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Top Moves
Martin Špolc has stepped down as Head of Unit for Preparedness and Adaptation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), a month before the Commission unveils its European Climate Resilience Framework on October 28. Špolc led the unit developing the framework for two years, and said it will now be taken forward by Paolo Caridi and Anna Dimitrijevics. He moves to the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) as Director for Prosperity, covering research and innovation for industry, dual-use, space and digital. Before joining DG CLIMA, Špolc spent nearly six years as Head of Unit for Sustainable Finance at DG FISMA, where he steered development of the EU’s sustainable finance framework, including the EU Taxonomy.
Hope Murera has been appointed Deputy Chair (Industry) of the Steering Committee at the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), the public–private partnership co-chaired by the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank Group that works to close insurance protection gaps in emerging markets and developing economies. Murera, an existing Steering Committee member, keeps her role as Managing Director and Group CEO of ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company), where she has spent more than 30 years in African insurance and reinsurance. She also chairs the board of ACRE Africa, ZEP-RE's ag-tech subsidiary focused on climate resilience for farmers.
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Departures
Jeffrey Qi has left the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) after five years, and is stepping away from the climate field for now. He most recently served as Policy Advisor in IISD’s Resilience Program, leading its climate diplomacy work on adaptation, including engagement in UNFCCC negotiations, advocacy, and public sector advisory. Among his focus areas were the National Adaptation Plan process, nature-based solutions, and the climate-biodiversity nexus. He joined IISD in 2021 as a Policy Analyst.
New Roles & Promotions
Shameika Hanson will join the NYS Office of Resilient Homes and Communities as Director of Buyouts for New York State, helping lead the state’s buyout efforts for communities face rising flood risk. She joins from The Nature Conservancy in New York, where she spent nine years, most recently as a Climate Adaptation Specialist.
Sumit Gupta has joined HERA (formerly Climate Resilience For All) as Global Director of Insurance and Risk. His move from the private insurance sector to non-profit work marks a major step forward in accelerating HERA’s inclusive insurance innovation for women on the frontlines of extreme heat in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Sierra Leone. Based in Delhi, Sumit brings decades of leadership across insurance, climate resilience, disaster risk financing, and public sector partnerships through senior roles at Swiss Re, Zurich Kotak General Insurance, and ICICI Lombard.
Ana Mulio Alvarez has joined the International Climate Politics Hub at the European Climate Foundation as Senior Associate for Strategy and Diplomatic Writing, where she will shape the network’s political strategy and lead its COP and Multilateralism Working Group around UNFCCC negotiations. She joins from E3G, where she spent three years, most recently as Policy Advisor leading its adaptation and loss and damage diplomacy portfolio, including running the secretariat of the Champions Group for Adaptation Finance, a coalition of more than 20 countries and institutions. (🎧 Listen to Ana’s Climate Proofers interview on COP30 HERE).
Adeline Siffert has joined the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics as Policy Fellow, UK Adaptation, where she will work on the National Heat Risk Commission alongside Emma Howard Boyd and Caitlin Douglas. She joins from the British Red Cross, where she spent nearly four years as Senior Climate Policy Advisor, including a stint as interim head of its Climate Resilience and Technical Advisory team. She previously held a secondment as Senior Climate Change Policy Advisor at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and worked on climate change and disaster risk reduction for the World Food Programme in Panama.
Laurie Ashley has joined the Natural Resources Defense Council as Senior Advocate, Adaptation, leading and expanding the group’s strategic work on climate mobility and planned relocation. She most recently ran the independent climate resilience and migration advisory firm Vantage Collaborative, and before that spent five years at USAID as Climate Adaptation and Resilience Advisor and Program Manager at its Center for Resilience, where she led agency-wide work on climate-related displacement and migration, directed a US$38mn climate resilience initiative, and represented the US on the UNFCCC Least Developed Countries Expert Group.
Sophie Punte and Anir Chowdhury have been named directors and Board members of Stichting OSCAR, a newly established Rotterdam-based non-profit that will work alongside US nonprofit OSCAR (Open Source tools for Climate Adaptation & Resilience) to engage governments and partners in the EU, UK and Africa. They join CEO Truman Semans on the board. OSCAR aims to provide free, open-source tools for under-resourced governments to analyze climate risks, plan adaptation and resilience measures, and secure financing. Punte is founding CEO of Life-Links, which focuses on resilient supply chains, and founder and board member of Smart Freight Centre. Chowdhury is president of the DXGlobal Foundation and a specialist in digital public infrastructure, with decades of experience at UNDP and in Bangladesh.
Open Opportunities
📍 Aon is hiring a Director for its Climate Risk Advisory practice, the arm of the broker that delivers climate risk assessments and resilience strategies for clients across the Americas. This is a hybrid role, with incumbent having the option to work both virtually and from the firm’s offices in New York, NY. Apply here
📍 Gallagher Re is hiring a Catastrophe Risk Analyst through its REACH program, a two-year role that trains recruits in reinsurance broking and risk management and supports them toward the Associate in Reinsurance designation within 18 months. Analysts work large insurance datasets and catastrophe model output, present findings to stakeholders, and help insurers respond to catastrophe events in real time. The role requires occasional travel to Rolling Meadows, IL for training. Apply here
📍 AXA UK is hiring a Climate Change Analyst for its Catastrophe Management team, specializing in atmospheric perils and climate change. The role reviews and validates AXA’s internal catastrophe models, including reinsurance and accumulation controls, translates external scientific research into risk management and product development, and runs small research projects with academic and external partners. Candidates need a PhD in a scientific discipline and strong Python or R skills. The role is based in London, with hybrid working. Applications close October 6. Apply here
📍 Class 3 Technologies, a climate risk start-up analyzing the physical climate impacts on assets down to individual building components, is hiring a Founding GTM Lead for Climate Risk and Resilience. Reporting to the CEO, the hire will own demand generation, including content, targeted outbound, events and product marketing aimed at risk officers, engineers, asset managers and insurers. The role is hybrid, based in New York, NY, or the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. Apply here
📍 Climate finance advisory and analytics firm Climate Risk Services is hiring an Associate/Senior Associate in Climate Risk, Finance and Adaptation to lead advisory projects for clients, and an Analyst in Climate Risk and Climate Finance. The Associate role involves turning data-based analysis into resilience and adaptation recommendations, benchmarking client work against frameworks such as TCFD, IFRS S2, and ECB guidance, and building systems for climate finance loan products at banks and microfinance institutions. The Analyst role entails delivering physical and transition risk analysis under a project lead, building data models for physical, transition and nature risk, and turning the results into practical resilience actions for clients. The roles are based in Utrecht or London. Applications are by email only and are reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply here (Associate role) / Apply here (Analyst role)
📍 The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development is hiring a Disaster Recovery Grant Manager for its Office of Compliance and Risk Management, overseeing the HUD-funded Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery programs that pay for the city’s post-disaster housing work. The role covers federal compliance monitoring, risk analysis, policy development, expenditure tracking and audit-ready recordkeeping, and supervises a grant compliance manager. The position is based in New York, NY. Applications close October 22. Apply here
📍 The City of Cambridge Office of Sustainability in Massachusetts is hiring a Director of Climate Risk, a new senior role that will build the city’s climate risk management and resilience programs from the ground up. The director will lead cross-departmental working groups, manage staff and consultants, and set multi-year strategy and budgets. The work is guided by Cambridge’s Climate Vulnerability Assessment, Resilient Cambridge Plan and Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. The posting asks for eight years’ experience in government or a similar setting, including five in a supervisory role. Apply here
📍 The Maryland Port Administration, part of the Maryland Department of Transportation, is hiring a Climate Change Design Manager for its Office of Environment, Safety and Sustainability. The role leads multi-disciplinary engineering projects at the Port of Baltimore covering site remediation, stormwater management design, sea level rise resilience and emission reduction. The role is based at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore County, MD, with flexible/hybrid working. Applications are open until filled. Apply here
📍 The District of Columbia Department of Health is hiring a Deputy Director for its Office of Emergency Preparedness and Resilience, the city’s public health and medical preparedness office and lead for its public health and medical emergency response. The role oversees emergency planning, training and exercises, and leads the office’s resilience work, including climate-related health risk mitigation and healthcare supply chain resilience. Applications close October 3. Apply here
📍 The Greater Portland Council of Governments is recruiting Resilience Corps Fellows in Maine for a full-year 2027 placement. Successful candidates engage in projects on community and economic resilience, planning, infrastructure, sustainability, emergency preparedness, and more. Applications close October 30. Apply here
📍 The Greater London Authority is hiring a London Resilience Support Officer for its London Resilience Unit, which coordinates emergency preparedness across a partnership of more than 170 organizations in the capital. The role supports multi-agency risk assessment and emergency planning, helps run exercises that test those plans, captures lessons from drills and real incidents, and joins the unit's on-call response rota. The position is based in London. Applications close October 8. Apply here
📍 Defenders of Wildlife is hiring a Director of Climate Adaptation, based in Washington, DC, to guide the non-profit’s efforts to address the impacts of climate change on wildlife and ecosystems. Applicants need eight years of relevant experience, including at least three years managing staff and leading complex interdisciplinary projects. Apply here
📍 Waterfront Alliance, a non-profit, focused on creating resilient waterfronts and shorelines, is recruiting for a Climate Resilience Fellowship in New York City, running from January to April 2027. Applications close October 31. Apply here
📍 The Barr Foundation is hiring a Program Officer to work across all three strategies of its Climate Program in Massachusetts, including Climate Resilience, which aims to increase the capacity of the state’s communities to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The role evaluates proposals, conducts site visits, manages grants and assesses grantee progress, contributes to grantmaking strategy, and manages consultants, grantee cohorts and convenings. Candidates need at least five years of relevant experience. The role is hybrid, based in Boston, MA. Apply here
📍 Morgan State University is hiring a Director for its newly established Center for Urban and Coastal Climate Science Research, based in the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences. The director will set the center’s research agenda, build its external funding through grants, contracts and partnerships, and mentor early-stage researchers. Candidates need a doctorate in a relevant field and a nationally recognized research record. The role is based in Baltimore, MD. Apply here
Know a move we missed?
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Thanks for reading!
Louie Woodall
Editor
