Chief of Staff - Fashion Climate Fund, Apparel Impact

Role: Chief of Staff
Organization: Apparel Impact Institute
Reports To: President
Location: Remote (United States)- virtual team

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) is a nonprofit collective founded in 2017 by four industry leaders: the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) and Target Corporation. The organization emerged organically as a result of a real need that apparel brands and retailers self-identified. Gap Inc., PVH Corp., Arvind Mills, HSBC, GIZ, Stichting Doen and Schmidt Family Foundation joined the founders in the first three years of start-up and organizational development.  Today we work with over 50 brands/retailers and their suppliers internationally. 

Aii identifies, funds and measures proven quality solutions to accelerate positive impact in the apparel and footwear industry. Aii programs focus on areas that result in positive environmental impact from the production of apparel and footwear products to improve the industry.  Our current strategic focus in climate action is helping the industry reach their Science Based Targets commitment.  

In June 2022, we announced the initial lead partners (H&M Group, Lululemon, H&M Foundation and The Schmidt Family Foundation) for a $250M Fashion Climate Fund, a catalytic grant-making engine, to help the textile, apparel and footwear industries reach their science based targets commitment of reducing the supply chain’s CO2 emissions in half by 2030 and total decarbonization by 2050.

Our work has been recognized in Vogue, Business of Fashion, Forbes and many other globally recognized publications.

We are a fast-paced, entrepreneurial organization in growth-mode.  We need talented people who are willing to take initiative and roll up their sleeves from day one. Ideal persons for our organization and specifically this position will operate with confidence, maturity and tons of drive to get the job done in an efficient and timely manner.  For this role, the ideal person will be capable of moving quickly, dual-tracking timelines and pivoting when things change.  Preference will be given to candidates with experience working in textile, apparel and footwear industries. To learn more about Aii, visit https://apparelimpact.org and http://fashionclimatefund.org

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Chief of Staff is a key leadership position reporting directly to the President and will be responsible for two primary areas:

• Internal Initiatives – project manage and work alongside Aii leadership team to ensure timely delivery of internal projects, documents, new hires, and other initiatives
• CEO’s Stakeholder Engagement – support the President with building, growing and stewarding key stakeholders (including major fashion industry brands and manufacturers, NGOs and foundations).

The position is critical to the fulfillment of Aii’s mission as we execute our strategic plan to help the apparel ecosystem address the climate crisis and other critical environmental impacts. The successful candidate must be able to translate strategic plans into specific short- and long-term objectives and effectively manage projects across functional teams. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead Execution of Internal Initiatives, including;
  • Assist Aii’s leadership team (CEO, CFO and CIO), with internal and external project management
  • Manage internal staff and external service providers to ensure timely delivery of projects
  • Coordinate internal communications, meetings agendas, and scheduling
  • Assist in hiring, initiating team activities, and managing staff members
  • Track performance against the organization’s identified and approved OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) – leveraging data, analytics and insights to determine program and initiative success. 
  • Understand and track the effectiveness of strategic relationships, key fundraising efforts and other initiatives within the OKRs and other tools

• Support for CEO’s Strategic Stakeholder Relations, including;
  • Assist the president by coordinating key external audiences and ecosystem partners. Implement Aii’s ecosystem leadership strategy by representing the organization in various industry groups 
  • Manage a network of strategic partnerships and alliances in support of Aii’s key priorities to identify, fund, scale and measure proven solutions, in alignment with our Climate Solutions Portfolio and Fashion Climate Fund 
  • Translate ideas and insights into actionable programs, initiatives, thought leadership and research projects with specific and measurable outcomes
  • Working with input from leadership, manage communications and presentations for our Board of Directors, Apparel Impact Roundtable and other strategic advisory groups
  • Create concept notes, LOIs and complete applications
  • Project manage annual fundraising timeline to ensure on-time completion of overall grant writing and submission process
  • Project manage the execution of reports to meet grant requirements
  • Implement and manage effective partnership tracking systems and tools (e.g., leveraging Salesforce, Asana, Google suite, etc.)

Salary and title will be commensurate with level of experience. Aii offers a generous employee benefits program that includes vacation, sick and holiday leave; health, dental and vision insurance; contributions to retirement plans; competitive salary; and a host of additional benefits.

To apply please email cover letter and resume to jobs@apparelimpact.org with Chief of Staff in the subject line.

Apparel Impact Institute is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.