Climate Action Specialist (Sustainability Planner)
Climate Action Specialist (Sustainability Planner)
As one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, City of Surrey is a globally recognized leader in building vibrant, sustainable communities through
technology and innovation. City of Surrey employees are talented innovators, inspired by meaningful work and the opportunity to drive our city—and
their careers—forward. Build a City. Build a Future at the City of Surrey.
Scope
The City’s Engineering, Sustainability & Energy Services Division is currently recruiting for a Climate Action Specialist. This position will
be a core team member in the City’s climate action team, supporting multiple ongoing and future initiatives in Surrey’s climate action
portfolio, including implementation of the pending Climate Crisis Action Strategy (CCAS). The CCAS will outline actions to reach Surrey
City Council’s adopted targets of net zero community GHG emissions and absolute zero corporate GHG emissions prior to 2050. The
CCAS also integrates adaptation, updating and incorporating climate risk assessment and actions outlined in the (2013) Climate
Adaptation Strategy. With Surrey’s rapid growth and increasing commitment to climate action and sustainability this position offers the
opportunity to make a positive impact on the community and contribute to shaping the evolution of the climate action program, with
potential for career advancement.
Responsibilities
You bring subject matter expertise and a passion for sustainability and climate policy to a role that can help make an impact on some of
the biggest challenges of our times. Applying creative problem-solving, excellent communication skills, and attention to detail, you will
support planning and coordinating climate action initiatives (both mitigation and adaptation-focused), undertake public and stakeholder
engagement, research, and analysis, communicate complex topics to a general audience, and collaborate with colleagues across
multiple divisions and departments. With oversight from senior staff, you lead specific projects and coordinate their implementation, and
represent the team to bring a climate lens to cross-departmental initiatives.
Some of the responsibilities associated with this role include, but may not be limited to, the following:
- Undertakes research and analysis and prepares comprehensive reports.
- Prepares, contributes to and implements communication, outreach and engagement activities.
- Assists with preparing and updating policy documents.
- Monitors, updates, and maintains project plans, statistics, metrics and associated communication tools.
- Assists with developing proposals and project specifications, project management, and liaising with consultants.
- Prepares and delivers presentations to internal and external audiences.
- Liaises with various business units and external agencies and responds to inquiries.
- Prepares communication, including quarterly e-newsletters, including for Sustainability and District Energy topics, provides
content and updates to the website, and liaises with Marketing and Communications staff for public facing campaigns. - Develops or supports new systems for tracking, reporting and communicating sustainability and climate action data, such as
databases, maps, and indicator dashboards. - Represents the City on various committees and projects as needed.
Qualifications
Our ideal candidate shares our City values of Community, Innovation, Integrity, Service and Teamwork, and can demonstrate the
following qualifications:
- Holds a Master’s designation in sustainability, public policy, resource and environmental management, planning, engineering,
environmental science, public administration, or a related field, and at least 3 years of experience leading or doing climate
action planning, strategizing, and implementation (a combination of equivalent education and experience may be considered). - Experience working in or navigating local government organizations and decision-making processes.
- Exceptional communication skills, both oral and written.
- Proven ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the public and a variety of stakeholders.
- A collaborative self-starter practiced in time management, able to work in a fast-paced environment, and can manage multiple
simultaneous projects and other initiatives.
One or more of the following specialties will be considered as assets:
- Demonstrated experience applying approaches based in equity, intersectional perspectives and/or climate justice
- Experience leading or coordinating internal and external education initiatives.
- Applied experience in policy and programs focused on climate adaptation and resilience, e.g. risk analysis, ecology and nature-based solutions.
- Building science and decarbonization strategies.
- Applied experience in policy and programs focused on GHG reduction, particularly focused on buildings, transportation, and
land use. - Knowledge of and experience in urban planning and development, e.g. long range community land use planning; development
planning. - Experience building and maintaining relationships with external agencies and other levels of government.
- Experience with change management and/or collaborating with teams of colleagues to embed climate action within municipal
or other organizational plans and operations. - Experience in GIS, database systems, and web-based data reporting and communication tools.
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