Sustainable Duke Hiring Assistant Director

Over the past ten years, staff within Sustainable Duke have worked with numerous campus stakeholders to expand and integrate sustainability efforts into the culture of the institution. Duke has become a leader in the nation with ambitious carbon neutrality goals, development of the Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative (DCOI) and expansion of the Climate Action Plan to a broad Sustainability Strategic Plan that addresses sustainability holistically for the campus. The goal for the future of Sustainable Duke is to ensure maintenance of this place of leadership and continued integration of operational sustainability efforts with the educational mission of the university. This can be achieved through further assimilation of all aspects of the organization, including the Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative (DCOI) and the Duke Campus Farm (DCF), to take advantage of synergies as well as maintaining and expanding efforts to meet sustainability goals while utilizing the campus as a living laboratory for academic exploration.

The Assistant Director position will allow increased centralization of operational oversight, communications efforts and expanded capacity for programmatic expansion. This position will focus on the following areas:

Strategic planning and project implementation - Oversee and assist with implementation of Sustainable Duke program and operational goals including the Duke Campus Farm and Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative, assisting Director as needed with major projects, budget management, and strategic planning.

Operations, administration and personnel management - Assist Director in administration of department financial and operating procedures and programs, provide daily oversight of office staff, designee approver for time cards, time reports, and pcard transactions.

Sustainability communications planning - Develop and evolve overall sustainability communications strategies across various media; direct and manage the Outreach Coordinator’s communications responsibilities as well as communication efforts conducted by interns or fellows. Oversee development of systems to efficiently track sustainability metrics and direct coordination of annual campus sustainability indicators report. 

Student engagement and academic integration - Direct, manage and evaluate effectiveness of Campus Sustainability Fellows program and other student internship roles including increasing opportunities to connect Duke's professional schools with central administration sustainability efforts. Encourage and facilitate sustainability programs initiated by students, faculty, staff and community members. Assist with student research projects.

Financial oversight, grant writing, budget planning and reconciliation - Assist in the preparation of grant proposals and applications to include guiding the compilation of data and preparation of budget expenditures; monitor and verify expenditures; ensure compliance with University and sponsoring agency policies and procedures; prepare administrative reports for submission to sponsoring agency.

Partnership building and collaboration - Maintain relationships with campus departments, programs, organizations groups as well as professional associations and colleagues at other institutions to achieve sustainability objectives. Collaborate with regional and national sustainability peer groups in higher education such as AASHE, Ivy+ Sustainability Consortium and Southeast Sustainability Network. Present at professional meetings and conferences.

Education and Experience: An advanced degree is not required for this position. However, the position requires the expertise and experience that is consistent with a master’s degree in a related field and a minimum of three years professional experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience. Prior experience with an institution similar to Duke is preferred. Applicants from under-represented minorities are strongly encouraged.

Preferred Skills and Abilities:

· Ability to remain flexible, positive and adaptable in a rapidly evolving field and prepared to shift gears and adopt responsibilities as needed to achieve program goals.

· Excellent problem solving (strategic, structured, and data-driven), communication, and interpersonal skills.

· Curious about how things work; skilled at analyzing data and discovering insights that produce real-world impact.

· Observant of and sensitive to the culture of the University and driven both to get things done and to learn.

· Discreet, inherently collegial with skills in coalition building among students, faculty and staff, and an excellent writer and communicator.

If interested in this position, please send cover letter and resume to sustainability@duke.edu.