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Are you ready to change corporate, investor and business practices on climate change and other sustainability challenges? Are you interested in working with McDonald's, Dell and other corporate giants to help them reach new heights on environmental and social performance? Do you have the strategic savvy to engage entire industries — the insurance sector, for example — to tackle the business impacts from global warming? Ceres is seeking the best and the brightest candidates to fill these positions in our growing organization.

Ceres is a national coalition of investors, public pension trustees, foundations, labor unions, and environmental, religious and public interest groups, dedicated to advancing more sustainable business practices and corporate accountability. Ceres' mission is to move businesses, capital, and markets to advance lasting prosperity by valuing the health of the planet and its people.

Ceres plays a unique role in the national environmental and sustainability movement by bringing the perspective and power of investors to environmental and sustainability issues and specifically to the performance, practices and policies of corporations. Our program activities seek to foster greater public disclosure of environmental and social impacts by corporations, encourage engagement between companies and their stakeholders, and create opportunities for collaborative dialogue leading to positive change on key sustainability issues. Recently, Ceres has been recognized with very high profile awards from the Skoll Foundation and Fast Company magazine, and Ceres is regularly being featured in mainstream print and electronic media.

Ceres is an equal opportunity employer and seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Positions Available:

Director of Investor Programs

Description and Responsibilities

Ceres is seeking a Director of Investor Programs to lead Ceres’ work with institutional investors and asset managers on climate change and other sustainability issues. The Investor Programs is a priority program of our organization.  This position will provide direction and oversight to the current program staff and focus on building the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR).  INCR is a project of Ceres with more than 80 institutional investors with over $7 trillion in assets.

The Director of Investor Programs will lead and supervise the efforts of a seven-person team of varied experience including two individuals who work remotely from home offices in other states. The Director will serve as a member of Ceres’ senior management team. S/he will collaborate with all Ceres staff to build INCR and assure the effectiveness of all Investor Programs activities.

Specifically, the Director of Investor Programs will:

• Lead the efforts to strengthen and grow the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR)
• Develop the strategy of the Investor Programs to support the overall direction of Ceres including   integration with corporate and industry programs
• Oversee the coordination of various INCR working groups
• Develop and oversee the recruitment plan to bring new institutional investors and asset managers into INCR
• Direct the integration of sustainability issues and education into the Investor Programs core work with institutional investors and asset managers
• Oversee the Investor Programs policy work with the Securities & Exchange Commission
• Direct the expansion of Ceres sustainability work within the asset manager community
• Provide strategic direction to Ceres work with asset owners (e.g. pension funds) on influencing corporations on sustainability issues
• Direct the planning of special events for INCR members, including investor summits
• Partner with Ceres Development team to raise funds for INCR projects and programs
• Serve as resource to Ceres staff about Investor and asset manager issues related to sustainability
• Serve as liaison and spokesperson for INCR nationally and internationally at conferences and other events, including communication with media outlets
• Serve as member of internal senior management team to direct overall work of Ceres, including attending weekly meeting
• Supervise Investor Programs staff, including conducting annual performance assessments, leading annual team and individual goals process, conducting quarterly check-in meetings and more frequent team management meetings as necessary
  

Qualifications

• Graduate degree, required.  M.B.A. preferred.
• At minimum, 7 years experience in the investment field, preferred.
• C.F.A. credentials, preferred.
• Experience in or with the not-for-profit sector, preferred.
• Demonstrated track record in building relationships and growing a program.
• Experience and/or knowledge of environmental/ sustainability issues preferred.
• Experience with bridging the environmental/sustainability field and the business/investment field.
• Strong management experience required, with the ability and interest to work closely with staff members to set and achieve individual and team goals.
• Extensive program management expertise required.
• Broad understanding of institutional investors’ priorities and how to speak to the investment community to support and promote sustainability.
• Superior communication skills, both oral and written; ability to work effectively with people at all levels of the organization, and with external constituents; often seasoned professionals in the business world.
• Strong initiative and motivation, with the ability to excel in a demanding fast-paced environment.
• Appreciation for entrepreneurship and ability to think creatively to address concerns of the investment community.
• Ability to travel for meetings and speaking engagements.
• Proficiency with word processing, spreadsheet, database, email, Internet and presentation software applications, a plus.
  

How to Apply

We encourage all applicants to review our website to familiarize themselves with Ceres before applying http://www.ceres.org.
In addition to a resume and three references, interested applicants should mail a letter to the search committee describing their qualifications, interests, and potential contribution.

Address all correspondence to:
Careers at Ceres
99 Chauncy Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
Fax: 617-267-5400
Email: careers@ceres.org

Ceres is an equal opportunity employer and seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Director of Development

Description and Responsibilities

Ceres is seeking a Director of Development to lead the fundraising efforts of a fast-paced, not-for-profit, organization with a $5+ million budget, approximately $3 million of which comes from philanthropic sources. This is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced fundraising professional to build on Ceres’ solid achievements in foundation giving, as well as to dramatically expand the individual giving program, government, and corporate programs.

The Director of Development will report to, and work closely with, Ceres’ president. S/he will lead and supervise the efforts of a six-person team of varied experience including three foundation staff, two individual giving staff, and one cross-team, communications staffer. The Director will also work closely with program staff to develop programs that advance Ceres’ mission.

Specifically, the Director of Development will:

• Lead the efforts to strengthen all aspects of a diversified philanthropic program, including overseeing the planning and management of growing revenue from individual, corporate, government and foundation sources
• Strengthen the Major Gifts activities of the organization, including formalizing annual plan, providing guidance to staff, traveling to meet with donors, supporting stewardship efforts, and partnering with President on solicitation process
• Guide the individual giving staff in their partnership efforts with program staff to indentify programs area of potential interest or specific need to current or prospective individual donors
• Oversee the development and leadership of efforts to establish a government program and a corporate giving program, including drafting the plan, and managing the process of identifying potential contacts and donor and following up on these leads
• Direct the planning and management of special events for cultivation of current and prospective donors
• Oversee the current efforts to strengthen the foundation and individual giving program, including overseeing the planning and management of growing each of these bases to identify and cultivate new donors
• Guide the foundation staff in partnership efforts with program staff to identify and strengthen ties to foundation prospects, and to develop and write proposals
• Serve as liaison to the Ceres board fundraising committee
• Serve as member of internal senior management team to direct overall work of Ceres, including attending weekly meeting 
• Supervise Development staff, including conducting annual performance assessments, leading annual team and individual goals process, conducting quarterly check-in meetings and more frequent team management meetings as necessary
• Work closely with the President and CFO to integrate fundraising and financial management efforts for optimum management of organizational resources
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, required.  Advance degree, preferred.
• At minimum, 10 years experience in the development field, necessary.
• Demonstrated track record in identifying, cultivating, and securing gifts from major gift prospects.
• Experience and/or knowledge of environmental/ sustainability issues preferred.
• Solid understanding of foundation relations and grant writing required.
• Experience with growing and diversifying a Development/Fundraising program.
• Strong management experience required, with the ability and interest to work closely with staff members to achieve individual and team goals.  Strength demonstrated in setting clear and measurable goals and empowering staff to meet those.
• Broad understanding of supporting development services: prospect research and tracking, gift processing, and stewardship.
• Superior communication skills, both oral and written; ability to work effectively with people at all levels of the organization, and with external constituents.
• Strong initiative and motivation, with the ability to excel in a demanding fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency with word processing, spreadsheet, database, email, Internet and presentation software applications, a plus.
  

How to Apply

We encourage all applicants to review our website to familiarize themselves with Ceres before applying http://www.ceres.org.
In addition to a resume and references, interested applicants should mail a letter to the search committee describing their qualifications, interests, and potential contribution.

Address all correspondence to:
Careers at Ceres
99 Chauncy Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
Fax: 617-267-5400
Email: careers@ceres.org

Ceres is an equal opportunity employer and seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Development Associate, Foundations

Description & Responsibilities

The Development Associate’s efforts will be focused on writing proposals to raise funds from national and regional foundations, and to a smaller extent, from corporate foundations and federal agencies.  In addition, he/she will draft grant reports in response to these awards.   The Development Associate will work closely with program staff across the organization to articulate strategic plans and document success and progress toward goals to funders.  The Development Associate will report directly to the Director of Development, and will work as a member of the development team.

Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Write foundation letters of inquiry and proposals across multiple program areas;
• Write foundation reports and capture success stories;
• Help craft foundation proposal budgets;
• Track, manage and meet foundation deadline, particularly managing the involvement of program and executive staff as needed;
• Participate in the creation of the foundation development agenda and the foundation development plan, critical to Ceres’ growth;
• Provide Ceres staff with appropriate documentation as they collaborate with foundation funders;
• Maintain careful records, including entering data into Raisers Edge development database;
• Support ongoing stewardship of relationships with foundations, including creating and distributing reports and updates to foundation partners and prospects;
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required;
• 2 or more years of previous work experience, required
• Demonstrated skill and interest in persuasive writing (writing samples required  - see below);
• Highly developed writing skills;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines;
• Ability to work well independently and collaboratively;
• Passion for climate change, environmental and/or sustainability issues, a plus;
• Ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment;
• Proficiency with database applications and MS Office Suite;
• Previous development experience a plus but not required.
  

How to Apply

We encourage all applicants to review our website to familiarize themselves with Ceres before applying.

In addition to a resume and a list of three references, interested applicants should submit a letter describing their qualifications, interests, and potential contribution.  Two writing samples are required, including persuasive writing samples that are relevant to a work environment and are not exclusively from an academic setting.

Address all correspondence to:

Careers at Ceres
ATTN: Development Associate Search
99 Chauncy Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
Fax: 617-267-5400

Email: careers@ceres.org

Internship Description

Ceres interns support program staff working with a wide variety of constituents within the Ceres network: environmental activists, investors, funders, and corporations. While providing some administrative support, interns will primarily work in one of the following areas using skills in research, project coordination, IT and communications.

• Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), which promotes better understanding and advocacy concerning the risks of climate change among institutional investors
• Industry programs, which seek to create positive change in specific industries such as insurance, oil and gas, and electric power
• Corporate accountability and coalition programs, which build Ceres' capacity as a force for change through corporate sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement with companies
• Ceres' annual conference and other significant programmatic events
• Development, which focuses on working with individual, corporate, and foundation donors
• Online Communications, including Ceres.org and INCR.com as well as accessing new online media to increase Ceres’ presence and brand online.
  

How to Apply

• Send a resume, cover letter and two (2) brief writing samples to careers@ceres.org
• Ceres is an equal opportunity employer and seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Address all correspondence to:

Ceres Intern Program – Fall 2009
99 Chauncy St., 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02111  
Email:  careers@ceres.org  

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