About This Role:
The Project Officer (PO), Capacity Development, Financing Adaptation provides project oversight, coordination, and logistical support to knowledge and skills development programming to help Canadian municipalities build the capacity to finance infrastructure and projects that reduce climate risk. This is a new and evolving area of work, sitting at the intersection of municipal climate resilience, sustainable finance, and market development.

The Project Officer supports delivery of the Financing Adaptation stream of the Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation (LLCA) program, which helps municipalities and their partners develop viable pathways to finance climate adaptation projects and attract greater investment into resilient infrastructure. This includes supporting municipalities to better understand investor needs, investment options, repayment mechanisms, risk-return considerations, partnership structures, and other factors that shape whether projects are considered, leading to improved municipal readiness to pursue financing.
The primary role of the Project Officer will be to oversee the design, logistics and delivery of a spectrum of capacity development supports to meet municipalities where they are and help them move forward.

This includes building awareness of what is possible, connecting municipalities with peers, experts and financing partners, deepening knowledge and skills through practical tools and training, and providing technical coaching and guidance that strengthen project readiness, financing models, and decision-making. Through municipal- and partner-oriented events (both online and in person), learning activities, webinars, knowledge products, toolkits, communities of practice, peer networks, case studies, and other knowledge resources, this role will help build capacity that supports municipalities moving from early ideas to financing readiness, implementation, and replication.

The Project Officer also assists with the integration and coordination of knowledge management, exchange, and mobilization as well as impact reporting across other units of GMF and the FCM.

As part of a newly established team in an emerging space, the Project Officer will help shape the team's ways of working. The role calls for comfort working in an evolving, innovation-oriented environment where priorities and activities stay nimble to adapt to municipalities' emerging needs.

What you'll be doing:

Key Responsibilities

• Develops and delivers defined awareness raising and capacity building activities and programming (both online and in person) including webinars, workshops, training sessions, communities of practice, and peer learning cohorts, that help municipal staff, elected officials and their partners understand and pursue financing options for adaptation projects.
• Supports the development and delivery of program content for FCM/GMF events and programs, such as the Sustainable Communities Conference program, related to financing adaptation.
• Develops and delivers defined information resources, guidebooks, tools and case studies that help municipalities understand investor expectations, financing models, risk-return considerations, and pathways to financing readiness.
• Supports the development, delivery, and measurement of capacity building for GMF-funded initiatives and for the broader municipal sector based on lessons learned from funded initiatives.
• Designs and delivers training and information sharing sessions for GMF staff and clients to support capacity building for funded initiatives.
• Maintains relationships with capacity development program partners.
• Supports stakeholder and partner engagement support in capacity development program design.
• Supports program evaluation design and development and is responsible for program evaluation data collection.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of effective and innovative capacity building tools and approaches.
• Provides strategic and operational advice to management to inform the development of the direction, objectives and plans for the Capacity Development Financing Adaptation Team.
• Collaborates with colleagues across the GMF team and in other FCM programs to ensure a coordinated and complimentary approach to capacity development initiatives and FCM initiatives that support sustainability with external partners and in our membership.
• Supports coordination of logistics for events and team meetings including budget and travel logistics for the Financing Adaptation Capacity Development team.
• Supports coordination of procurement processes for the Financing Adaptation Capacity Development team.

Knowledge and Experience

Need to have:

• Minimum of 3 - 5 years of professional experience designing and delivering capacity building initiatives that connect and transfer knowledge among diverse stakeholders (e.g., government, not-for-profits, private sector, etc.) and in adult education, online learning, engagement, and measuring initiative impact.
• University degree in environmental studies, public administration, climate policy, or a related discipline with experience in adult education.

• Knowledge and experience in the area of climate adaptation and resilience. Experience and knowledge in relation to resilient infrastructure is an asset.
• Experience in group facilitation, including online settings.
• Demonstrated experience developing and delivering learning and knowledge activities including webinars, cohorts, peer learning, guidance materials, tools, etc.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills (written and oral). Includes the ability to coordinate and work with multi-disciplinary teams, lead meetings and make formal presentations to varied audiences.
• Strong research and analytical skills.
• Ability to spearhead and work independently on projects using excellent judgement and strong project management skills.
• Ability to administer small budgets, allocating funds for events or travel support, correcting for variances as needed.
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office software suite.
• The ability to work in both official languages (English and French) is required.

Nice to have:

• Experience working in or with municipalities, or within sectors that support municipal governments, is a strong asset
• Knowledge of the Canadian municipal sector structure, needs, and capacity is an asset.
• Knowledge and use of Zoom, Asana, PowerBI, CRM, and Sharepoint is an asset.
• Knowledge of, or a strong interest in adaptation/climate finance, capital mobilization or investor engagement is a strong asset.
• Capacity to work in a changing environment and willingness to take on new or evolving responsibilities.

This is a newly created position

Salary Range:

$75,577.00 - $85,413.00

What we offer:

We offer a flexible work model grounded in accountability, collaboration, and delivering results. It is designed to support both performance and well-being. While work is primarily virtual, occasional travel to our Head Office in Ottawa is expected. The majority of the team is based in the National Capital Region.

Where applicable, you may also have opportunities to travel across Canada to engage with the communities we support and better understand the impact of our work.

Employee experience and supports:

We are committed to creating an environment where people can do their best work while maintaining a healthy balance including:

• Flexible work arrangements that support productivity and collaboration
• Summer schedule (July 1 to Labour Day):
  • 7-hour workdays
  • Fridays off, aligned with team and operational needs
• Ongoing commitment to employee development
• Comprehensive range of employee benefits and services designed to support employee wellbeing and development. Please note: details and eligibility may vary depending on the role
• Modern office space in Ottawa's ByWard Market and downtown core