Career Development Officer

Position Summary

The Career Development Officer, is responsible for numerous activities that support Climate School students and alumni in developing their career paths and preparing them for work or continuing education based on each student’s professional and personal goals. The person will interface with  key stakeholders of the MS in Climate Finance leadership team  While the focus and emphasis of this position is on the MS in Climate Finance program, the position will also engage with and work on behalf of all Climate School students.

Responsibilities

• Coach students on how to discover, create, and navigate career opportunities.
• Meet individually with students to understand their career interests and track job search progress.
• Report on career outcomes.
• Conduct landscape search of relevant organizations for climate finance, including public, private, development finance, international organizations, international, multinational, and civil society organizations, and curate structured, searchable database of organizations.
• Cultivate relationships with current and prospective employers to source (or create) high-quality internships, jobs, and capstones, and promote the candidacy of our students.
• Develop and maintain materials that convey the unique qualifications of the MS Climate Finance students, including details about the program, the capstone and internship requirements, and the qualifications of our students.
• Identify relevant climate finance conferences, professional affiliations, etc. to attend and highlight to students.
• Coordinate employer info sessions, career talks, and student-alumni networking events.
• Help to plan and execute signature career events like the All-Ivy Career Fair, and other large career networking events.
• Coordinate with MSCF colleagues on practitioner speaker series, site visits to climate finance institutions, and other networking events and opportunities related to the MSCF.
• Serve as key member of the MSCF leadership support teams.
• Coordinate with Climate School colleagues that are responsible for executive education, sponsored research, and other partnership opportunities.
• Collaborate with the career director and Climate School staff and faculty, as well as career units across the University, to continually develop strategies and partnerships for placing students in climate and sustainability roles.
• Develop relationships with key institutional partners to identify areas of collaboration (Columbia Business School, School of Professional Studies, School of International and Public Affairs)
• Other duties as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 3-5 years of related experience required.
• Exposure to finance or climate-related sectors, with an understanding of how financial skills can be applied to sustainability and climate solutions, is a plus.
• Experience with career coaching or student advising, or preferred background in any of the following:  recruiting (executive search experience a plus), talent development, branding and marketing, or business development.
• Demonstrated success in cultivating partnerships with external organizations that result in employment and professional development opportunities.
• Highly motivated to build a professional network for the Climate School. Comfortable conducting outreach and cold calls. Strong follow-up skills with a focus on timely communication and task completion.
• Experience in planning and managing events and professional development programs, and initiatives. Self‑motivated, proactive, and detail-oriented, with experience establishing, documenting, and improving processes and templates to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and contribute to team goals while delivering high-quality, accurate work.
• Strong desire to support students with creativity, compassion, and encouragement. Ability to communicate effectively and tactfully with a diverse population of students, alumni, staff, faculty, and employers. (Note: the Climate School has a sizeable population of international students.) Familiarity with the field of climate finance is preferred.
• Comfortable with public speaking (e.g., facilitating workshops, conducting interviews, moderating panel discussions, etc.).
• Comfort with learning and using new systems (Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite; experience with Excel pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and 12Twenty a plus).
• Possess a positive, creative, mission-oriented, forward-thinking attitude and sense of humor.