Program Assistant

Full-time Seattle-only

Grist is an independent nonprofit media organization that envisions a planet that doesn’t burn and a future that doesn’t suck. It’s our mission to make the story of a better world so irresistible, you want it right now. We are devoted to eye-opening environmental journalism that explores solutions, exposes injustice, and emboldens readers to act. And we go beyond the page to convene leaders bringing about a sustainable world that works for everyone.

SUMMARY

We’re seeking a remarkably passionate and organized Program Assistant to support both our Founder and our CEO in managing their busy calendars and providing day-to-day assistance across their portfolios. The ideal candidate will be experienced in handling a wide range of administrative and executive-support-related tasks, able to work independently with little supervision, and possess a bias for action. You’ll join a team of thought leaders and changemakers who wake up every day to make the world a better place. This job is a great foray into the ins and outs of the environmental and media world — a fantastic opportunity to learn from the best! This job is based at Grist HQ in Seattle.

Responsibilities:

  • Set appointments and maintain Founder’s and CEO’s schedules, including internal and external meetings, calls, and events.
  • Manage Founder’s and CEO’s daily activities, ensuring efficient use of time, attention to urgent matters, and completion of all tasks on deadline.
  • Handle all aspects of Founder’s and CEO’s travel, including arranging transport and lodging logistics, and ensuring other trip details are as streamlined as possible.
  • Research, fact-check, proof, and prepare briefings and backgrounders for Founder and CEO meetings as needed.
  • Work with Founder to support the development of a new program area at Grist to convene leaders in sustainability.
  • Plan for an internal speaker series, connecting staff to high-profile guests visiting Seattle.
  • Attend meetings, taking notes and representing Founder and CEO as needed.
  • Perform other tasks and complete special cross-departmental projects for Founder and CEO as needed.
  • Draft correspondence and assist with other meeting follow-up as needed, including managing the process of sending out emails to lists of contacts.
  • Support Founder’s and CEO’s involvement in Grist fundraising efforts.
  • Maintain Founder’s and CEO’s contacts and related visitee lists for trips around the country, as well as relevant email lists.
  • Manage Founder and CEO’s finances, relating to their professional expenses. Maintain timesheets for same.
  • Be part of our culture club and help in the planning of organizational activities like our annual picnic, holiday party, retreats and other group activities.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree
  • 3+ years of professional experience
  • Proven ability to organize and schedule work effectively and efficiently in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple projects at the same time
  • An uncanny attention to detail
  • Demonstrated proficiency in writing and editing correspondence
  • Mad skills with technology, including deep experience with calendar and database systems and strong comfort working with Gmail and other G Suite tools; know-how in utilizing Salesforce, Slack, and Box a plus
  • Experience working with a board of directors and board members’ support staff
  • Interest and passion for advancing Grist’s mission
  • Bonus points for experience with planning events, preparing slide presentations, and leading design projects
  • A sense of humor!

Compensation

  • $40,000-$55,000 annual salary, depending on qualifications
  • 10 paid holidays per year, 15 days of paid vacation, and 10 days of sick pay accrued per calendar year
  • Medical, dental, and vision benefits (Grist pays 85% of the premium)
  • Public transportation benefits
  • Short-term and long-term disability and Life/ADD benefits
  • 401(k) retirement plan, with an employer match
  • Flexible Spending Account

Cultivating an inclusive staff is central to Grist’s focus on advancing equity. We’re interested in hearing from people who can work with diverse colleagues of varied experience. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Grist is an equal-opportunity employer.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to programassistant@grist.org with “Program Assistant” in the subject line. We are looking for a thoughtful, personalized cover letter that demonstrates your qualifications and writing style. No phone calls, please.

Program Associate

Full-time

Do you want to work with inspiring leaders in environmental justice and sustainability to help spark change and elevate solutions? Are you excited to use organizational, outreach, communications, and event-design skills to create memorable, meaningful experiences? Do you want to join a team of journalists, social-media gurus, and other creative, mission-driven professionals to make a difference? Does working in an organization committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion speak to your values? If so, we have the gig for you!

Grist, the nation’s leading nonprofit, independent green media organization, recently launched a new events and convenings program called The Fix @grist. Its aims are to build an unlikely community of changemakers; support interdisciplinary collaborations to address the world’s most pressing sustainability and environmental-justice challenges; and spur greater awareness of emerging solutions.

We are seeking an enterprising Program Associate to help us build The Fix @grist. The Associate will be responsible for a variety of essential and detail-oriented tasks, including developing event timelines and action plans, researching and communicating with venues and vendors, designing content and materials, managing a growing database of contacts with individuals and organizations, generating a plan for ongoing community building, and communicating directly with our network of leaders.

Our strong preference is that the Associate work out of Grist HQ in Seattle, though Washington, D.C., is also a possibility. The Associate will report to the director of The Fix @grist, and work closely with Grist’s founder and other team members across the organization.

Responsibilities

  • Plan and execute events for a dynamic set of audiences, ranging in size and style from small dinners to panel discussions, from virtual gatherings to larger, multi-day conferences
  • Proactively organize details of programming and content from start to finish, including researching and booking venues, catering, entertainment, transportation, invitee lists, special guests, A/V, and preparation of posters, handouts, and other materials
  • Research and prepare regular updates for networks members about one another’s work, communicated via email and Facebook
  • Be an entrepreneurial and collaborative team member, identifying new ways to expand Grist’s impact while maintaining high standards of excellence
  • Manage communication with the network of Fixers and other key stakeholders, responding appropriately in real time to requests or anticipating changes and coming up with back up plans
  • Serve as the team’s outreach lead, writing compelling invitations and follow-up notes and producing collateral materials; coordinating with featured guests/speakers, external partners, and internal team members; managing Facebook groups, Twitter lists, and other forms of social media
  • Relentlessly track contacts with leaders and organizations in Salesforce; produce reports for other team members to guide next steps in developing relationships and ensure that follow-up happens
  • Manage event budgets to meet or exceed budgetary goals
  • Ensure success behind the scenes of virtual events on Google Hangouts, Facebook, Slack, and other systems
  • Research how other organizations are using events and other convenings to expand their impact and how they build communities of memberships; vet potential partners, conferences to attend, and related speaking opportunities for team members
  • Thrive with a flexible schedule, including travel and occasional work on evenings and weekends to support events

Qualifications

  • Comfort in working in a quick-paced environment to help develop a new program area that will involve experimentation, learning, and adjustments along the way; ability to push through ambiguity to deliver results
  • Experience managing complex and fast-changing programs and setting priorities effectively
  • Attention to detail and strong organizational skills
  • Superb written and verbal communication skills
  • Creative and strategic thinker with a customer-service mindset
  • Experience developing relationships with clients and strategic partners
  • Experience negotiating, reviewing, and managing contracts with vendors and venues
  • Experience with a Customer Relationship Management system, preferably Salesforce
  • Entrepreneurial spirit; track record of initiative and ownership of work
  • Skilled at flying in the cloud (Google Drive, Slack, Salesforce, Dropbox, etc.); experience with social-media tools; and excitement to learn new tools and skills in an ever-changing technology environment
  • Passionate about Grist’s mission
  • Commitment to continual professional learning and growth on the job
  • Bachelor’s degree required; 3+ years of relevant experience desired

Compensation

  • Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience
  • 10 paid holidays per year, 15 days of paid vacation, and 10 days of sick pay accrued per calendar year
  • Medical, dental, and vision benefits (Grist pays 85% of the premium)
  • Short-term and long-term disability and Life/ADD benefits
  • 401(k) retirement plan, with an employer match
  • Flexible Spending Account

To apply, please send a resume and a cover letter to programassociate@grist.org with “Program Associate” in the subject line. We are looking for a thoughtful, personalized cover letter that displays your qualifications, enthusiasm, and communication style, and a resume. No phone calls, please. Grist is an equal-opportunity employer.

Senior Editor

Full-time

Grist, the nation’s leading green news publication, is seeking a senior editor to help shape our national news coverage — with a focus on environmental justice. We’re looking for someone with strong editing, reporting, and writing chops, along with stellar news judgment, a passion for storytelling, and a deep commitment to helping nurture and mentor young talent.

The senior editor will manage staff writers, work with fellows, and commission freelancers. One of your primary responsibilities will be leading coverage of the connections between social inequality and the environment. We’re especially interested in journalism that identifies and examines solutions to these environmental justice concerns, ranging from local communities fighting for clean air and water to the plight of international climate migrants.

As a member of the senior editorial team, you’ll also work with other editors to help shape Grist’s larger strategy. And along with our executive editor, you’ll help manage our Fellowship Program, which offers a diverse cohort of early-career writers an opportunity to contribute to Grist while developing their journalism skills and environmental knowledge.

Grist is based in Seattle, but the job doesn’t have to be. We have staff around the country.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Plan and oversee Grist’s environmental justice coverage
  • Manage, edit, and mentor junior staff and fellows
  • Work on special projects, investigations, and multimedia storytelling
  • Report, write, and produce as needed
  • Hire and manage freelancers and contributors
  • Help shape editorial and organizational strategy
  • Help recruit, hire, and onboard editorial fellows
  • Help fellows develop and execute their ideas
  • Providing regular feedback to fellows
  • Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • At least 5 years of reporting and editing experience, preferably online
  • Demonstrated reporting experience, knowledge, and interest in environmental justice or related issues
  • Commitment to mentoring young writers and diversifying the pool of writers working in environmental journalism
  • A track record of covering and breaking stories of national importance and impact
  • Experience in long-form editing and multimedia journalism
  • An extensive network of freelance writing contacts and experience working with contributors
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, juggling multiple priorities and deadlines
  • Comfort with technology, social media, and digital tools for journalism
  • Superior organizational skills and obsessive attention to details
  • Strong, irreverent sense of humor
  • Ability to work independently, demonstrate good personal judgment, and exercise a commitment to ethical conduct toward sources, story subjects, and readers
  • Excellent communication, interpersonal, and writing skills. Demonstrated poise, tact, diplomacy, and the ability to interact with individuals at all levels of the organization

Grist offers a dynamic and engaging editorial environment and the opportunity to be part of a unique online publication with a mission that matters. To apply, please email senioreditor@grist.org with a resume, 3-5 work samples, and a cover letter. No phone calls, please.

Cultivating an inclusive staff is central to Grist’s focus on advancing equity. We’re interested in hearing from people who can work with diverse colleagues of varied experience. Candidates of all backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Grist is an equal-opportunity employer.

Special Projects Writer

Contract Seattle-only

Are you an experienced writer and editor with a belief that climate change is the story of our lifetime? Are you hungry to explore solutions to the perils confronting this here planet? Do you have an irreverent wit, a love of grammar, and a way with words? If so, Grist wants you.

Grist, a leading green news organization, is seeking a special projects writer to work with our founder and a small team to help develop a new program focused on solutions and the people behind them. In this role, you will hop on the phone with a solar-startup CEO in coal country, interview experts on new farming techniques in the Great Plains, and compile research on how leading Fortune 500 companies are upcycling old products to make new ones. Your work will tell the story of a future that doesn’t suck and give voice to Grist’s new program, The Fix @grist, which focuses on Fixes happening around the country and world, and on Fixers, the innovators and do-ers making change happen. The program encompasses a new set of content on our site and other platforms, and a series of events that convene Fixers in person.

You will work closely with Grist’s founder to dig into the story of progress through research, writing, and editing. And you’ll support the growth of our new program by crafting promotional and background materials for it, collaborating on this work with other teams across the organization (e.g., editorial, audience development, fundraising). We prefer candidates based in our hometown of Seattle, but are open to alternatives for the exceptional somebody, as many of our team members work remotely. The position may begin as a contract-to-hire role.

Responsibilities

  • Launch a regular email newsletter from our founder focused on Fixes and Fixers, developing its tone and themes
  • Lay the groundwork for an annual special project that highlights emerging solutions, researching topics and writing some of its contents
  • Produce regular interviews with Fixers, other innovators, book authors, and other thoughts leaders working toward a better future, publishing content under our founder’s byline, as well as your own
  • Run discussions with Fixers and our audience members on our site and other platforms
  • Conduct research for a Fixers-related podcast
  • Manage social-media content related to the new program on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
  • Draft compelling talks and presentations for our founder, as well as occasional articles for other publications
  • Develop and edit clear, witty promotional materials for our program, including proposals to potential partners, communications to events participants and Grist audience members, and collateral for events
  • Contribute to the new program’s strategic direction
  • Take on other duties as needed (we’re a small crew, so everyone pitches in)

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
  • At least three years of reporting, writing, and editing experience, preferably online
  • Knowledge of and interest in environmental issues, especially climate change and energy, regenerative agriculture, livable cities, and environmental justice
  • Superior writing skills, including a track record of creating content for a range of audiences
  • Ability to master in short order Grist’s irreverent, conversational voice
  • Comfort working in a fast-paced environment, juggling multiple priorities and deadlines
  • Mad skills with technology, social media, and other digital tools for journalism, including G Suite
  • Obsessive attention to details
  • Ability to work independently with little supervision
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills, and an ability to interact with individuals at all levels of an organization, with a knack for bringing together the necessary stakeholders on a project
  • A passion for our mission
  • A wicked sense of humor (ya know, when appropriate)

Cultivating an inclusive staff is central to Grist’s focus on advancing equity. We’re interested in hearing from people who can work with diverse colleagues of varied experience. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Grist is an equal-opportunity employer.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and three to five work samples to specialprojects@grist.org with special-projects writer” in the subject line. We are looking for a thoughtful, personalized cover letter that displays your qualifications, enthusiasm, and communication style. No phone calls, please.