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 affiliated programs and staff in Australia, the United States, Europe and Asia, we have developed a unique model of grantmaking, campaigning and capacity-building that supports networks of organisations to drive powerful change that achieves shared goals.

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. Find out more here.

About The Role

This role is key to the design, iteration and implementation of Sunrise’s new Australia Movement Building strategy and program. Working closely with the Australia Program Director (Social Movements), team members and key partner organisations, this senior role will design and drive key interventions to ensure a thriving, diverse movement of people and organisations accelerates the replacement of fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy and achieves climate justice in Australia.

Your work will strengthen organisational, group and individual capacity across several areas, including building skills, knowledge, connectivity, communications capacity and more. You’ll support organisational development and capacity-building for key leaders, teams and volunteers and build effective collaborations that ensure alignment, excitement and high-impact outcomes across multiple organisations and campaigns.

About You

You have a core belief that movement-building is critical to achieving lasting social change. You have both a passion for strategy and a keen eye for detail. You have a deep commitment to climate justice and an enormous appetite for building the infrastructure to help more people act together in the decade that matters. You are passionate about empowering others to learn, grow and act in line with their values to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

You have strong people skills and can make facilitating complex meetings and workshops seem simple and easy. You have solid experience in building strong relationships and networking and have a proven track record of intentionally bringing people together to succeed.

You enjoy problem-solving and making things happen. You are confident and skilled at mentoring and supporting others to lead. You are committed to working in teams - both within Sunrise and with our many community partners. You are a good listener and have the ability and drive to support our partner groups to drive outsized impact in the world.

You’ll need to be a lateral thinker and super-organised, and you’ll need to rapidly develop a deep understanding of the complexity of our organisation, its programs and the context we’re operating in order to deliver program goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Works with key Sunrise staff, partners and key stakeholders to align, iterate and implement the Australia Movement Building Program strategy, including Sunrise’s annual planning process.

• Manages the implementation of key projects with program partners and Sunrise
  team members.

• Contributes to planning and implementing a healthy and strategic grant making program, while leading on key partnerships and grantmaking processes.

• Identifies and supports learning and capacity-building needs and opportunities for partner organisations and key stakeholders.

• Builds and maintains key relationships and strategic partnerships.

• Convenes meetings and ongoing collaborations of partners and key stakeholders to align, iterate and implement program strategies and projects.

• Coordinates monitoring, evaluation and reporting of program outcomes in consultation with the Australia Program Director (Social Movements), relevant team members and partners.

• Identifies and escalates risks and supports relevant staff in defining and executing agreed risk mitigation approaches.

• Ensures coordination between the Australia Movement Building program and other Sunrise programs in Australia and globally.

• Aligns programmatic strategies and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) with Sunrise’s mission and Values.

Required skills, knowledge and experience

• Demonstrated and significant experience in campaigning or organising that has delivered real-world outcomes.

• Deep knowledge of how social movement achieves change, using a variety of strategies and theories of change.

• Demonstrated skills in relationship management in complex environments, including advanced collaboration, influencing, networking and negotiating skills.

• A high level of emotional intelligence with excellent communication and group facilitation skills, including group presentation skills and 1:1 coaching.

• Demonstrated ability to translate complex information into well-structured and compelling written, visual content, including diagrams, proposals and presentations.

• Demonstrated ability in working across teams or groups/organisations on strategies or campaigns that require deep consultation and collaboration.

• Ability to learn, use and work comfortably across multiple information management and communications systems and protocols.

• A passion for action on climate change achieved through a truly diverse, thriving and scaled social movement, and a commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion at all times.

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• A working knowledge of, or familiarity in, monitoring, evaluation and reporting to philanthropic stakeholders.

• Experience working in energy/climate justice campaigns and/or organising strategies.

Job requirements

• Attend local in-person partner actions as required.

• Intermittent travel domestically, rurally and internationally with advanced notice may be required.

• Flexibility to adjust work hours to accommodate multiple time zones.

• You must have full working rights for Australia. The Sunrise Project is unable to sponsor applicants for employment visas.

• Employment background checks 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 Australia 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 pro rata will apply for part time staff:

• Superannuation 12.5%

• Birthday leave (if it’s your birthday, you get a day off)

• Solidarity and community leave 1 week p.a

• Cultural leave (floating & additional public holidays)

• Gifted leave (over Christmas and New Year)

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

• Employee Assistance Program

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

• A range of generous Allowances:

• Workspace Benefits incl: Macbook & accessories, initial $2,000 for home workspace and IT equipment + $800 every 2 years + up to $75/mth phone/data/internet.

• Shared office support

• Higher Duties (where applicable)

• Regular all-org and team meetings & retreats

• Learning & Development Program incl. a professional development budget for you

• Coaching & manager support with regular 1:1 meetings

• 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, eg JEDI caucuses, working groups, slack channels, surveys and meetings.

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 and don’t require a cover letter.