About Pacific Environment

Pacific Environment confronts our most urgent environmental issues by connecting local and global movements, catalyzing policy change and inspiring action for the benefit of people and our planet. Together, we promote a healthy climate, reduce pollution and conserve biodiversity for an equitable and thriving future. Learn more at www.pacificenvironment.org.  

Pacific Environment is campaigning to end fossil fuel use, including to get ships and ports off fossil fuels entirely. Our strategies include creating strong regulatory frameworks to achieve zero-emission shipping on a timeline commensurate with the climate emergency, pressuring corporate customers to demand zero-emission ships and influencing ports to end fossil fuel build out and ready themselves for zero-emission shipping instead.

Position overview

Pacific Environment is looking for a Country Director, Republic of Korea, to support Pacific Environment’s climate emergency shipping campaign objectives in South Korea. The successful candidate will have experience in leading multi-pronged campaigns with a dispersed staff and a passion for solving the climate crisis. We are excited to pursue new opportunities to achieve the transition to zero-emission shipping and more in South Korea.

The Country Director, Republic of Korea, will report to Pacific Environment’s Climate Campaign Director, Asia, and will be part of Pacific Environment’s global climate team.

Location and travel

This position has a flexible work location within South Korea, with a preference for Seoul due to frequent in-person meetings with stakeholders. The position will include regular domestic and some international travel is required. Pacific Environment is sensitive to COVID-19 and other potential obstacles to safe travel. 

Responsibilities 

• Leads PE’s climate campaign in RoK, including but not limited to: 
• Cultivating partnerships and coordinating closely with partner organizations, policymakers and shipbuilding industry stakeholders to accelerate the industry’s decarbonization with a local to international strategy 
• Planning and conducting events on shipbuilding, shipping and government of the shipbuilding industry to decarbonize actively 
• Producing advocacy materials, directly or via supervision of contractors, to move the needle on shipping decarbonization in RoK 
• Supporting coordination with other members of the climate campaign 
• Supervise teams in Republic of Korea  
• Oversee PE’s offshore wind work in RoK 
• Support funder relationships with RoK funders 
• Managing campaign budget  
• Other tasks as assigned by the Climate Campaign Director, East Asia 

Key qualifications

• At least 10 years of work experience in relevant field (NGO administration, government relations, advocacy, campaigns, research, corporate sustainability, climate, etc.). Direct experience in renewable energy, heavy industry or shipping decarbonization is a plus.     
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in climate/energy issues and policies, including in shipping, ports, and/or other heavy industry sectors.   
• A record of accomplishment of achievement in managing and winning regional or international campaigns.   
• Experience and expertise in advocacy, listening, consensus-building, coalition-building and leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to work collegially and collaboratively with other staff, organizations and diverse communities.  
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral. Experience as a public spokesperson and advocate; ability to analyze and articulate complex issues and communicate them to various audiences. A candidate that is adept in building relations with government, industry stakeholders and NGOs is a plus.  
• Experience managing a team and external consultants. 
• Direct experience with event coordination. 
• Ability to work independently and exceptional management skills, of both projects and team.    
• Skill and comfort in building relationships with diverse audiences, including with policymakers, coalition partners, community leaders and members of the media.   
• Experience in energy or pollution analysis a plus.   
• Korean cultural fluency, awareness and familiarity with Korean business practices and an understanding of how climate issues are perceived in the Republic of Korea are crucial.  
• English proficiency (ability to conduct everyday organizational business in English).   
• Advanced degrees are a plus (tell us about yours).  
• Passion for solving the climate crisis.  

Physical requirements

The Country Director, Republic of Korea work involves remaining in a stationary position and looking at a computer for long stretches of time, communicating with co-workers electronically and occasional travel (including overnight travel), in-person meetings or events. The ideal candidate must be able to complete all the physical requirements of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete this job application, pre-employment testing or a job interview, or to otherwise participate in this hiring process, please contact hr@pacificenvironment.org.   

Compensation: $70,000 – $80,000 USD per year

Pacific Environment provides compensation commensurate with experience and equitable with others on our team, plus a full benefits package for staff positions. The salary for this position is carefully considered to account for equity, and the final offer will be based on the candidate’s qualifications. The employee will enjoy a flexible working environment with a dedicated, diverse group of colleagues.   

To apply

Click here to apply.  Please include a resume and cover letter in English. 

Pacific Environment is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage people from communities harmed by environmental degradation and from backgrounds underrepresented in the environmental movement to apply.  We welcome diversity to do our best work and believe that creating teams in which everyone can be their authentic self is key to the change we seek.  

No phone calls, please.