Strategic Assistant

About Us

Driven by a passion to solve the climate crisis, The Sunrise Project U.S. is a team of experienced change-makers, researchers and communications professionals with a mission to scale social movements to drive the global transition beyond fossil fuels. 

About the Role

The Sunrise Project is hiring for a full-time Strategic Assistant position. This role will be assisting Senior Strategist Casey Harrell and is housed within the Investor Program. Casey has worked at The Sunrise Project since 2017 and has been integral to launching Global campaigns such as BlackRock’s Big Problem and Vanguard S.O.S. Since 2019, Casey has been living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), or Lou Gehrigs’ disease. Casey’s progression has slowed due to intensive therapies but his body is partially paralyzed and he needs assistance to continue his vital contributions to the climate movement. 

This Strategic Assistant position combines the role of an Executive Assistant with light personal assistant duties with the role of “co-conspirator” with various strategic projects and campaigns. A big part of the job will be collaborating with Casey to bring his highest value to Sunrise’s campaign work through   high levels of prioritization, organization, and time management. This is an opportunity to play a key role in advancing climate justice.

About You

You are a critical thinker who brings order to chaos, are passionate about the climate justice movement and would take pride in enabling one of the movement’s most effective campaigners to continue winning game-changing victories for the climate movement. You thrive working behind the scenes, yet are comfortable speaking up in large or high-stakes meetings.

You can both see the big picture and operate with attention to detail. You can assess complex problems and take initiative to address them. You’re inspired by the idea of learning from a strategist with decades of experience and are excited about playing a critical role in Sunrise’s work.

You enjoy working directly with people and operate with discretion. You are committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; you are excited by the idea of being an ally to a person with a disability and helping to directly address myriad forms of ableism.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide necessary accommodations to enhance  Casey’s participation in meetings, which can include transcribing Casey’s thoughts, verbally repeating for clarity, or understanding Casey’s point of view and acting as a proxy for him if he is not able to attend. 

• Support Casey in planning and execution on the bigger picture of his work and the health measures needed to enhance his capacity to succeed.

• Triage and prioritise requests  from different campaign partners, stakeholders, and team members.

• Manage and organize work calendar and correspondence, including scheduling and drafting emails, memos, reports, etc.

• Fulfill other campaign needs independent of Casey based upon skill level, interest and available opportunities.

• Organize community support and volunteer care calendar to support the needs of the family.

• Assist with medical-related needs such as tracking medications, ordering medical supplies, and arranging  medical travel. 

• *Support in helping feed Casey pre-made food and medication when needed.

• *Support Casey’s physical comfort by helping adjust feet, hands, back, occasional light stretching and dabbing face with tissue when needed.

*Due to working full-time while living with a neuromuscular disease, a few job responsibilities will fall outside of typical assistant duties. Applicants do not need to have a medical background to perform these responsibilities.

Your Skills, Knowledge, & Experience

Required:

• At least two years of experience in a similar or related role. Unpaid, grassroots, or lived experience qualify.

• Deep patience and high level of emotional intelligence needed to work with someone facing a degenerative diagnosis.

• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.

• Critical thinking and decision-making skills.

• Highly organized and able to track multiple priorities and tasks.

• Comfort working in the grey space between being an assistant and co-conspirator while also working in the home of someone who is severely disabled. This person should be able to advocate for themselves in an unconventional work environment;.

• Comfortable working inside a family household where children are present in the home.

Desired:

• A  deep  interest  in  climate  finance  campaign  work  and  a  commitment  to  The Sunrise Project’s mission and values

• Experience with disabled adults or in-home care experience in a similar or related role including unpaid, grassroots or lived experience.

Eligibility Requirements

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

• Able to be physically present during normal business hours, with occasional early or late days to accommodate international meetings or campaign crunch times;

• Ability to occasionally travel for critical meetings.

• Employment background checks are required.

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

Benefits: How Sunrise supports its staff

The Sunrise Project U.S. 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:

• Role-specific: Relocation expense reimbursement of up to 3-5k (depending on distance)

• 401(k) & employer match

• 100% employer paid health, vision and dental coverage

• Five weeks of vacation leave

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

• Cultural & solidarity leave

• Gifted leave (over Christmas and New Year)

• 12 weeks parental leave after 12 months of service

• Employee Assistance Program

• Laptop (Mac) and accessories

• Commitment to supporting to your professional development (up to $2000 per annum)

• Coaching and management support with regular 1:1 meetings

• Performance reviews and feedback to support you and the team to reflect and grow

• A co-developed initial 3 month work plan to ensure you have clarity on your role and responsibilities

How to Apply for this Job:

Applications will be reviewed on a *rolling basis*. Start the process by clicking on the yellow button on the top right.

You’ll answer some questions that are related to the day-to-day job. After the job closes, your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers.

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next step, which includes virtual and in-person interviews, as well as a work sample. We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process, we'll let you know how well you performed.

We are an equal opportunities employer

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 do not require a cover letter.