Opportunity

At Lyra, our shared purpose and passion are to incubate and accelerate bold, high impact education initiatives that tackle some of the biggest challenges facing education today, deeply rooted in diverse and inclusive community voices. Named after the constellation, Lyra takes a collaborative approach that builds upon and supports the existing work of others. We operate at every level of the education community. From hands-on capacity building to shaping policy, from convening pivotal conversations to rallying funds - our goal remains: to empower students and educators and set the stage for lasting systemic change. 

Our team at Lyra consists of expansive thinkers and doers who bring strategic partnerships, operational support, and social and financial capital to budding solutions within the public education system. Our core values include being rooted in the communities we serve, using innovation to reimagine what is broken, collaboratively solving problems, and modeling a way of working that is supportive and kind. We build trust by showing up and leading with strong personal responsibility and commitment. Together, we create thriving education ecosystems.

Climate education is currently one of two Lyra organizational priorities. Through this work – called Climatarium – we help equip the next generation of young adults with the agency, knowledge, and skills necessary to address the impacts of climate change and foster a resilient future for themselves and their communities, in Colorado and beyond. One of Lyra’s key levers in accomplishing this is by supporting rural collaboratives – each composed of K-12 school districts, higher education and industry partners – to reimagine, build, and promote quality career connected learning related to green jobs and green skills for their regions. To date, Lyra supports five regional hubs in western Colorado with the potential to collectively serve 15,000 high school and middle school students with climate-related education and career pathways.

Position Details: 

Lyra is in search of a dynamic manager who will assist in the strategy and execution of our climate education initiative, including providing direct support to rural collaboratives and connecting them to statewide policy and youth engagement efforts.  The Manager, Climatarium will support the thoughtful planning and successful execution of our climate education work and provide essential project-management, facilitation, communications, and logistics support to ensure effective delivery of programs. This is a new, critical program implementation position that will play a key role in ensuring that the next generation is prepared to address the impacts of climate change and build more economically and environmentally resilient communities.

This position will report to the Director of Climatarium and work closely with the Lyra leadership team, including the CEO and COO, on efforts related to policy, communications, impact assessment, and fundraising. This CO-based position can be performed through a mix of remote and on-site work based in Denver, with flexible scheduling and work-from-home options. The team is currently in office together two days per week. 

Responsibilities:

Rural collaborative partnership management

• Develops and maintains relationships with project partners and responds to partner needs in an efficient and timely manner. 
• Supports rural collaboratives and partners in building knowledge about and implementing quality career-connected learning related to green jobs and green skills. 
• Aligns Lyra’s policy and youth engagement efforts with rural collaboratives’ in partnership with the Director of Climatarium.
• Develops and manages new approaches, processes, and tools that help communities codify what climate resiliency means to their community and how to put quality green skills and climate career connected learning into practice.
• Attends and facilitates occasional in-person convenings for hubs and student learning experiences.
• Prepares, edits, and manages presentation materials and collateral, including version control. 
• Leads and manages operations and logistics for various remote and in-person workshops and events, learning experiences, and convenings.
• Spearheads smooth internal operations such as scheduling, preparing agendas, taking notes, and capturing (and managing follow-through on) next steps.

Operations management

• Supports team special projects like planning team stepbacks, designing processes, creating internal team tools to organize resources, and creating and updating Climatarium website content.
• Crafts and manages initiative-focused communications with internal staff, our partners and rural collaborative leadership and communities. 
• Masterminds group travel plans and coordinate with local vendors such as venues, hotels, transportation, and meals.
• Manages the work of relevant consultants and independent contractors, as assigned.

General responsibilities

• Provides information for the website and other collateral materials, including success stories, program highlights, outcomes, photos and more.
• Works collaboratively with the Director of Climatarium, and other team members to support a positive and productive work environment.
• Collaborates with operations and communications on meetings, events, communications plan, outreach, and donor stewardship.
• Supports special projects and research related to our climate education priorities as needed.
• Completes other tasks and duties as assigned.  

Qualifications:

• Five or more years of experience in education, public policy, environmental nonprofit work, consulting, school districts or similar.
• Experience working in and with schools and/or districts to design and implement career-connected learning opportunities for students is a plus. 
• Successful track record in project management, program plan development, goal setting and tracking, effective resource management, and managing for results.
• Strong facilitation, written and verbal communication skills and experience creating reports and presentations. 
• Creative problem-solving abilities and can adjust plans to meet changing needs.
• A willingness to travel up to 1-3 times/month, for 2-3 days at a time, to support partner engagement

This job may be a great fit for you if:

• You are all-in on the mission of Lyra and our climate education work.
• You are excited about the opportunity to grow with the organization and have a meaningful influence on the continuous improvement of programs and impact at Lyra.
• You exemplify a make-it-happen spirit, a strong work ethic, and a sense of personal responsibility.
• You take initiative, manage your time effectively, and take great pride in your work. And, you leverage these skills to orchestrate tight project management for projects.
• You thrive in a fast-paced, team environment—sharing duties, pitching in to help, building trust, engaging in productive conflict, and holding one another and being held accountable.
• You are a creative problem solver, comfortable with ambiguity, and can work in an environment where the answers and project plan isn’t always clearly defined at the outset. 
• You have a keen eye for details, love to craft and manage smooth logistics, and build strong relationships with others to implement excellent organizational systems when planning convenings and events.
• You demonstrate political savvy and discernment.

Salary and benefits:

The starting salary range for this role is $65,000 – $85,000 per year, depending on experience level and geographic location. We are committed to providing a competitive benefits package. Lyra offers medical, dental and vision coverage options, 401k benefits, org-wide holidays, paid time off, paid parental leave, and hybrid remote work. We're also proud of our values-grounded and engaging work environment, incredible colleagues, and a dedication to our work and each other.

Interested and qualified applicants should apply here. Note: the application deadline for this position is October 18, 2023. We do not guarantee review of applications submitted after this date. 

Lyra is dedicated to building a diverse community, one where employees feel a sense of belonging, and are valued for their contributions and the perspectives they bring. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.