Associate Director, Cooling Program

Associate Director, Cooling Program The CC Lab is hiring an Associate Director for the Cooling Program! Position Description

Cooling is one of the most consequential and least understood levers in climate. The refrigerants in our AC units, chillers, and supermarket cases are hundreds to thousands of times more potent than CO2 — and most still leak or get vented at end of life. The CC Lab’s work over the last three years on cooling has already made a difference.

We helped put lifecycle refrigerant management on the Montreal Protocol agenda, authored an influential methodology for HFC destruction credits, and convened the end-users, standard setters, investors, and buyers who can actually move this market.

If you want your work to matter at scale, this is a rare seat. The cooling program has more momentum than we currently have capacity to meet. We need an experienced leader to run the portfolio: partnerships, projects, team, and strategy, including the annual Yale Cooling Conference. The new Associate Director will execute on a growing portfolio of initiatives focused on emissions reductions from cooling systems, refrigerant management, circular cooling solutions, and the transition to alternative cooling technologies.

This senior role will build and manage partnerships, lead and mentor teams (staff and consultants), and translate our program vision into high-quality execution across multiple work streams.

The Carbon Containment Lab (“CC Lab”) is a forward-thinking climate nonprofit based in New Haven, dedicated to scaling climate solutions by applying scientific, entrepreneurial, and investment expertise. Our current focus is on advancing the understanding and adoption of high-potential climate interventions, including the recovery and destruction of potent greenhouse gases used by the cooling sector, methane measurement and mitigation, biologic and geologic systems for carbon dioxide removal and storage.

Founded at the Yale School of the Environment in 2020, the CC Lab spun out as an independent nonprofit in early 2024. The CC Lab has fifteen dedicated members supported by a broad network of external collaborators, advisors, consultants, and interns. We are fortunate to work in a bright, modern, and vibrant office space in downtown New Haven, close to Yale University, where about a dozen students contribute as part-time interns during the school year and over the summer.

We value teamwork, collaboration, teaching and learning, diversity, creativity, and flexibility. We strive for excellence and impact, and deeply value team members who are passionate about the CC Lab’s mission.

• Contribute to the expansion and execution of CC Lab’s cooling program, including developing multi-year program goals, setting quarterly priorities, workplans, budgets, and performance tracking.
• Identify and shape new initiatives that help to build the field, prioritize action, lend credibility and enroll stakeholders to take action.
• Manage, and deepen strategic partnerships with corporate, nonprofit, philanthropic, policy, and technical stakeholders to advance program goals and expand impact.
• Oversee a portfolio of projects from design through implementation, including scopes, timelines, deliverables, budgets, risk management, and stakeholder coordination including building the program for the annual Yale Cooling Conference.
• Support in recruiting, supervising, mentoring, and developing program staff, consultants, and interns, fostering a strong team culture, clear accountability, and effective collaboration.
• Support fundraising by writing proposals, and in donor relations.
• Represent CC Lab in external meetings, convenings, and working groups, and communicate program strategy and results clearly to senior stakeholders.
• Guide strong internal systems for program management, reporting, learning, and continuous improvement.

• Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in a relevant discipline such as economics, engineering, sustainability, industrial environmental management, and/or finance.
• Minimum 8 years of…