Senior Director, Media and Advocacy

Senior Director, Media and Advocacy (Remote – Worldwide)

Communications · All Cities, District of Columbia

Job Title: Senior Director, Media and Advocacy

Location: Remote – Worldwide (with significant overlap with US business hours)

Start Date: Immediately

Reports to: Chief Communications Officer

About Verra

Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world’s most intractable environmental and social challenges. As a mission-driven non-profit organization, Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods and protect natural resources across the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards, tools, and programs that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits. We work in any arena where we see a need for clear standards, a role for market-based mechanisms, and an opportunity to generate significant environmental and social value.

Verra manages a portfolio of standards, including the:

• Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)– the world’s leading carbon crediting program, with more than 2,000 registered projects in 80 countries and accounting for two-thirds of all voluntary carbon market transaction volume.
• Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta)– a flexible framework for assessing and reporting on the sustainable development benefits of project-based activities.
• Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards– to identify projects that simultaneously address climate change, support local communities and smallholders, and conserve biodiversity.
• Plastic Waste Reduction Program– to enable robust impact assessment of new or scaled-up waste recovery and recycling projects around the globe.

About the Position

With the rapid growth in carbon markets increasing media attention and scrutiny to the field, Verra is seeking a Senior Director, Media and Advocacy. This position will provide tactical leadership on all external media relations, and work with the Chief Communications Officer to shape strategy and messaging. In addition, this position will create and manage contracts with media relations consultants in key geographies around the world; and cultivate a network of allies and external validators who can serve as key messengers to the media. This is an opportunity for a senior communications professional with significant leadership experience in the environmental sphere.

You bring with you…

• 15+ years of experience in communications or media relations featuring increasing responsibility and proven leadership skills
• A deep understanding of climate and environmental messaging and strategy, as well as the ability to quickly assimilate new information.
• Existing relationships across the environmental advocacy community, and the skills and interest in creating more.
• Excellent media judgment.
• Experience with the global environmental and business media corps.
• A commitment to meeting the climate challenge by supporting pragmatic, impactful solutions that are worth fighting for.

In this role, you will grow and expand your expertise by…

• Gaining an intimate understanding of carbon finance, which will become increasingly important as the world moves to net zero emissions in the coming decades.
• Becoming an integral part of the world’s leading environmental and social standard setter.
• Having the opportunity to impact the critical global conversation on sustainability markets – which science tells us need to be part of any path to a livable future.

You will know you are successful if…

• You establish yourself as a trusted communications leader and help shape important and accurate earned media placements around the world.
• You lead an effective, nimble and impactful team of media communications professionals.
• You are able to create a network of peers and allies across civil society that can communicate the reality and importance of our work.

You will join a team…

• From diverse locations and backgrounds, including carbon market experts, project developers, consultants, climate negotiators, researchers, auditors, and more.
• Committed to driving finance at scale to projects and programs that advance climate action and sustainable development through high-quality standards and programs.
• That embodies the values Verra has established for itself, and which include Teamwork, Results, Integrity, Balance, and Exploration.

Compensation at Verra

• To help us attract and retain top talent, Verra pays employees competitively to the market. In return, we expect each employee to, at a minimum:
  • Meet expectations in terms of work effort and performance;
  • Take the initiative to build the skills and knowledge needed to do their job effectively; and
  • Embody Verra’s values.

For this position, the salary range is USD $150,370 -$171,572, depending on experience. We will recognize employees who go beyond expected performance with salary increases and/or promotions, but the bar for earning those rewards is high.

Salary is one component of Verra’s total compensation package, which also includes:

• Health, vision and dental care, and life insurance;
• Verra contributions to each employee’s retirement plan;
• Verra contributions as required by national labor laws in countries where staff are located;
• Paid Time Off (PTO), comprising 22-30 days plus eleven floating holidays, sabbatical after five years of service, and other leave allowances; and
• Funds to support professional development.

Verra provides equal opportunity for all job applicants and employees and is committed to providing a work environment free of discrimination. We conduct our recruitment and hiring without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, genetics, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, and local law.

Location All Cities, District of Columbia

Department Communications

Employment Type Full-Time