Policy Associate

About Cascade Join Cascade Climate, a global nonprofit accelerating progress in climate interventions that leverage Earth's natural systems—from soils to oceans to glaciers—to stabilize our climate. As a philanthropically-backed nonprofit, we work across academia, industry, and policy to overcome the bottlenecks that are holding back the most promising natural system climate interventions. Since launching in June 2023, Cascade's focus is to guide and accelerate healthy, equitable, and science-driven fields. We do this by coordinating various stakeholders around ambitious initiatives, building tools and infrastructure to unlock progress, resourcing high-leverage R&D to accelerate science, and driving policy outcomes. Our initial focus is advancing the development of Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) as a promising climate-smart agriculture and carbon removal solution, underpinned by its scientific evidence base and its potential for gigaton-scale, durable carbon dioxide removal. As part of this, we created Cascade's flagship program, "Foundations for Carbon Dioxide Removal Quantification in ERW Deployments," which was the first-ever community-wide process to create alignment around the best available science and practices for quantifying carbon removal. It is Cascade's hope that this "Foundations" document could support a virtuous deployment-driven learning cycle wherein deployments of increasingly larger scale become a powerful engine for closing knowledge gaps, growing public trust, and driving down deployment costs. Our policy efforts in ERW are focused on advancing innovation, creating healthy carbon removal demand, and developing rules and regulations for responsible deployment, in close coordination with industry and civil society organizations.  Going forward, Cascade is expanding our work to help accelerate progress across the broader family of durable, natural system carbon removal pathways. We will have a particular, though not exclusive, focus on ocean and river alkalinity enhancement pathways that are the most immediately related 'sibling' pathways of ERW. About the Role We are looking for a highly motivated policy associate: someone capable of managing complex projects independently, communicating technical information to policy audiences, and building new relationships and alliances. As an Associate, you are a creative problem-solver who uses your relationship-building, storytelling, and analytical abilities to contribute to a wide variety of critical policy efforts. You will engage with US and EU policymakers to shape first-of-their-kind policy levers to accelerate progress on natural system climate interventions.  A great candidate should ideally have some experience in a high-expectations policy environment. You might have worked at a state or federal government agency, for a dynamic nonprofit organization, or in a congressional office – or something else altogether.  But we care much more about you—your capabilities and mindsets—than about your exact background. Do you consistently show up with humility and contagious curiosity? Do you independently learn new things quickly and hungrily? Can you operate without a roadmap that's been handed to you—tackling ambiguous problems and quickly imposing your own framework and structured plan? Are people wowed by the quality of written and analytical outputs you produce? 
\n Major roles and responsibilitiesEngage and build trust-based relationships with a wide variety of policy stakeholders ranging from congressional staff to policy leads at trade associations and industry organizationsConduct policy research and analysis, synthesizing complex issues into simple messages and policy recommendationsIdentify and track key legislative and agency efforts on enhanced rock weathering and natural system climate interventions more broadlyDraft and coordinate Cascade's response to government requests for information around new or existing climate programsAttend and share readouts from congressional briefings, partner NGO conferences, and other policy events Craft compelling and insightful articles and blogs from our organizational insight to enrich content creation efforts In addition to these broader responsibilities, some of the specific projects you may work on include:Research and summarize new policy landscapes Cascade is exploring such as the member state level in the EU or U.S. state level Develop and advance annual Congressional appropriations requests at the U.S. federal level in support of a policy-driven R&D agenda for climate interventionsResearch and develop recommendations around regulatory frameworks for ERW's potential environmental health and safety impactsSupport program development around a successful pay-for-practice model for ERW deployments Desired Skills and Experiences?? 1 to 4 years of cumulative work experienceAbility to effectively parse complex legislative text and executive agency communications for relevant insightsFamiliarity with U.S. legislative proceedings, federal appropriations processes, and interagency coordinationAbility to listen actively, navigate disagreement and conflicting interests diplomatically, and account for political considerations and key constituencies in communicationsAbility to manage multiple long-term projects while being responsive to quick-turnaround deadlinesDemonstrated initiative and accomplishment in previous work?? More generally, we are looking for someone who is…Willing to approach complex problems with deep humility, low ego, empathy, and kindnessComfortable working under uncertainty and a lack of any clear right answer. You enjoy learning to the next iteration, building the plane as you're flying it, and like making the rules more than playing by the rules.Good at building new relationships with a very wide variety of people grounded in trust and mutual vulnerability.An insatiably curious, hungry learning-machine. You probably go down rabbit holes in fields you only half understand, and enjoy asking dozens of questions to everyone you meet - but you don't let those rabbit holes distract you from the ultimate goal. An open-minded, flexible, and sharp thinker, excited to move between hypotheses and brainstorm collaboratively. You're probably really into whiteboarding/brainstorming, and persistently seek what's true. Deeply loving of the world and all who inhabit it, and you have a deep-seated desire to do something about devastating climate impacts.
\n$50,000 - $110,000 a year
Cascade offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including:??  • Medical, dental, vision insurance • 401(k) matching • Professional and personal development • Unlimited paid time off, parental/family leave, and sick leave • Flexible working hours?  \nIf this broadly describes you, we think you'll feel at home here, and will join a team of experienced and very like-minded people who will take great care to support you and your continued growth.  No one will perfectly meet everything in the description above. 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 along with many but not necessarily all the skills and characteristics listed above. We offer professional learning and training opportunities to help you develop skills you may not have had the opportunity to cultivate yet.??  Location???  Candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to one of Cascade's hubs. Cascade is headquartered in Boston and has hubs in Washington D.C., New York City, and the Bay Area. For this role, we have a strong preference for Associate candidates to be in our Washington, D.C hub. We anticipate co-working 1-2 days per week in a shared office as our DC team expands.    We love seeing each other in person. We gather regularly for team time like retreats, learning experiences, and whiteboarding sessions. Be ready to travel at least once per month—and occasionally a bit more as needed—for conferences, team gatherings, and partner meetings. Diversity????? At Cascade, our mission is to dramatically accelerate progress across a range of natural system climate interventions in order to ensure a healthy, livable Earth for all humanity. Recruiting, hiring, mentoring, and retaining a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve is critical to our success. ?All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.? Cascade is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Work Authorization: Please note that Cascade Climate is unable to sponsor H-1B work visas for this role. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for H-1B visa sponsorship at the time of application.