Project Manager/Officer, China Coal Consumption Cap Project

Overview

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3.1 million members and online supporters. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. For two decades, NRDC has been a thought leader and trusted adviser to our partners in China. With a highly effective team of more than 40 people based in our Beijing office, NRDC China Program have worked hard at both the national and local levels to recommend, develop, and help implement innovative laws, policies, technologies, and market tools that conserve natural resources, curb pollution and accelerate China's transition to a clean, low-carbon economy. NRDC's Beijing Representative Office is registered under the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and supervised by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China.

NRDC is seeking a Project Manager/Officer to work with the Climate and Energy team in our Beijing office.

Position Summary

The Project Manager/Officer will be responsible for supporting NRDC’s work on reducing coal use and greenhouse gas emissions from China’s power sector and industrial parks in order to meet environmental protection and climate change targets.  The work will focus on analyzing the key issues of low-carbon transformation in the power sector and industrial parks to support pathways, plans and mechanisms for transitioning from coal power to renewables and other clean power sources. The Project Manager/Officer will work with the team leader on strategy development, technical and advisory analyses, project management, and partnership maintenance.

Responsibilities

Strategy Development (10% of time required)

• Contribute to the refresh of the team’s power sector strategy based on climate and environmental goals, power sector trends and opportunities, market reforms, provincial conditions, and enterprise low-carbon transition planning.
• Support the team leader in developing and updating annual work plans.
• Contribute to annual budget development.

Project Implementation and Management (50% of time required)

• Support and provide guidance to partners in preparing research proposals, budgets, contracts, and compliance materials. Support the team leader to work with partners to deliver high-quality, impactful research products with concrete real-world economic, environmental and policy relevance.
• Support the team to monitor project progress, help organize and attend regular project review meetings and follow up with partners to ensure achievement of desired deliverables and outcomes.
• Schedule and coordinate various external and internal meetings and seminars (e.g. report releases, publicity events, staff field visits, etc.), including but not limited to administrative and logistical arrangements, meeting material preparation, and the recording and distribution of meeting minutes.
• Maintain project document library, ensuring project files (electronic and paper) are well-organized and up-to-date.

Research and Advocacy (40% of time required)

• Assist the team leader to conduct research on standards, policies, and financial and market mechanisms for phasing out outdated coal power capacity and replacing it with clean power, appropriate to the conditions of each province and region.
• Assist the team leader to work closely with research partners to develop recommendations and implementation plans for reducing coal-fired power capacity and accelerating the decarbonization of coal-powered industrial parks.
• Draft, proofread, and edit policy notes, memorandums, presentations, and other documents, and, if needed, summarize and/or translate project-related materials.
• Work closely with the Communications team to effectively communicate the project’s research findings and recommendations to various stakeholders.
• Keep up-to-date on the latest developments in energy transition in China and internationally and their relevance for power sector coal reduction and energy transition efforts.

Qualifications

• Commitment to NRDC’s mission and values.
• Master’s degree in energy, energy economics, or electrical engineering preferred, with 5 or more years relevant work experience in energy and/or environmental fields. Candidate with less relevant work experience will be considered as Project Officer.
• Strong research, writing, and speaking skills in both Chinese and English.
• Extensive knowledge of China’s clean energy development, electricity market, and climate change policies, as well as the ability to conduct in-depth data and policy analyses.
• Strong interpersonal and cooperative skills, as well as the ability to work well with government representatives, research institutions, universities, companies, and other NGO partners.
• Ability to efficiently and independently perform various tasks in a fast-paced work environment.

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming a diversity of voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

To apply, please visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your resume and cover letter through our online portal. We would like you to upload any additional papers or project work that you think would showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications NRDC receives, we will only contact candidates we would like to progress through the search process. Please no phone calls, emails, faxes, or in-person resume drop-offs. Please reference where you saw this posting. NRDC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

If you are having technical difficulty while applying, please send an email with the position title in the subject line to hr_bj@nrdc-china.org.

Applications will be accepted until position is filled. For further information about NRDC, please visit www.nrdc.org and www.nrdc.cn.

We can recommend jobs specifically for you! Click here to get started.