Senior Field Strategist

About Us
Heavy industry is the foundation of modern society. We need materials like cement, steel, and aluminum more than ever to rebuild our bridges and roads, to construct wind and solar projects, and to manufacture electric vehicles and heat pumps that will undergird our future. But industry needs a new social contract with America. For all the good industrial progress brings, it also causes a lot of harm. It threatens our climate, reinforces environmental racism, it’s wasteful, and it has left workers and communities behind when convenient to industry’s bottom line. 

Addressing this challenge – and the opportunity it presents – is why Industrious Labs exists. With our partners, we’re reimagining the industrial sector as not only a source of good union jobs, but a climate solution where we make things responsibly, prioritize waste reduction, reuse, repair, remanufacture, and recycle. To do this we will have to change how our stuff is made and what we do with it when we are done with it. We see an America that is known again as a country of industry, where the best quality and greenest materials are made with American labor. In the future we build together, industry is a good neighbor to communities, the anchor of a healthy regenerative economy, and leading the world in addressing climate change.

About the Position

Guided by an inspiring vision, smart strategies, and significant early financial investment, we are seeking an entrepreneurial Sr. Field Strategist to join our team to lead on capacity building in our waste campaign. Industrious Labs is fully remote, and this role reports to Partner and Field Building Director Dominique Thomas. 

In this position, the Sr. Field Strategist is a highly skilled  relationship builder with proven ability to establish, grow and sustain diverse coalitions of stakeholders. They are passionate about solving the climate crisis by focusing on the strategies that will make the biggest impact, including focused campaigns, research and analysis, cross-sector collaborations, and communications. The Sr. Field Strategist is energized by the challenge of the climate crisis, inspired to step into a new era of the movement, and has a strong track record of working with diverse groups such as organized labor, environmental justice advocates, and policymakers.

Industrious Labs is poised to kick off field building in waste and organics diversion. Working collaboratively with partners over the past year, we have identified an exciting strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. Thanks to several visionary funders, we have received sufficient early-stage backing to begin building the movement Infrastructure and power to achieve landfill methane reductions.

The Senior (Sr.) Field Strategist will work alongside the Field Building Director and Circular Economy Director in developing strategy to engage with new partners and build out the field of people working on landfill methane and organics diversion. Our high-level objectives for the field building work are (but are not limited to):

• Engage and support local and state groups impacted by waste to drive action on landfill emissions at the federal and state level.  
• Build on our engagement with 40+ local, state, and national groups to develop a cohesive, coordinated waste network and movement hubs and create a powerful cross-class, multi-racial zero-waste movement that co-creates strategies and solutions.

The Sr. Field Strategist holds key responsibilities that will evolve over time as the team grows and functions are distributed. During the first year of the role, we anticipate a focus on the following priorities:

Strategy Development

• Work with the Field Building Director and Circular Economy Director to execute the field building vision and strategy in key states. 
• Build new organizational relationships and alliances that reflect our values and priorities around equity, diversity and climate/environmental justice.
• Engage key leaders, organizations and partners in strategy development to build institutional and community buy-in for the goals of the waste campaign.
• Develop and execute work plans and track progress to ensure transparency and strong collaboration.

Field Building, Capacity Building and Convening 

• With Field Building Director, assess the landscape across key strategic states related to waste  through community mapping project and power analysis. This will be to identify strengths, current players and gaps in preparation for investment, engaging key leaders, organizations and industry partners. 
• Lead in the development of a national network/movement hubs to build power and capacity building strategies with local partners through a shared vision, theory of change and capacity building strategy 
• Work with Field Building Director to equitably stand up re-grants and sub-contracts with local partners  

Who You Are

The incoming Sr. Field Strategist is driven by their belief and commitment to Industrious Labs’ vision, mission, and values. Through their track record and expertise as an organizer and convener – optimally within the climate or another social justice movement – the successful candidate will steer field building and capacity building in our waste campaign and solidify Industrious Labs as a leader in industrial decarbonization. The Sr. Field Strategist builds authentic and lasting relationships with communities and organizations impacted by pollution from the waste sector, engaging with them as partners in our mission. The successful candidate brings a mindset that considers capacity building the foundation of building the vision we see for the future and power building in transformational ways as needed to win and dismantle systems of oppression. 

The Sr. Field Strategist joins a deeply committed team that brings a track record of success in campaign strategy, data analysis, and communications, with a particular focus on climate and clean energy. The successful candidate is entrepreneurial and excited about the prospect of working collaboratively internally and building new partnerships to  build something new in the climate movement from the ground up. They have the experience of setting vision, establishing, and scaling successful programs with an ethos of creativity, humility, and an expectation of continual learning. They are excited and inspired by the challenge. 

Despite enormous obstacles involved in decarbonizing heavy industry, the Industrious Labs team operates with a spirit of possibility and seeks a Sr. Field Strategist who shares the belief that we can all do things we’ve never done before and can stretch ourselves to achieve incredible results.

This role requires a deep commitment to the principles of environmental justice and climate justice, proven collaboration skills, and the ability to design and execute coordinated strategies that will generate change in a deeply entrenched and seemingly intractable aspect of the climate movement. The Sr. Field Strategist demonstrates initiative by diving right in to take a concept from idea to implementation, navigating through internal and external barriers as they arise without getting stuck and finding and deploying resources creatively to solve problems. The selected candidate will also possess most of the following 

Core and Preferred qualifications:

Core

• Strong commitment to the mission, vision, policies, and goals of Industrious Labs.
• At least 5 years of increasing responsibility in coalition development, relationship building, capacity building with a track record of accomplishment.  
• Experience assisting/leading the development of strategy in coalition spaces and/or with a diverse groups of people/perspectives 
• Proven skill around creating a clear vision with attainable goals that build power centered around equity and justice. 
• Familiarity with power and community mapping processes and the ability to articulate key findings and patterns.
• Experience designing/implementing organizing efforts in local, state, regional and national settings.
• Excited rather than intimidated by the challenge of what's unknown about this role and the opportunity to build something new.
• Mastery of relationship-building skills and strong existing relationships with a wide range of diverse external constituencies, from big greens to environmental justice communities. 
• Proven leadership skills with clarity of vision and a commitment to the highest levels of integrity, quality, and collaboration, developing strong team cultures, promoting and enhancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, performance management, and professional development.
• Demonstrated experience working across lines of race, class, gender, and geography and an analysis of how climate change intersects with historically oppressed and marginalized communities.
• Experience in the climate movement or another social justice movement. 
• Outstanding oral and written communications skills that demonstrate an ability to:
• Convey a compelling story about Industrious Labs’ mission and impact;
• Translate complex data and analysis into persuasive narratives; and
• Communicate Industrious Labs’ strategies with accessible expertise (without jargon).
• Proven ability to prioritize and be flexible in a fast-paced, constantly evolving, and collaborative environment, where working on a team and working individually are all required.
• Commitment to continuous learning, hunger for knowledge, and willingness to ask questions and self-correct; an approach that is curious, self-directed, and entrepreneurial.
• Openness to giving and receiving direct, compassionate feedback.
• Highly collaborative work style with the ability to operate as a peer and thought partner to the leadership team members, external partners and advisors.

Preferred

• Entrepreneurial drive to build an organization from the ground up; prior start-up experience as an early team member in a growing organization.
• Content knowledge or familiarity with heavy industry and/or solid waste.
• Experience re-granting and subcontracting with local partners and moving resources equitably.
• Someone who has community organizing experience
• Someone currently living in the Midwest or East Coast 

Salary and Benefits:

The salary for this position is $110,000. Industrious Labs has a policy not to negotiate on salaries. Historically, negotiations reward those who have the skill, privilege, and confidence to ask for more money; and because not everyone has those skills, allowing for negotiations undermines economic equity we strive for as an organization. Rather than use negotiations to drive competitive salaries, we endeavor to pay people well and establish a transparent salary scale based on the experience, competencies, and responsibilities required to thrive in this role.

Industrious Labs offers a competitive set of benefits, including 100% of comprehensive health care coverage for employees (medical, dental, and vision); a contribution of 50% of the cost of heathcare premiums for employees’ dependent(s), if applicable; work from home stipend; up to 5% employer match to 401; and 11 paid holidays plus unlimited vacation, starting with a minimum of 15 business days.

Our Commitment to Racial Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Climate Justice:

We believe that diversity in our team isn’t just a value but brings different lived experience and perspective that is essential to solving the climate crisis. If you’ve read this job description and are excited by it, and if you can see yourself happily filling this role and making a difference on climate change, we really hope you apply. Industrious Labs is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to transparent and equitable recruitment, hiring and promotion processes that foster inclusion and belonging. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please email Dominique Thomas at dominique@industriouslabs.org.

Application Procedure: 

To apply, please submit a resume and answers to the following questions: 

1. What motivates you to spend your time, skills and expertise working on climate change?
2. How do you describe power? How have you built power with others in the past? 
3. Briefly share an advocacy campaign you played a key role in organizing people around. How did you build up a diverse coalition of people to work on a shared vision and theory of change? 

This position is open until filled. Candidate review and phone screens begin immediately and will be conducted throughout the search. We anticipate several steps of mutual exploration, including a phone screen, panel interview(s) and thought exercises for finalist candidates. Our search processes generally take 3 - 4 months.