between Nesta and the UK Government to become a global centre of expertise in the design and delivery of challenge prizes.

In the decade since, we’ve worked with international development funders to demonstrate challenge prizes’ potential as a powerful method for stimulating needed innovation for development by mobilising a diversity of innovators and by working closely with affected communities.

Theses challenge prizes have stimulated badly needed innovation in areas ranging from boosting the productivity of smallholder farmers with USAID to tackling plastic pollution with the Government of Canada.

Unlike the traditional funding approach for innovation in development, our challenge prizes provide funding and support to those that make the most progress in achieving outcomes. They are open to all and final prizes are only given to those that deliver impact with a sustainable model.

Over the last decade Challenge Works has designed and delivered more than 80 challenge prizes, has worked with more than 12,000 innovator teams and invested £84m to support the boldest and bravest ideas to become real.

Diversity and inclusion at Challenge Works

We believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued. A place where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working. This includes working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.

Learn more about us