NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

About US SIF and the US SIF Foundation:
US SIF is the leading voice advancing sustainable and impact investing across all asset classes. Our mission is to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment and the generation of positive social and environmental impacts. US SIF members include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research and data firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community investing organizations and nonprofit organizations.

US SIF is supported in its work by the US SIF Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization that undertakes educational, research and programmatic activities to advance the mission of US SIF.

Position Summary:
The Director of Research and Education is a full-time position based in Washington, DC. The primary responsibilities are to help create and supervise the research and education strategies of US SIF.

This position manages or supervises the production and release of all research materials and education initiatives for US SIF. The Director is also the lead staff member in writing or editing external materials including press releases and Op-Eds and internal content such as board packets and other communications for content, accuracy and style.

The Director interacts with the media, particularly around the publication of reports, plays a lead role in fundraising for the biennial Report on US Sustainable and Impact Investing Trends and helps set the agenda for the US SIF national conference.

The Research and Education Director supervises the Research Manager, Education Manager and a Research and Communications Consultant. This position also works closely with several additional consultants.

The ideal candidate has significant knowledge of sustainable and impact investing, is an excellent writer and editor and has at least 7 years of experience in a senior research and writing role.

A strong candidate will have at least 5 years of management experience including managing multiple staff and will be adept at project planning. A strong candidate will also have excellent oral communication skills and experience in public speaking and talking with the media. Previous experience with the creation and distribution of professional educational content, such as online courses or in-person workshops, is also a plus.

The candidate should be an organized self-starter who will bring creative energy to US SIF and a team player who is comfortable interacting with a broad array of stakeholders including members and other organizations.

This position reports to the CEO.

Detailed Job Responsibilities:
The Research and Education Director is responsible for specific duties which include, but are not limited to, the following:
Research
• Manage, with research staff, the setting of an overall strategy and goals for research at US SIF on an annual basis.
• Work with the Research Manager and Research Consultant to create an annual calendar of planned research report launches, webinars, and other research-based content offerings.
• Conceptualize and manage research projects: research, write and edit reports or supervise the completion of these tasks.
• Supervise the public launch and promotion of research projects.
• Supervise and manage the production of the biennial Report on US Sustainable and Impact Investing Trends (Trends report): including writing portions of the Trends report.
• Draft foundation proposals and sponsorship appeals for the Trends report and participate in sponsor prospect and follow-up calls and meetings.
• Work with a vendor to maintain and upgrade Trends database and survey tool.
• Play a role in the production of the biennial Global Sustainable Investment Review (Global Trends report), a project of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance.
• Manage US SIF Research Committee: recruit committee members, lead Research Committee calls and follow-up on action items.
Education
• Manage, with education staff, the setting of an overall strategy and goals for education at US SIF on an annual basis.
• Work with the Education Manager to create an annual calendar of virtual, in-person and self-paced online offerings of existing courses and necessary content updates to existing courses.
• Work with the Education Manager to create new course offerings.
• Supervise the public launch and promotion of new course offerings.
• Supervise the annual update of all course materials for the Chartered SRI Counselor (CSRIC ™) designation – a joint effort between the College for Financial Professionals (CFP) and the US SIF Foundation.
Publications and Communications
• Write, review or edit US SIF publications, web pages, press releases, op-ed pieces, board memos and other documents for content, accuracy and style in advance of publication or release.
• Engage in public speaking, including webinars, in-person trainings and conferences.
• Maintain and update the US SIF style guide as needed.
Annual Conference
• Manage the US SIF Agenda Committee for the annual conference, including the creation of plenary and breakout sessions, and assist in locating speakers.
Leadership
• Supervise the Education Manager, Research Manager and Research and Communications Consultant.
• Participate in the senior management team.
• Make presentations to and interact with board members.
• Contribute to the US SIF Strategic Plan development and implementation.

Qualifications:
A competitive candidate will have the following background, knowledge, skills and abilities:
Required qualifications:
• Expertise in the field of sustainable and impact investing
• Minimum of seven years of experience in a senior research and writing role
• Minimum of five years of experience supervising and mentoring multiple staff
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong project management skills, with a demonstrated ability to organize and track multiple projects and work under pressure to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Enjoys public speaking and has experience doing so
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat or Creative Suite
• Detail-oriented
• Experience in comfortably engaging with print, radio and podcast journalists
Enjoys working as part of a team, but also able to work independently and self-prioritize work
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Entrepreneurial spirit, sense of humor and a positive attitude
Preferred qualifications:
• Prior work experience with a non-profit or membership association
• Experience translating research content into social media messaging and shorter pieces of written and visual content

Benefits:
• Paid vacation and sick leave
• 401k plan with employer contributions
• Employer-subsidized health and dental insurance
• Metro Smart benefits, disability insurance and flexible health spending account

Salary:
Salary range is commensurate with experience and non-profit pay scales.

Final candidates will need to take a writing test.

No phone calls please.