Senior Sustainability Strategist

The Senior Sustainability Strategist drive climate action, social advancement, and resilience in Raleigh by collaborating with city departments and community partners to implement high-impact strategies from the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP). This role leads the transportation and land use strategy area of CCAP, supporting the municipal fleet’s transition to EVs, and integrates resilience adaptation and mitigation measures—such as extreme heat—into city operations. As part of the award-winning Office of Sustainability within the City Manager’s Office, you’ll help shape Raleigh’s leadership in climate action, transforming ambitious goals into measurable impact. This position will operate in a Lead capacity and reports to the Sustainability Manager.

About You: 
You are a strategic thinker and inclusive leader, passionate about sustainability, climate resilience, and social advancement. With expertise in stakeholder engagement, project management, and policy development you excel at turning vision into action—operationalizing strategies for tangible impact. A thorough planner with strong critical and systems thinking skills, you navigate complexity with creativity and precision, ensuring initiatives are effective and forward-looking.

Collaboration is at the heart of your approach. You engage diverse partners, manage stakeholders, and drive behavioral change to create lasting sustainability solutions. Adaptable and results-driven, you balance near-term execution with long-term strategy. Whether shaping policy, guiding high-profile projects, or advancing resilience efforts, you bring leadership, proactiveness, and a commitment to making Raleigh a model for sustainable cities.

About Us: 
At the City of Raleigh’s Office of Sustainability, we collaborate to drive climate action, social advancement, and resilience for a thriving community. Through ambitious initiatives guided by the CCAP, we work with City departments, residents, community and regional partners to advance sustainability and environmental justice.

Our team leads and supports various high-impact sustainability initiatives, fosters innovative solutions, and collaborates with regional peers and partners. Since the Office was established in 2012, we have earned national recognition for our impactful work in sustainability. Today, we tackle more intricate challenges, prioritizing scalable and enduring solutions that create long-term impact for our growing city. We also provide staff support to Raleigh’s Environmental Advisory Board, a Council-appointed public board.

The City of Raleigh values diversity and encourages applicants from all backgrounds—especially those historically underrepresented in sustainability. 

This position is hybrid, with teleworking 40% of the week. Some evening and weekend engagements may be required for public events, presentations, and board meetings.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Implementation and operationalization - Advance the transportation and land use strategy of the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP), such as supporting the municipal fleet’s transition to EVs and other similar initiatives. Facilitate the integration of resilience adaptation and mitigation strategies, such as extreme heat, within city operations.
• Stakeholder engagement - Cultivate partnerships with city departments, community groups, and external organizations, ensuring equity, inclusion, and alignment with climate objectives. Drive behavioral change through effective communication and engagement strategies. 
• Resource management and budgeting - Track spending and resources effectively for programs and projects, ensuring they are effectively delivered using limited resources. Proactively managing evolving priorities within dynamic City government environment.  
• Communications and change management - Develop intentional messaging and outreach efforts to educate the public and stakeholders on climate action. 
• Personnel supervision - Supervise temporary staff (Fellowships, Internships) seasonally, fostering a learning mindset and collaboration while ensuring project/program execution.  
• Policy Analysis and Support - Analyze and refine city policies to advance climate action and emission reductions, where possible within regulatory requirements. Support interdepartmental efforts on update to codes and ordinances.

Typical Qualifications

Education and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in environmental science, sustainability, public policy, planning and development, transportation, engineering or related field and five years of professional environmental analysis and /or management experience

OR

An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above, unless otherwise subject to any other requirements set forth in law or regulation.

Preferred Qualifications and Certifications: 

• One year of experience overseeing staff (supervisory experience)
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: sustainability,project management, data analytics, planning, public policy, process improvement, facilitation, business or public administration
• Strong project management experience, process improvement, organizational skills and/or certification such as Lean Six Sigma, Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Master’s degree in applicable field or commensurate years of experience
• Behavior change and/or change management training or certification
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
• Community Engagement certification
• Social advancement, Environmental Justice and Resilience trainings and certifications
• LEED or equivalent
• Planning and/or urban design certifications
• Design thinking training or certification

Additional Information

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 
 

• Stakeholder management – Collaborate and develop relationships with city departments, community partners, and external organizations to drive collective impact.
• Project management – Execute sustainability initiatives with high-quality results, ensuring projects move from vision to action.
• Adaptability – Navigate shifting priorities in a fast-moving environment, balancing near-term results with long-term impact.
• Behavior Change – Apply proven strategies to shift mindsets, foster engagement, and drive sustainable actions that create lasting impact.
• Critical Thinking – Tackle challenges with an analytical mindset. Question assumptions, evaluate options, and develop creative solutions to complex sustainability issues.
• Systems Thinking – See the big picture and understand how different elements connect. Identify patterns, structure uncertainty, and use insights from diverse perspectives to drive lasting sustainable solutions.

ADA and Other Requirements:
Positions in this class typically require: standing, walking, fingering, talking, hearing, seeing and repetitive motions.
 

Light Work:
Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg controls requires exertion of forces greater than that for Sedentary Work, and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated for Light work.
 

Working Conditions:
Work is routinely performed in an indoor, office environment.
 

Note:
This job classification description is intended to be generic in nature. It is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The essential duties, functions and responsibilities and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) designation may vary based on the specific tasks assigned to the position.