This is a grant-funded position, funded through the National Science Foundation and expected to last until March 31st, 2027."

As part of Mayor Michelle Wu’s Green New Deal vision, Boston strives to become a global hub for climate technology and innovation, an exciting home for climate tech companies where climate innovators, entrepreneurs, and emerging startups can pilot solutions to our pressing climate challenges while accessing local talent and investment. The City of Boston hopes to be known as an ideal government partner, leading with both supportive policy and partnering with entrepreneurs to test and scale their products and services. A key component of achieving this vision for climate tech in Boston is ensuring that, as Boston’s climate tech sector continues to grow, this growth is equitable and serves the needs and aspirations of local communities, particularly those who have been most impacted by climate change.

This role will serve as the City of Boston’s point person on a National Science Foundation-funded project, Common SENSES, exploring the use of climate sensor technology’s role in community planning. This role will also help the City build and maintain a strong relationship between Boston’s residents and the City’s evolving climate tech agenda, while developing a standard process for implementing new climate technologies.

• Serve as a liaison between the Common SENSES project team and the City of Boston.
• Develop a multi-departmental review process for the deployment of environmental sensors and other technologies in the public realm that address issues related to electrical power, connectivity, alignment with Mayoral priorities, and privacy.
• Deploy climate sensors for data collection to inform a community co-design process.  
• Lead the coordination of City departments and the community approval process as it relates to deploying sensors for the Common SENSE project.
• Build relationships with residents and neighborhood organizations around the Blue Hill Avenue area in order to meaningfully explore new methods in community engagement and co-design.
• Support the development of educational materials, informal discussion sessions, and feedback loops between community residents and the City.
• Co-create opportunities for civic engagement around new technologies as they relate to relevant community issues and meet the project scope.
• Work to build collaborations among municipal stakeholders towards a better, united framework for climate technology and its role in Boston.
• Support climate tech entrepreneurs working in Boston.
• In collaboration with climate tech entrepreneurs, leads experimentation of new technologies (in particular those that support decarbonization and climate resilience), processes for deployment, and incorporation of community feedback.
• Build and manage partnerships with venture capital firms, technology startups, and academic institutions.
• Pursue funding technical support from external partners to enable scalable innovation and demonstration projects.
• Develop and implement strategic documents such as Requests for Information (RFIs), pilot evaluation frameworks, and policy recommendations.
• Speaks on behalf of the Office of Emerging Technology on panels and conferences related to this work.
• Facilitates communication and knowledge-building across departments. 
• Develop project ideas with City departments that further the City’s Green New Deal priorities.
• Perform related work as required.

•  3+ years of working professional experience or equivalent in emerging technology, operations research, climate and environmental planning, analytics, or a related field.
• Associates, Bachelor's, or Master's degree preferred in urban planning, climate science, community planning, environmental education, civil engineering, data science, community development, law, or a related field. 
• Candidates should be strong relationship builders, comfortable with risk, and passionate about solving hard civic challenges with creative, original solutions.
• Candidates should be comfortable hosting participatory community events with partners and constructing effective and equitable outreach programs. 
• Candidates should be confident in project management and able to demonstrate how they go from ‘idea to implementation to reflection.
• We seek individuals with subject matter expertise in design, public policy, technology, urban planning, climate science, engineering, and community engagement, as well as broad curiosity about cities. 
• Must be comfortable both working alone and in a highly collaborative office. 
• Excellent presentation, oral, and written communication skills.
• Must be proficient with the Google Suite and Airtable, and have strong written and verbal communication skills. Visual storytelling and design skills are preferred. 
• Additional language proficiency in one of the City of Boston’s top ten commonly requested language accommodations is preferred.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, including mapping of specific business needs to appropriate solutions, in a data-focused context.
• Demonstrated success in learning new skills as needed to succeed in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to exercise good judgment and focus on detail as required by the job.
• Experience in the public sector (especially in local government) is highly desirable.
• Experience with prototyping and demonstrated comfort with an experimental approach.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Google Suite preferred.

BOSTON RESIDENCY REQUIRED. You must live within Boston city limits at the start of your employment.

Terms:

Union/Grade/Salary Plan: SENA/MM1-8

Hours per week: 35