Safer Products Liaison

Overview of the Green Science Policy Institute (The Institute)

The Institute brings together scientists and representatives of government, business, and non-profits to protect human health and the global environment from exposure to harmful chemicals. Our scientific research and policy work has helped prevent the use of hundreds of millions of pounds of flame retardants and other chemicals of concern in furniture, electronics, and other consumer products worldwide.

To learn more about the Institute, visit greensciencepolicy.org.

Job Description

The Institute is hiring a part- or full-time Safer Products Liaison. This person would build relationships and coordinate communication between our Institute, large purchasers, and manufacturers to move markets towards safer products. We are looking for an individual with business and project management experience, creative ideas, strong written and verbal communication skills, and a passion for facilitating more responsible use of chemicals in consumer products and building materials. The Safer Products Liaison will work closely with the Institute’s scientists and will be based part or all of the time in our North Berkeley office.

The Institute has created the Six Classes approach to reduce the use of classes or families of harmful chemicals in products. This visionary program brings together decision-makers from academia, government, business, and the nonprofit sector to develop and implement innovative strategies to reduce exposures to these chemicals worldwide. By educating stakeholders about entire classes of potentially harmful substances, this approach can prevent “regrettable substitutions” for phased out chemicals and help move markets towards healthier products and materials.

Responsibilities:

The Safer Products Liaison will:

• Build relationships with manufacturers, retailers, and purchasers.
• Educate decision makers from a variety of business sectors about chemical classes of concern and reducing their use.
• Develop joint strategies with business to move toward healthier chemicals and products.
• Work with our scientific staff to develop educational and communications materials.
• Contribute to monthly conference calls of the Material Buyers Club. This network of large purchasers (including Facebook, Google, Kaiser Permanente, and the San Francisco Department of the Environment) aims to leverage their combined purchasing power to drive increased ingredient transparency and decreased use of chemicals of concern in building materials, furnishings, and other products.
• In collaboration with Institute scientists, organize research projects, including timeline, sample collection, and strategic communication of results.
• Contribute to project planning and progress reports.

Position Expectations and Qualifications

REQUIRED

• Three or more years’ business experience
• Three or more years’ project management experience
• Passion about our mission to protect health and the environment worldwide
• Superb written and verbal communications skills to foster productive relationships across multiple sectors and industries
• Ability to think creatively, exercise good judgment, and solve problems
• Demonstrated efficiency, organizational skills, and resourcefulness, with a record of on-time delivery of high-quality work
• Attention to detail, persistence, and flexibility
• Ability to work both independently and within a small team environment
• Knowledge of basic chemistry and biology.

DESIRABLE

• Knowledge of business, trade association, and manufacturing processes and networks
• Experience with managing collaborative interdisciplinary work
• An advanced degree or extensive experience in business, design, manufacturing, and/or sustainability

Compensation

• Commensurate with experience.

Application Instructions

To apply, please send your resume and a short cover letter explaining your interest in the position to jobs@GreenSciencePolicy.org. Please include “Safer Products Liaison Position” in the subject line.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, so applicants are encouraged to apply promptly.

The Green Science Policy Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.