Position Summary: New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) provides resources and programs to improve building and resource efficiency, addressing environmental issues and social inequities to support lasting change. The collaborative team manages numerous programs across nearly 1,900 schools and 1,500 buildings that foster stakeholder engagement, climate action, and optimize operations to reduce environmental impact.
The Office of Energy & Sustainability (OES) works with school-based stakeholders, central NYCPS Offices, non-profit partners and other City agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce waste and maximize waste diversion, and support the connection of climate and sustainability leadership and action to staff and students. The Office supports a variety of ambitious, City-aligned sustainability and climate goals and Mayoral initiatives.
The Director of Sustainability will be instrumental in supporting critical workstreams to ensure compliance and participation in numerous climate and sustainability commitments. Director will advise the Chief Sustainability & Decarbonization Officer and serve as team leader to deliver impactful programs. The incumbent will oversee a citywide team that supports all schools with outreach, resources, and programs. The incumbent must possess strong management skills and be able to work collaboratively with school-based stakeholders and other city agencies. Performs related work.
Reports to: Chief Sustainability & Decarbonization Officer
Direct Reports: Deputy Director of Sustainability
Key Relationships: Work closely with Chief of Sustainability & Decarbonization Officer and OES Executive Director, other OES senior leadership, other Central Offices e.g. Division of School Facilities , Custodian Engineers, school and district leadership, Department of Sanitation, Mayor's Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, City Hall, and other City/State agencies.
Responsibilities - Working closely with the Chief and Executive Director, develops and manages programs that reduce waste, educate staff and students on climate and sustainability goals and commitments, and seeks new opportunities to further embed sustainability into NYCPS culture and operations.
- Serves as a key advisor to Chief Sustainability and Decarbonization Officer and point of contact for City agencies and Mayor's Office for programs pertaining to school facing climate programs, green space, and waste reduction.
- Develop s and maintain s high-level understanding of relevant climate programs, policies, and operations for progress towards goals and agency climate commitments.
- Seeks to build coalitions and support within internal agency offices and divisions to develop broad support for climate and sustainability programs; identifies new opportunities for impact and program development within agency.
- Oversees sustainability budget and seeks outside funding (e.g. grants) and/or partnership opportunities.
- Maintain s and grow s partner network to identify opportunities for collaboration and growth to bring new resources and support to school sustainability programs.
- Oversees compliance and framework for development and support of 1800+ school-based Sustainability Coordinators.
- Manages reporting, training, and resources to provide support and accountability for this role.
- Direct s research for new sustainability and climate programs , including program pilots and new technologies and equipment.
- Advises Chief and Executive Director on strategic planning and new opportunities to further embed sustainability into core operations and culture.
- Researches, develops, and seeks new opportunities to promote sustainability programs including waste reduction, climate education, energy and water conservation, green space, and wellness.
- Responsible for NYCPS compliance with city recycling and waste laws and policies. Serves as primary point of contact between NYCPS and the Department of Sanitation on new programmatic information and operational issues .
- Directs complex, technically oriented studies and survey s of management, policy , programs, and other related areas of school facilities or education planning as it relates to sustainability .
- Prepares comprehensive reports on surveys or findings with recommendations for improvements as outlined in Chancellor's Regulation A-850, serves as lead contributor to NYCPS A nnual R eport on Energy and Sustainability .
- Supports OES staff development and enrichment on best practices and education of sustainability practices.
- Identif ies and prioritize s new projects, prepare strategic goals and manage implementation of programs
- Develops metrics, presentations, policy briefs, and memos on sustainability programs for OES and agency leadership, local and national reports, and conferences.
- Manages day to day operations of Sustainability Team staff.
Qualification Requirements: Minimum A master's degree from an accredited college in economics, finance, accounting, business or public administration, human resources management, management science, operations research, organizational behavior, industrial psychology, statistics, personnel administration, labor relations, psychology, sociology, human resources development, political science, urban studies, or a closely related field, or a Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school and two years of satisfactory full-time professional experience, for educational program(s) and/or institution(s) in one or a combination of the following: working with the budget of a large public or private concern in budget administration, accounting economic or financial administration, fiscal or economic research; management or methods analysis, operations research, organizational research or program evaluation; educational, personnel or public administration, recruitment, position classification, personnel relations, labor relations, employee benefits, staff development, employment program planning/administration, labor market research, economic planning, fiscal management, or a related area, 18 months of this experience must have been in an executive, managerial, administrative, consultative or supervisory capacity. Supervision must have included supervising staff performing professional work in the areas described above; or A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory full-time professional experience as described in
"1" above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, consultative or supervisory experience described in
"1" above; or Education and/or experience equivalent to "
1", or "
2" above. Graduate education in areas other than those mentioned above, may be substituted for the professional experience, but not for the 18 months of managerial experience described in "
1" above, at the rate of 15 graduate semester credits from an accredited college or university for 6 months up to a maximum of 1 year of professional experience. However, all candidates must possess a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and 18 months executive, managerial, administrative, consultative or supervisory experience, as described in "
1" above.
Preferred - Demonstrated experience and success managing a team with multiple timelines, key milestones and reporting requirements, and significant accountability expectations. Experience with large, complex organizations a plus.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills - this position requires effective communication of complex information to a wide array of audiences.
- Comfortable communicating with a wide variety of partners, colleagues, and stakeholders.
- Experience with managing budgets, reports/reporting requirements, projects, and personnel in technical and non-technical roles.
- High degree of professionalism in fast-paced environment with numerous concurrent projects and deadlines with stringent quality control needs.
- Highly proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
- Knowledgeable of CRM and analytical tools, proficiency with large data sets.
- Experience or working knowledge of large, complex public organizations and interest in climate, sustainability, and public education.
- Strong project management skills using a data-driven approach; the ability to develop, plan, and implement short- and long-range goals and metrics, establish priorities, organize resources, interpret needs, proactively identify key issues and risks, and develop integrated, creative solutions.
- Ability to perform independent, original research.
- Ability to develop thoughtful and creative approaches for addressing a wide range of analytic questions.
- Excellent analytical skills and experience gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data.
- Ability to develop concise and powerful policy summaries and presentations for internal and external leadership audiences .
- Ability to work effectively with diverse groups in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
- High level of proficiency with a wide range of analytical and presentation tools.
- Willingness to contribute to a powerful team committed to a new future for sustainability, energy management, and urban education.
- Ability to maintain team structures and a framework of support to optimize staff capacity, accountability, and professional development.
- Strong strategic thinking, project management skills, attention to detail, ability to proactively identify key issues and risks, and ability to make recommendations based on data and reasoning to senior leadership.
- Strong critical and strategic thinking skills and attention to detail.
- Rigorous quality control standards.
- Ability to multitask and meet multiple deadlines in a highly dynamic team environment.
- Self-motivated and able to handle numerous responsibilities in a timely manner.
- Ability to mobilize disparate groups of people toward goals.
- Highly proficient in Microsoft Office 365 applications.
- Strong customer service and problem-solving approach.
- Attentive to detail, extremely well organized, able to work under pressure, and meet frequent and changing deadlines.
- Good sense of humor and exceptional interpersonal skills; the ability to work cooperatively with a dynamic office, division, and broader organizational teams/staff, agency and community partners.
Salary : $145,000 - $165,000
(Internal candidates who are selected for this position and who currently hold comparable or less senior positions within the DOE will not earn less than their current salary.)
Please include a resume and cover letter with your application. NOTE: The filling of all positions is subject to budget availability and/or grant funding. * New York City Residency is NOT Required * We encourage all applicants from the New York City tri-state area to apply. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER DOE Non- Discrimination PolicyThe Department of Education of the City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's actual or perceived sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or pregnancy. For more information, please refer to the DOE Non-Discrimination Policy .
Public Service Loan Forgiveness As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/ .
