Director of Global Initiatives - Kleinman Center

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Director of Global Initiatives - Kleinman Center

Director B, Academic Affairs, Global Affairs

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design was established in 2014 with a mission to create the policy conditions to ensure a just and efficient transition to sustainable energy. Over the last decade, the center has designed educational programs, expanded extracurricular opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at Penn, supported faculty research, and built the necessary infrastructure to translate academic research into public policy outcomes.

This direct policy influence has primarily focused on national and subnational policy at the domestic level. The center now seeks a director of global initiatives to help build a similar pipeline for the university's energy policy work, expanded with a focus on the international scale.

This position will report directly to the center’s executive director and will have primary responsibility for providing strategic leadership in the development, implementation, and management of international initiatives that advance the center’s mission. These initiatives include teaching in the center’s energy management and policy curriculum, supporting (and in some cases directly contributing to) internationally focused research, building new international collaborations, and recruiting and engaging global visitors and fellows—all aimed at strengthening the center’s international presence and impact.

In addition, this position is responsible for offering strategic guidance and energy sector expertise to support the quality, rigor, and relevance of all the center’s programs. As such, this position represents a critical role in the leadership of the center. An ideal candidate will be well-versed in building and sustaining relationships within an academic context, with the skills to manage varied faculty expertise, establish new partnerships, and translate the center’s work into new policy contexts.

By fostering meaningful collaborations and advancing the center’s global partnerships, this role will play a key part in expanding the Kleinman Center’s visibility and influence as a leading institution in energy and climate policy research and education.

Design, implement, and oversee international programs that expand the Kleinman Center’s global presence, including short courses and exchange programs. All programming is new and requires a high level of detail orientation and strategic direction to build new models, gain buy‑in, and launch.

Design metrics for assessing success and determining which programs are viable and which…