About us

Driven by a passion to solve the climate crisis, The Sunrise Project is a team of experienced change-makers with a mission to scale social movements to drive the global transition beyond fossil fuels. With programs and staff in Australia, and affiliated programs and staff in Europe, and the US, we have developed a unique model of grant making and campaigning that supports networks of organisations to drive powerful change towards our mission. 

We have a dynamic and nimble organisational culture. We’re serious about supporting our people to thrive as we tackle the urgent climate challenge.

We believe that a diversity of experiences and perspectives will help us build stronger strategies, teams and movements. We take the broadest possible view of diversity and encourage First Nations people, people of colour, people living outside of cities, people living with disabilities, neurodiverse, and LGBTQIA+ people to apply. We are continually working on becoming a better workplace for everyone. You can read our commitment to this work here.

About the role

Over recent years, the world has seen major shifts by financial institutions to distance themselves from fossil fuels, particularly coal. However, major banks, insurance companies and other investors that have put limits on fossil fuel lending, insurance or investing have, in general, not applied their policies to their bond holdings. In this context, bonds markets have become a primary source of revenue for fossil fuel companies and have long been neglected by climate campaigners.

Working with partners and allies around the world, this position will analyse fossil fuel bonds markets and support the Sunrise Project finance team and program partners to develop practical strategies to drive change. In essence, this role will help build and support a networked campaign to dry up bonds markets as a source of finance for fossil fuel companies. This will include campaigns targeting bonds for particularly egregious fossil fuel projects and efforts to leverage the pressure created by such campaigns to create systemic change across bonds markets.

• Hours: Full time (40 hpw)

• Reports to: Program Director (Banks)

• Direct Reports: 2 staff members based in Europe

Notes about Timezone Needs:

• Core bonds partner meetings which need to be in a Europe/Aus timezone due to partners locations

• Partner meetings each month which need to cover partners across all timezones. Currently Europe/Asia-Pacific, and Americas, but could be rearranged.

About you

You’re a passionate changemaker with a track record of leading campaigns that achieve real world change. You’re a big picture systems thinker who understands power and how a wide range of different organisations and strategies can combine to achieve large scale system change.

You don’t need to be an expert in bonds or even in finance but you’ve got a high level understanding of how the finance system works and you’re quick to master new policy areas.  You’ll need to quickly become an expert in bond markets and how to influence them (with help from our network of advisers). You’ve got a practical understanding of how corporate change happens, and how civil society can drive that change - from grassroots organising and pressure campaigns to sophisticated policy analysis and corporate engagement strategies.

Because our model of changemaking is to work with networks of different organisations, you need to be a natural collaborator, a strong facilitator and have a global perspective. You need to know what it takes to build collaborations that can drive real world change. To do that, you’ll need to be able to digest complex, technical subjects and present them in engaging language to non-specialist audiences.

Key Responsibilities

• Develops, leads and delivers bond market campaign strategy, and utilises strategic expertise to influence, orient and empower partners and wider networks to shift bond markets out of fossil fuels. 

• Undertakes deep  analysis of bond markets and seeks input from partners and advisers in the financial sector, to synthesize complex information, test and incubate ideas to leverage opportunities, and adapts the strategy as required;

• Develops and implements interventions that disrupt the status quo of fossil fuel bond issuances in order to open space for change 

• Builds and nurtures strong collaboration within a global network of allies, funders and other strategic partners working on fossil fuel bonds to achieve real world outcomes 

• Manages Sunrise staff and consultants to implement strategies and tactics to shift the bond markets out of fossil fuels

• Provides strategic and technical advice to Sunrise staff and partner organisations on how bond markets work and how to influence them, and aligns the bonds work of the Sunrise Project across different campaigns;

• Acts as a spokesperson / expert voice for the Toxic Bonds network

• Manages a portfolio of grants and a program budget to implement the above, oversees program-level risk, and collaborates with leadership to mitigate and manage high level risk.

• Writes compelling analysis to clearly articulate strategies and their impact; write briefing papers and develop public communication materials

• Leads a small team ensuring high performance, collaborative and sustainable teamworking by fostering Sunrise’s culture and hiring, managing and developing talented individuals.

• Mitigates low to medium team-campaign level risk; consults with the Program Director on approaches and solutions for medium-high level risks.

• Provides deep expertise into organisational consultative processes and key decisions; and works autonomously within agreed programmatic framework.

• Aligns programmatic work to Sunrise’s mission, values and OKR’s.

Required skills, knowledge and experience

• Demonstrated experience in organising corporate or finance sector campaigns with a demonstrated track record of creating and implementing strategies that create real world change

• Proven ability to develop and articulate strategies to drive change in complex systems and turn high level strategies into practical interventions that achieve results

• A sound knowledge of financial markets, with a proven ability to master a deep understanding of new policy areas quickly, and translate that information into campaign actions

• An eye for technical detail and strategic analysis to leverage opportunities

• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to clearly articulate complex issues in a simple way to a wide variety of audiences

• Demonstrated experience in people, performance, and culture leadership, with management experience including hiring, nurturing and enabling talented and diverse people.

• A collaborative mindset and excellent group facilitation skills

• Proven ability to work well in small teams in a fast-paced dynamic environment

• High level of initiative and the ability to solve complex problems

• A passion for taking action on climate change and a deep commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Job requirements

• You must have full working rights for the country in which you work.  The Sunrise Project is unable to sponsor applicants for employment visas.

• This is a Parental Leave Replacement for a period of up to 9 months. The existing position holder retains the right to vary the duration of their parental leave and return to their position. 

• Employment background checks may be required.

• Attend local in person partner actions.

• Intermittent travel with advanced notice may be required.

• COVID-19 vaccinations may apply in accordance with local legislation and/or Sunrise policy

How Sunrise supports its staff

The Sunrise Project is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. We have the following in place to help us achieve that, noting that the benefits listed may vary in accordance with the Professional Employment Organisation (PEO) we engage with for this role.

• Statutory benefits and entitlements of the country in which you are employed.

• Sunrise may provide additional benefits, where in-country entitlements are less than our standard package, where applicable including:

• Paid Parental Leave that is gender-neutral & inclusive of all types of families, incl. Parental Return To Work & Keeping In Touch Program

• Life Leave (up to 40 days p.a. for significant personal reasons)

• Public Holiday + Cultural Leave

• Workspace Benefits incl: Macbook & accessories, initial $2,000 (or equivalent in local currency) for home workspace & IT equipment + $800 (or equivalent in local currency) every 2 years + up to $75/mth phone/data/internet.

• Shared office support

Additionally we offer:

• Flexible Working Policy

• VIDA - An AI tool to support your health and wellbeing.

• Regular all-org and team meetings & retreats

• Learning & Development Program incl. a professional development budget for every staff member

• Coaching & manager support with regular 1:1 meetings

• Annual performance & development reviews with 360 feedback

• A co-developed work plan to ensure clarity on your role & key responsibilities

• We provide our staff with a voice on issues that concern them via consultation, caucuses, working groups, and surveys.

How to apply for this job

We recognize that racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, classism and other forms of discrimination creates structural barriers that impact opportunities to formal education and experience. When assessing candidates we look at more than the jobs you've been paid to do but the range of ways you've picked up skills and knowledge throughout your life. This is why we assess candidates on how well they respond to application questions. Please do not write a cover letter