King County Small Communities Cohort Fellows

These positions are part of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellowship Program, supporting the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge (CRRC) projects. The fellow will support the project: Regional Collaboration for Better Resilience Outcomes in the Puget Sound Basin.

Host Organization: King County, Washington
Location of Position: Seattle, Washington (with flexibility to be located in Puget Sound Basin). Physical address is 401 5th Ave, Seattle, Washington
Duration of Position: Two years (June 2025-June 2027)
Annual Salary: $47,876
Benefits: Medical insurance, 11 paid federal holidays per year, 15 paid personal days per year, professional development training, travel funding, relocation allowance
Note: Two positions are available

Work Environment:

King County’s Executive Climate Office (ECO) supports a hybrid work schedule combining remote and in-office work. If the NOAA fellows are located in the Seattle area, the fellows are expected to be in the office three days/week. If located elsewhere in the Puget Sound Basin, the fellow would be asked to come into the office 2–4 times/month for collaborative project team meetings and King County climate team meetings. 

 Fellowship Position Description:

Two fellows will support the Small Communities Cohort Program (SCCP; Task 2), which is designed to directly support work on community-identified climate preparedness priorities in up to 12 smaller and less-resourced jurisdictions and Tribes in the Puget Sound Basin. The program will provide technical assistance to participating jurisdictions in the form of staff and consulting services support. 

Each fellow will be assigned to one of three cohort subgroups comprising three to four communities each. To the degree possible, participating communities will be grouped thematically based on project type (e.g., vulnerability assessment), climate impacts (e.g., coastal flooding, wildfire), or geography to help leverage resources and build peer partnerships. 

Fellows will be responsible for supporting implementation of community projects in their cohort subgroup. Anticipated activities include strategic planning and project management, research, planning and facilitating meetings and workshops, coordinating and working with technical consultants and other SCCP fellows, developing project materials (e.g., analyses, plans, reports, presentations), quarterly reporting, and tracking program evaluation metrics. Each community will have access to an average of 145 hours of professional consulting support for their projects; the fellows will be responsible for working with their communities to strategically identify how to utilize those consulting hours to support projects. The fellows will also be tasked with working with the program’s Climate Equity and Tribal Partnerships fellows to ensure that equity and Tribal priorities are being effectively integrated into community projects, as appropriate.

Fellows will be required to report on their work as part of grant reporting and will work as a team (along with the third non–NOAA SCCP fellow) on program evaluation. Interim and final program evaluation will include reporting on metrics, accomplishments, lessons learned, recommended improvements, and insights gained through the work with the cohort communities. Fellows will also be responsible for developing cohort community case studies to be shared via the Collaborative’s programming (webinars, monthly meetings, etc.), website, and workshops or conferences. 

Fellows will be asked to participate in and contribute to King County’s Executive Climate Office team meetings (biweekly to monthly), the Collaborative’s grant team meetings (frequency TBD), and all relevant Puget Sound Climate Preparedness meetings and events (monthly and as scheduled). Participation in other local and regional meetings related to professional fields of interest will be encouraged to help build the fellows’ professional network within the Puget Sound Basin. 

Depending on capacity and interest, the fellows will be invited to support other Collaborative grant activities, including development of regionally-relevant case studies, technical guidance, and best practices for Task 1 topics and activities (e.g., climate preparedness, climate equity, and shared hazards such as sea level rise, extreme heat, and flooding.) Fellows will also be invited to support the regional alignment work in Task 5 (based on interest and capacity). 

An estimated timeline and list of projected work products is provided below. The timeline assumes a July 1, 2025 start date and will be adjusted as needed. 

Anticipated Travel:

Fellows are expected to periodically visit with their assigned Small Communities Cohort Program communities for in-person meetings and workshops; all other work with their assigned communities will be remote. Travel support in the form of mileage reimbursement is provided for six visits per community over the course of two years with an assumed travel distance of 120 miles round trip per trip. Actual mileage will vary and will likely allow for additional in-person meetings with assigned communities. Fellows will have access to King County’s motor pool vehicles for travel or will be reimbursed for mileage.

Mileage support is also provided for travel to an estimated 20 grant-related meetings and workshops that do not require an overnight stay or per diem reimbursement. This includes the three Task 5 workshops and up to 17 additional in-person convenings or workshops. 

Planned conference travel for the fellows includes the National Adaptation Forum (2026), the Northwest Climate Conference (2025 or 2026), and one additional regional conference of the fellow’s choice. Additional travel related to the fellows’ work with communities and professional development will be encouraged and supported as funding allows. 

Finally, fellows will be asked to participate in in-person Executive Climate Office team meetings (biweekly to monthly). No reimbursement is provided for travel to the Executive Climate Office (Downtown Seattle) for participation in team meetings. We expect that fellows will be eligible for a King County Metro transit pass, which provides free access to bus services, King County foot passenger ferry service, and light rail services (policies are currently being updated). 

Desired Qualifications:

Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree

Subject matter expertise: An understanding of climate adaptation and climate resilience desired. Other potential areas of expertise could include environmental science, environmental/public policy, sustainability, coastal management, climate science (atmospheric sciences), engineering, urban planning, environmental education/communications, and ecological management/restoration.

Local or regional knowledge: Familiarity with the Puget Sound region and climate change impacts affecting the Puget Sound region is a bonus but not required. 

Other desired experience or attributes: 

• Experience with organizing and facilitating discussions of focus groups, workshops, collaborative governance processes, and community-driven policy development
• Experience building relationships and working collaboratively with a range of stakeholder groups, including work with/in limited English-speaking populations, immigrant and refugee communities, BIPOC communities, and culturally diverse communities
• Excellent oral and written communications skills, including a demonstrated ability to develop and deliver multimode communications tailored to the unique needs of different audiences
• Demonstrated success managing projects and resources
• Demonstrated understanding and commitment to equity and social justice and uplifting community voices 
• Functional and technical knowledge and experience in one or more climate-related topics such as transportation, food systems, energy, green building, consumption and materials, forests, climate impacts and preparedness, and climate and environmental justice

Fellow Mentoring:

Fellows will be hosted by King County’s Executive Climate Office and supervised by Lara Whitely Binder, King County’s climate preparedness program manager and co-chair of the Puget Sound Climate Preparedness Collaborative. Lara also authored NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge grant proposal with other Collaborative members. Lara is responsible for working with King County agencies and communities to prepare for the impacts of climate change and strengthening regional partnerships to address shared challenges and opportunities around climate preparedness. Prior to joining King County in 2017, Lara worked extensively with local, state, and tribal governments in the Northwest on climate adaptation as a senior strategist for the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group. 

Additional as-needed supervisory support will be provided by the Puget Sound climate preparedness program coordinator, a grant-supported position that will be hired in fall 2024 and supervised by Lara Whitely Binder and the director of the King County Executive Climate Office, Marissa Aho. Marissa is a former chief resilience officer for the cities of Houston and Los Angeles.  

To apply, please upload the following materials in one PDF file:

• Resume (two-page limit)
• Statement of interest, where the candidate describes what they hope to gain from the fellowship experience and what they can contribute. Candidates should also highlight any connections to or special interests in the region, including Indigenous or local knowledge and relevant life experiences (500-word limit)
• Unofficial academic transcripts to show coursework (or joint services transcript for veterans)
• Two professional or academic references (names and contact information)