Project Assistant

Project Assistant for the Sustainable Futures Academy

The Salzburg Global Seminar has an immediate fixed-term opening for a Project Assistant to help establish a new entity called the Sustainable Futures Academy.

About the SFA: 

The Salzburg Global Seminar’s Sustainable Futures Academy (SFA) is emerging in response to a growing and urgent demand by individuals within the higher education sector to have access to effective international collaboration frameworks for piloting and developing a variety of new programs, services and campaigns aimed at removing institutional, economic, cultural and individual barriers to addressing climate change. The Sustainability Futures Academy (SFA) seeks to respond to this demand by providing a vital platform for supporting international innovation collaborations between universities and colleges around the world. A specific emphasis will be on collaborations between institutions in the North (developed countries) and those in the South (developing countries) where student populations are growing most rapidly and impacts will be experienced most acutely.

SFA collaborations will have a common focus of enabling the higher education sector to address climate change at the local, regional, national and international scale in direct support of the UN Convention on Climate Change. Of specific interest will be climate mitigation and adaptation efforts that stimulate environmentally sustainable economic growth and green workforce training (the green economy). SFA collaborations will mobilize students, faculty, administrative leaders, employers and community organizations to address climate change mitigation and adaptation through teaching and training, research & development, “Greening the Campus”, regional economic impact and community service. This will be achieved through the development and dissemination of programs and services that have proven success in removing barriers, creating the right incentives and fostering essential capacities.

We will be starting on a small scale with limited resources with a plan to grow in scale, resourcing and success throughout the coming years.

About the Position:

The position is limited to a twelve-month period initially and is offered as a traineeship. You will be provided full room and board at the Salzburg Global Seminar’s premise at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria. Travel to the site and a monthly stipend of € 500 will also be provided. This unique opportunity allows you to live in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe all expenses paid while you develop a variety of new skills helping to establish an extraordinarily important new program. As funding becomes available and as the SFA grows, the traineeship could convert into a part-time or full-time paid position after twelve months.

You will report to one of the staff at the Salzburg Global Seminar while receiving ongoing strategic advice from a small number of higher education and sustainability leaders.

About the Successful Candidate:

Since the SFA is in its early implementation stage and still in the process of formation, the position offers an exciting opportunity for somebody who is entering his/her professional career and is a self-starter. The Project Assistant will be responsible for the day-to-day project administration, communications and management. She or he will be asked to coordinate communication activities across a growing number of stakeholders, explore funding opportunities, organize workshops, draft documents, contribute to policy research on topics of importance to the SFA and anything else that will help the SFA to become an established entity.

-      Bachelors Degree in a related field required.

-      Strong organizational and project management skills as demonstrated by work or volunteer experience required.

-      Capability of dealing with complexity, pressure and deadlines required.

-      A positive attitude and a team approach toward accomplishing goals required.

-      Effective oral and written communication skills required.

-      Proven ability to adapt to changing priorities and must be capable of working well alone and in teams.

-      Must be Excel proficient and capable of strategically utilizing websites and teleconferencing technologies.

-      Ability to research, gather information, and document activities, programs and outcomes desired.

-      Experience in a start-up environment preferred.

-      Proficiency in English is a requirement.

-      EU passport required.

Application Requirements:

We are looking to hire the first successful applicant we find. Ideally we are looking for someone to start in May.

• Please provide a letter of application telling us why you would be the best candidate for this position, addressing your previous experience, your commitment and ability to work within a start-up enterprise.
• Provide three reference contacts
• Provide your resume

Applications will be accepted until Friday, May 7, 2010.