Now Hiring - City of Raleigh Sustainable Business & Development Fellow in Raleigh, NC

Work Environment: Hybrid

Term: September 2023 – June 2024; 40 hours/week

Benefits: Health care coverage, professional development, industry networking, UC Climate Stewards Certification.

Background & Overview

The fellow will be responsible for supporting sustainability efforts in the city’s business and development community. This will involve building processes and identifying contacts and pathways to business community and designing outreach materials and assisting with outreach to businesses, multifamily property managers, and other institutions. The goal is to promote the city’s sustainability goals and resources and to understand the needs and concepts from the private sector. Elements of the work will include promoting the City’s Sustainable Business Toolkit (and working with the various partners and programs included within) and EV Ready Playbook among other products and programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Create content, gather feedback and conduct education and outreach to the business alliances, economic development organizations, development community and other identified partners related to sustainable business resources.
• Gather feedback and work with City staff and partners to update and align business related sustainability programs to the needs of the business and development community. This includes helping to identify data and performance tracking processes to measure uptake and usage of the various sustainability programs over time.
• Conduct outreach to multifamily property managers about EV charging installations, including; (1) Identifying contacts, creating educational resources and connecting properties with resources for adding EV chargers, including Raleigh’s EV Ready Playbook guidance on various considerations, needs and best practices; (2) Providing guidance about the permitting and installation process
• Create a simplified funding resource list for local businesses and private organizations, as it relates to federal funding legislature
• Assist in the research and support the development of a process to create a coalition of businesses in joint efforts to support sustainability in downtown and other district areas of Raleigh. This type of program could look similar to a model such as the 2030 District model; and may require individual design elements to align with varying needs of different business, development and economic communities throughout Raleigh.
• Research potential land use options and best practices to promote pedestrian and bike friendly areas of Raleigh in business districts, which could include projects like a car free street pilot project.
• Develop other climate and sustainability resources that align with Raleigh’s Community Climate Action Plan; and assist with related projects, data analysis, performance metrics, benchmarking and reporting.

Desired Qualifications

• Strong understanding of sustainability principles and programs.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly with all types of people, including business owners, property managers, City staff, residents, project managers and other stakeholders across Raleigh.
• Ability to learn and create strong writing products using existing examples of government and professional reports. Capability to craft complex or technical information into easy to understand, concise, to the point language.
• Preferred familiarity with electric vehicles and charging station technology
• The fellow should take initiative with opportunities to contribute and help out wherever needed with the team; and should be comfortable in identifying next steps to help move a project or discussion to the next phase when in meetings with stakeholders and the team.
• The fellow should demonstrate patience, flexibility, and the ability to pivot and shift their approach and thinking when new information is brought to their attention, which may mean their previous work needs to be tweaked and/or they may need to ask for clarification to ensure they are on the right track.
• The fellow should be familiar with data analysis, identifying processes to collect data, creating clear and easy ways to visualize and report out on benchmarks and data reporting.
• The fellow should conduct themselves professionally to all audiences, with clear communication; and have the ability to think ahead on how to communicate most effectively to various different audiences who may need differing levels and types of information in order to productively engage.
• The fellow should be highly organized, take good notes, manage files, spreadsheets and other organizational tools in alignment with the Office of Sustainability.
• Past experience in marketing, communications, education and outreach curriculum development is helpful.

SEI requires all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

SEI is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strive to reflect the diverse communities we serve, especially those most impacted by climate change and other kinds of environmental, social, and economic injustices. Persons of color, persons with disabilities, older adults, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly encouraged to apply.