External Affairs Lead

Sunlight reflection may be the only available option, alongside dramatic emissions reductions, adaptation, and rapid scaling of carbon removal, to rapidly limit many climate impacts over the coming decades. But we don’t know nearly enough about it to make a scientifically-informed decision about potential deployment – and we’re not on a trajectory for rapid, legitimate decision making. Reflective is a philanthropically-funded initiative to develop the necessary knowledge base and do the requisite technology research and development, urgently and responsibly. What you'll do As Reflective’s External Affairs Lead, you’ll own the organization’s relationships and strategy at the intersection of science, policy, and public legitimacy. Your job is to build the trust, partnerships, and political and institutional foundations required for empirical research into SAI/SRM to proceed responsibly, and in a timely manner. You’ll translate between our scientific and engineering teams, government partners, and external communities and institutions to ensure research proceeds transparently, and in the public interest. You’ll also shape the environment in which Reflective operates: building coalitions, managing external affairs partners, and coordinating communications and engagement priorities. This is a senior, high-judgment role. You should be equally comfortable briefing a government minister, coordinating a community stakeholder workshop, or editing a sensitive press release. You’ll report to the CEO and work closely with the Heads of Research, Engineering, and Data, as well as external consultants and field partners. You will be expected to work independently at times, making important decisions and representing the organization and research community without much direct guidance. Responsibilities - Identify and create opportunities to cultivate a core network of institutional allies—scientific, policy, and philanthropic—who can publicly and privately support responsible research. - Develop processes to track and report on external engagement to Reflective leadership and the wider community. - Coordinate with legal, governance, and field partners to map out permitting and policy pathways for a potential controlled, small-scale, outdoor experiment. Build relationships with relevant agencies.Please mention the word **JOYOUS** and tag RMTYyLjIyMC4yMzQuMTMy when applying to show you read the job post completely (#RMTYyLjIyMC4yMzQuMTMy). This is a beta feature to avoid spam applicants. Companies can search these words to find applicants that read this and see they're human.