About Rare Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. For 50 years, across 60 countries, we have inspired and empowered millions of people and their communities to shift their behaviors and practices to protect our shared planet. We are a global leader in driving social change for people and nature and believe that the cumulative power of individual and community action is a vital pathway to safeguarding and restoring our shared waters, lands, and climate.?
Rare's organizational culture is results-oriented, entrepreneurial, and defined by our five core values: Courage to Take Risks, Commitment to Accountability, Mindset of Solutionology, Investments in People, and Spirit of Celebration.
About the Position The Chief of Staff will manage and support external relationships for Rare's CEO and President. The purpose of this role is to maximize Rare's increasing capacity for external engagement from the CEO and President while ensuring that their efforts are appropriately connected back to Development, Communications, and Programs. This role will serve as a key liaison between Development, Communications, the Board of Trustees, and the Executive Office.
Role Responsibilities Work in partnership with the functional leaders/departments and the CEO and President to help manage cross-functional trips, events, and opportunities across the organization in a connective fashion. The Chief of Staff will serve as a cross-functional liaison working to:
Maximize the impact of Rare-driven events to meet the CEO and President's holistic engagement goals. This includes working with appropriate teams and the Comprehensive Calendar to assess opportunities for target audience engagement, ensuring an enterprise view of engagement opportunities. Work in partnership with departments and programs to understand their goals and needs for events (e.g. COP, Climate Week, Rare-produced events.) This will help to leverage the CEO and President's efforts to the maximum short- and long-term benefit of the institution. Support the planning and facilitation of kick-off meetings where necessary to support cross-functional coordination across the teams. Collaborate with the appropriate functional leader/department to help develop, when needed, materials for key audiences. Work with the President and CEO to produce notes, key takeaways, and follow-up actions from trips/engagements and ensure they are shared with the appropriate program and/or department. Ensure timely follow-through on resulting action plans. Draft donor communication on behalf of the CEO and President. Enter trip information and takeaways into Rare's Customer Relationship Management System (currently Salesforce). Serve as Board Liaison, working in partnership with the CEO, President, and Executive Office team members to:
Ensure board meetings are effectively prepared for and executed: Oversee board meeting agenda development, materials, presenter preparation, and meeting organization and follow-up. Oversee the development of the board book, in partnership with the CEO's Executive Assistant. Work with staff across the organization, including program leads and the finance and development teams, to prepare staff and Board members for Board meetings. Prepare talking points for the CEO, President, and Board Chairs in advance of Rare's Board of Trustees Meetings and Board Committee Meetings. Serve as the internal point person for board committees, ensuring committees are effectively staffed by Executive Team leads and Board Committee chairs. Attend Board and committee meetings. Support strong relationships and communications with Rare staff and Trustees: Coordinate, draft, and manage correspondence with Trustees. Contribute to the success of board-hosted donor events in partnership with the Rare events team, including activities/events for board and committee member orientations, training, trips, and retreats. Support the relationship with the CEO and Board Co-Chairs, driving the agenda for weekly calls, joining the calls, and leading the follow-up actions. Ensure Rare follows strong Board Governance practices: Oversee compliance with organizational bylaws, provide periodic review and update of policies and governance practices, and implement best practices in coordination with external experts and senior staff. Manage onboarding for new board members, working with the CEO and Board Chair(s) to identify committee roles, developing in-person "onboarding days" and working in partnership with the CEO's Executive Assistant to ensure all necessary governance information is collected and managed from each trustee. Manage and track the Trustees' terms.
Work in close partnership with Communications to elevate the external profile of the CEO as a means to advance Rare's brand. Efforts will include:
Support the implementation of external profile goals, in alignment with the direction and strategy established by Marketing and Communications Support the CEO's schedule for writing and speaking deliverables and providing added support for special writing projects, identifying areas for external support when needed, in alignment with the direction and strategy established by Marketing and Communications Manage the in-flow of new opportunities (e.g. projects and partnerships) that arise from external engagements, working in close partnership with the departmental/functional team leads and the Executive Office team members to:
Identify which opportunities to prioritize and move forward. Assess organizational capacity and fit to determine which Rare program or department should own the opportunity/work stream. Assist in the identification of additional support needed. Communicate and work cross-functionally to help ensure the opportunity is effectively initiated with the appropriate program/department team. Qualifications The ideal candidate will have:
Experience in non-profit fundraising, communications, and external relationship management. Experience managing complex cross-functional operations. Experience with Board of Trustees management. Experience working with sensitive information and ability to maintain strict confidentiality. Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to build strong and lasting relationships with donors, volunteers, colleagues, and high-level external contacts. An innovative, self-motivated, optimistic, strategic, and solution-oriented approach to project work and problem-solving. Excellent communication skills, with strong writing abilities. An ability to travel domestically and internationally. Rare is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.
