Project Director; Southern California Center Circular Economy

Project Director (Southern California)

The Center for the Circular Economy

APPLY BY OCTOBER 16, 2026

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis

Closed Loop Partners is at the forefront of building the circular economy. The firm is comprised of three key businesses that create a platform for systems change. Closed Loop Capital Management is the firm's investment group, managing venture capital, buyout and catalytic private credit investment strategies on behalf of global corporations, financial institutions and family offices. Closed Loop Builders is the firm's operating group, incubating, building and scaling circular economy infrastructure and services.

The Closed Loop Center for the Circular Economy is the firm's innovation arm that helps businesses solve their most pressing material challenges.

Closed Loop Center's services go beyond the work of consultancies and think tanks - we roll up our sleeves with business leaders to research commercial opportunities, design circular solutions and build cutting-edge initiatives in market. Based in New York City and working with cities across the country, we partner with the world's most influential companies to solve the material challenges they can't tackle on their own.

Learn more about Closed Loop Center's work at  and

The Center for the Circular Economy seeks a Project Director to design, build, and advance circular economy programs and partnerships, initially focused on reuse and source reduction. The Project Director will help shape and turn an early-stage concept into a structured, implementable program, leading complex, cross-functional work from early strategy and business-case development through partner alignment and implementation planning.

The role combines strategic problem-solving, stakeholder management, and hands-on execution. The successful candidate will create structure from ambiguity, define the strategy and approach, produce client-ready deliverables with limited restructuring, anticipate risks, and independently move work from concept through delivery.

Southern California (Remote), with regular business travel for client meetings in the region (including San Diego and Los Angeles) and occasional travel to the Closed Loop Center NYC office.

We strongly prefer for the individual to work Eastern Time hours in alignment with the Center team. Exceptional candidates who are not based in Southern California will be considered.

National Salary Range: $14,000 - $16,000

Compensation is commensurate with experience and finalized title.

The role will run for a fixed term of 12 months with a potential to extend based on overall firm needs. Applicants will be required to start this position in November or December 2026.

Set strategy:

• Develop new strategies and programs. Translate broad organizational priorities, market needs, and policy developments into clear work streams, roadmaps, and actionable program concepts.
• Build business cases and decision-making tools. Develop financial models, prioritization frameworks, landscape assessments, and implementation recommendations.
• Translate complex data into clear communication. Develop executive summaries, presentations, and other client-facing materials tailored to senior and external audiences.

Engage stakeholders

• Shape partnership models, develop proposals and scopes of work, establish budgets, and create mutually beneficial partnerships with brands, retailers and operational partners.
• Manage strategic relationships. Serve as a day-to-day partner to corporate, nonprofit, operator, and manufacturing stakeholders while navigating competing priorities and sensitive conversations.
• Design and facilitate collaborative processes. Plan and lead workshops, partner discussions, and working sessions that build alignment and move stakeholders toward decisions.

Build and implement in-market

• Build and activate value-chain partnerships. Identify and engage the producers, suppliers, distributors, operators, logistics providers, and solution partners required to translate program concepts into coordinated, executable operating models.
• Advance implementation planning and execution. Translate strategies into operating models, launch plans, resource requirements, and financial and operational flows that balance ambition with in-market feasibility.
• Anticipate and manage delivery risks. Identify scope, timeline, budget, resourcing, data, and stakeholder risks early and develop appropriate mitigation and…