$220,000 - $270,000
March 10, 2025
Remote
Overview of Arête Glacier Initiative
Catastrophic sea-level rise from the potential collapse of marine ice sheets presents one of humanity’s greatest climate challenges, threatening to displace millions of people and cause trillions of dollars in economic damage. Current forecasts indicate a possible sea-level rise of 1 meter or more this century, driven in part by the collapse of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. However, major uncertainty exists about the timeline and extent of glacier-induced catastrophic sea-level rise, creating major barriers to preparation and intervention.
Arête Glacier Initiative is a new, ambitious, mission-driven nonprofit established to provide humanity with the options to manage and reduce the risks of catastrophic sea-level rise. We aim to better understand the risk of catastrophic sea-level rise and assess the feasibility of novel and potentially transformative interventions to stabilize ice sheets. Our goal is to fund, coordinate, and accelerate research to enable informed decisions regarding these interventions. We achieve this by advancing and funding an ambitious scientific agenda; fostering collaboration among glaciologists, philanthropists, and policymakers; and driving a forward-looking policy agenda that includes renewed government investments in the Antarctic.
Arête’s co-founders are Dr. Brent Minchew, MIT glaciology professor and former US Marine, and Dr. Colin Meyer, glaciology professor at Dartmouth. Dr. Brent Minchew is Arête’s acting Executive Director but will be stepping down from this position to focus on furthering Arête’s scientific agenda as Chief Scientist. The broader Arête team represents experience in fundraising, program management, and policy. We continue to build a distinguished advisory team that includes leading Antarctic and sea-level rise scientists, experienced nonprofit executives, and visionary philanthropic leaders.
Arête is a fiscally sponsored organization of the Digital Harbor Foundation. Our work is generously supported by Outlier Projects, the Grantham Foundation, the Kissick Family Foundation, and other pioneering funders.
Position Overview
We are seeking an Executive Director (ED) to lead and be a public face of Arête. Working closely with the Chief Scientist and other senior staff, the ED will be responsible for setting strategic priorities and developing programs to achieve them, building and overseeing Arête’s team, spearheading fundraising efforts, and overseeing day-to-day operations. This is a remote, US-based, full-time position with a focus on advancing our mission through effective leadership, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable organizational growth. For the right candidate this is a rare and compelling opportunity to take the helm of an early-stage climate nonprofit with transformative impact potential, a stellar early team, and a strong foundation in fundraising and partnership development.
We are in the early stages of building our programs and team. The science behind sea-level projections has been around for decades but needs significant investments in data collection and monitoring to accelerate the development of projections. Glacier interventions are a relatively new concept that have unique and dynamic scientific, policy, and fundraising challenges. This ED role requires a high degree of flexibility, adaptability, creativity, and a willingness to take on diverse tasks as we develop and grow the organization and the broader field of sea-level risk forecasting and management.
Overview of Digital Harbor Foundation
Digital Harbor Foundation is dedicated to fostering learning, creativity, productivity, and community through education with a vision of digital equity for everyone. Driven by our sincere belief that access to opportunity is a basic right, we take bold yet practical actions to support making a better future now. Through a portfolio of projects focused on developing leadership within communities, we support those closest to challenges to take deliberate actions based in design thinking approach, backed by data analysis, grounded in a practice of collective impact, and driven by a commitment to racial equity.
Required Education and Experience
Preferred Education and Experience
Role and Responsibilities
Strategy Leadership
Team Building & Organizational Development
Fundraising
External Relationships & Partnership Building
Other Duties
Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
We encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply, regardless of whether you feel you meet 100% of the qualifications. The top candidates will bring their own unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds from a variety of industries along with many but not necessarily all the skills listed above. Neither prior experience in research management nor knowledge of glaciology is needed to be a strong candidate.
Compensation
Compensation for this full-time position is $220,000 - $270,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Arête Glacier Initiative & Digital Harbor provides a best-in-class comprehensive set of benefits to support the team. All regular, full-time employees are eligible to receive:
Health Benefits & Insurance
Retirement
Paid Time Off
Additional Notes
This position is fully remote with occasional in-person meetings at the Digital Harbor Foundation office as needed to fulfill the responsibilities of the position.
If our mission and vision align with your personal values, please apply!
A cover letter outlining your qualifications for the position along with your resume is required. Interviews will be conducted virtually.
Digital Harbor and Arête Glacier Initiative are equal opportunity employers.
$220,000 - $270,000
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Remote
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Nonprofit
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Full-time
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