Diplomatic Advisor (New York)

Position: Diplomatic Advisor
Location: New York City, some travel required
Dates: immediate start - April 2026
Compensation: Starting at $350 USD/day dependent on experience
Number of days: Approx 110 days
Deadline to Apply: October 13, please apply as soon as possible

This position is only open to candidates who currently reside in New York City. 

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is a campaign and diplomatic Initiative — supported by 17 nations, 131 cities and subnational governments, the World Health Organization, over 1 million individuals, more than 4000 civil society organisations and 3000 scientists — calling for a managed, supported, global phase out of fossil fuel production and transition to renewable energy with equity at its core. 

The Treaty Initiative is working towards a multilateral instrument to complement and accelerate the Paris Agreement and provide guidance on international cooperation required to transition away from fossil fuels fairly and equitably. The Treaty does not yet exist, rather countries are asked to support the three pillars of the proposal and to participate in developing the provisions for a new Treaty instrument. 

    • Based in a UN Permanent Mission of one of the Participating Nations in New York City [TBD], the Diplomatic Advisor will be the Treaty Initiative’s representative responsible for:

      • Strengthening relationships with and between Senior Officers and Representatives of the Diplomatic Missions of participating countries and with the Treaty Initiative team 

      • Build relationships with Senior Officers and Representatives of Diplomatic Missions of target countries

      • Keep abreast of UN negotiating spaces and advise the Treaty Initiative team on opportunities for supporting participating countries to strengthen language on fossil fuels and conditions for just transition

      • Provide input and advice to the Fossil Fuel Treaty team on the legal and diplomatic pathway for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. 

    • Strengthening relationships with participating countries

      • Build and maintain strong relationships with diplomatic representatives, at technical and political levels, in the missions of participating countries and between the missions and the Political team at the Treaty Initiative.

      • Coordinate regular quarterly meetings of the representatives of participating countries to update them on progress of the campaign and the diplomatic outreach as well as to receive their questions and feedback. 

      • Disseminate the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative monthly bulletin to the missions of the participating countries and agreed target countries.

      • Support efforts to organise global events involving the participation of diplomats in NY or other Missions (such as Geneva) or taking place in NY (such as in the margins of the UNGA).

    • Build relationships with target countries

      • Build relationships with diplomatic representatives, at technical and political levels in the missions of target countries and prepare to handover to existing team members.

      • Organise bilateral meetings between the [country] Permanent Representative and the Permanent Missions of target countries. 

      • Engage with intergovernmental blocs, primarily AOSIS, where participating and target nations are members, to determine effective ways to engage and increase credibility and profile of the Treaty Initiative.

      • Liaise with Regional Leads to connect and advance advocacy and relationships in capital with key stakeholders in the Permanent Missions of target countries 

    • UN negotiating spaces 

      • Advise the Treaty Initiative team on opportunities for supporting participating countries to strengthen language on fossil fuels and just transition in UN negotiating spaces

      • Prepare and share talking points, briefing materials and other relevant policy documents to support and strengthen engagement of participating countries in UN negotiating spaces to advocate for phase out, transition and for a Fossil Fuel Treaty

      • Where agreed with the Political Director, support the Permanent Representatives of the participating countries in UN negotiations (UNOC and FFD4) relevant to the goals of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative 

      • Evaluate and provide learning following engagements to determine lessons, future needs and improvements relevant to the Treaty Initiatives work and mission.

    • Providing input and advice

      • Provide input and advice to the Fossil Fuel Treaty team on the legal and diplomatic pathway for a Fossil Fuel Treaty

      • Advise the Fossil Fuel Treaty team on the strategy towards gaining greater diplomatic and multilateral support for a fossil fuel treaty. 

  • Education and Experience:

    • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in International Relations, Political Science or related fields.

    • Minimum of 5 years of experience in government relations in an international or multilateral context.

    Core Competencies:

    • Strong understanding of international relations, diplomacy, and diplomatic protocols.

    • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English (additional languages are an asset).

    • Experience engaging and working with diplomats and diverse cultural groups effectively and respectfully in multilateral and/or intergovernmental spaces.

    • A team player, keen to share ideas, brainstorm, report back and work collaboratively with your manager and team members

    Technical and Organizational Skills:

    • Proficiency in project management - experience of project management tools, platforms and event planning software is an asset.

    • Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritize tasks under tight deadlines.

    Flexibility and Adaptability:

    • Proactive attitude, ability to think on your feet and to take advantage of opportunities to connect and engage with target audiences

    • Willingness to travel internationally and work flexible hours to accommodate varying time zones and event schedules.

Pollution, climate change, and corporations’ bad behavior disproportionately hurts the most marginalized people in society — including people from and in the Global South, Indigenous people, people of color, people from working class backgrounds, people with disabilities, women and LGBTQ+ people. To develop transformative solutions, these communities must be centered in the work we do. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other historically marginalized communities.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative welcomes and values diversity of people, cultural experiences and perspectives. We actively encourage applications from all corners of our global society.
The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute. As such, new hires will be an employee of Earth Island Institute if based in the United States, and otherwise hired through a third-party employment platform, subject to employment standards at the Earth Island Institute.

Earth Island does not unlawfully discriminate against employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, breastfeeding, childbirth, or related medical conditions), national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, military and veteran status, or any other basis protected by state or federal laws, local law, or ordinance.

Job Application Tips and Information

  • The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is a fast-moving, fast-growing team that is passionate about climate justice. We aim to have a great impact on the world, and because of that we have great expectations of our team. We welcome and value diversity of people, cultural experiences and perspectives. We work in a high trust, high autonomy environment and encourage everyone to drive and manage their own work with the support of the team. Here is a snapshot of our values and how we strive to be together:

    • Active listening

    • Trust

    • Collaboration

    • Honest & Reliable Communication

    • Humanity

    • Equity & Justice

    • Adaptability

    • Focus

    We work continually to improve our internal processes and be nimble and flexible to meet our team’s needs and our organizational goals. If that sounds like the team for you, read on!

    • Read the posting thoroughly and ensure that the required experience and role aligns with your experience and aspirations

    • Look through our website to read about our mission, actions, history and team. Get a sense of how we communicate and take action and if that feels like an exciting fit for you, and if your values align with the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

    • Review the posted salary band to ensure that it aligns with your needs and expectations

    • Put your most relevant experience at the top of your resume

    • Highlight experience over education

    • Ideally limit your resume to 2 pages of your most relevant experience and biggest accomplishments

    • Please do not include personal information including; birthday, age, photos, marital status, or religion. While this is very common in many parts of the world and candidates will not be excluded for doing so, removing this information helps our team eliminate bias in the recruitment process.

    • Avoid acronyms- they might not be understood outside of your region or industry

    • Review the job requirements and clearly demonstrate in your resume how you meet those requirements. Here’s an example- we’ve highlighted the requirements and matched them to a line in the resume

    • Requirements:

      • At least 3 years of experience in political advocacy or campaigning (1)

      • Experience in direct diplomatic engagement, ideally with policymakers in local governments (2)

      • Commitment to contributing to an anti-racist, inclusive organisational culture. (3)

      • Fluency in English and Spanish, other languages desirable (4)

      • Experience in engaging and activating a network of organisations and individuals to join a campaign and advocate for a specific policy demand (5)

      • Experience in campaign communications including copywriting, digital advocacy, social media or content production, educational design (6)

    • Latin American Campaign Coordinator Example Resume:

      • WeCampaignForClimate.org.nz
        February 2017-April 2020 (1)

        • Developed Latin America campaign strategy under the supervision of the Regional Campaigns Director (tip: this person should ideally be listed in your references!) (1)

        • Coordinated local partner groups to participate in joint action, including email campaigns and led local educational events (4) in English and Spanish (5)

        • Designed and ran workshops for partner groups and community members (6)

        • Contributed to the communications strategy for Latin America including newsletters, campaign emails and social media posts (6)

        • Met and advocated with local elected officials in Mexico and Panama (2)

        • Contributed to the internal decolonization strategy and partnered with local Indigenous groups to feature their climate action and policy demands (3)

  • We use application questions instead of a cover letter so you can save time in your application process and we can learn more about you quickly.

    • Location information: This does not affect your candidacy, but helps us move quickly when we need to schedule interviews and potentially hire you. Different countries have different employment regulations and timelines, so knowing that information in advance allows us to prepare for those scenarios

    • Questions: This gives us a snapshot of why you’re applying for the role, and lets you highlight your experience and qualities that are most relevant to your application. We want to know who you are, so honesty and clarity are very helpful here!

  • Please include three references in your application. We will not contact them unless we are in the final stage of your candidacy.

    • They should be:

      • At least two people who were your direct supervisor

      • At least one person who has supervised you in the last 5 years

      • At least one person who has supervised you in the most closely related role to the one you’re applying for

    • Include full information for your references, including:

      • Their full names

      • Organization and title

      • When and how you worked together

      • Their phone numbers, email addresses and time zones

      • Languages spoken if not English

    • For your references:

    • Let them know to expect an email from us!

    • Give them the title and brief description of the job that you’re applying for

    Example:

    Reference #1
    Akhila Sharma, she/her
    English/Spanish
    Time Zone: GMT -5
    Campaigns Director, WeCampaignForClimate.org.nz
    Direct Supervisor from 2018-2020
    52-333-425-6778
    Akhila.Sharma@wecampaignforclimate.org.nz

  • Here is the general hiring process we follow. Each timeline will be slightly different depending on the role, the time of year, and the team, but we will share the timelines with you if you are selected for the Skills Assessment.

    Step 1: Application and Review

    • Once the deadline for applications has passed, we will review each application carefully. We do these personally, and don’t use any filtering or AI software. We typically receive at least 100 applications from around the world for each role.

    Step 2: Skills Assessment

    • 10 or fewer applicants will be selected to do a skills assessment that takes two hours or less. Applicants will be given an option of when to do these tasks according to their own schedule and convenience.

    • Skills assessments are a part of our hiring processes to offer candidates another way to show what they can do apart from an interview. All skills assessments are tasks and their only value is for assessment, they are of no relevance to our current or future projects. We accept the studies that show practical exercises are better than interviews to fairly assess candidates’ skills, reduce bias, and effectively compare candidates.

    Step 3: Interview #1

    • Five or fewer applicants will be selected to do a video interview with a few members of our team, including the open position’s direct supervisor

    • These interviews are scheduled for one hour, and candidates will be sent an overview of the interview questions 24 hours in advance. We provide all this information to interview candidates to even the playing field and help candidates feel less nervous and more prepared.

    Step 4: Interview #2 (optional)

    • Most positions will only require one interview, but some management or executive positions may have two interviews to meet with additional team members and explore further questions. Three or fewer candidates will be selected for a second interview.

    Step 5: Reference Check

    • Two or fewer candidates will be selected for the reference check phase. Each reference is asked to speak for about 15 minutes.

    Step 6: Final Decision

    • We notify everyone who has completed a Skills Assessment or Interview whether or not they were selected for the role. We will speak to the chosen candidate to let them know that they were selected and confirm their interest, and then send them a detailed offer in writing to review.

    • According to our compensation policy, we do not negotiate with candidates over salary, as negotiation tends to disadvantage people from traditionally marginalized and oppressed communities and result in pay disparity. Within the salary band, salary is calculated based on cost of living in the candidate's location and experience based on the role qualifications. Most people will start at the bottom of the salary band unless they significantly exceed the required experience for the role.

Non-Compete Hiring Agreement

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is a global effort to foster International cooperation to accelerate a transition to clean energy for everyone to address the climate crisis. 

We are a collective network campaign, meaning that FFNPT works with local partners around the world to strengthen and amplify their efforts to achieve our collective goals. To keep those local organizations strong, FFNPT commits to refrain from hiring or contracting any of their staff or contractors in a way that would disrupt their work at their local organizations.

FFNPT commits to refrain from entering a hiring process with any employee of a partner organization unless there is clarity on their intended departure from the partner organization and the opportunity to work in the FFNPT is not the primary cause of that departure.

If a local organization ends the agreement with their employee or contractor, this commitment does not apply.

  • Core and Volunteer Partners, including but not limited to:

    • Global Climate Health Alliance

    • Health Care Without Harm

    • Laudato Si' Movement

    • Greenfaith

    • Indigenous Environmental Network

    • Confederation of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin

    • Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

    • Climate Action Network International

    • Satat Sampada 

    • Climate Action Network South Asia

    • Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development

    • Third World Network

    • Power Shift Africa

    • Movimiento Ciudadano Frente al Cambio Climático

    • AIDA

    • Stamp Out Poverty

    • Friends of Earth Ireland

    • Pacific Islands Climate Action Network

    • Climate Equity Reference Project (CERP)

    • Environmental Impact Agency (EIA)

    • Global Justice Now

    • Friends Of Earth Sweden

    • Censat Agua Viva - Friends of the Earth Colombia

    • WhatNext

    • United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

    • Stanley Center

    • ICA