Deputy Director

Tempest Advisors

Based in downtown San Francisco, Tempest Advisors provides professional philanthropic consulting services to Sea Change Foundation and Sea Change Foundation International. Consulting support is focused on the serious threat posed by climate change and the role of philanthropy in climate change mitigation. The Tempest team is high performing, collaborative, and mission driven. We foster a pragmatic, solution-oriented culture and a willingness to develop creative approaches to addressing climate change.

The Opportunity

Tempest Advisors seeks a collaborative and solutions-oriented Deputy Director to join its small team of professionals to accelerate and improve efforts to mitigate climate change in the United States and around the world. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to help lead and manage a dynamic organization advising the distribution of millions of dollars in annual grants focused on climate change mitigation.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Deputy Director will have primary responsibility for ensuring the effective execution of the organization’s philanthropic advisory services and will manage Tempest Advisor’s business operations. The Deputy Director will be a senior leader focused on the internal workings of the firm, from planning and budgeting to team and process development, as well as some external priorities such as collaboration with other philanthropic family offices and coordination with partners focused on climate donor engagement. The Deputy will also assist the Executive Director with other aspects of the management of Tempest Advisor, as needed, including responding directly to requests from the firm’s clients. Qualified candidates will be experienced, approachable, detail-oriented, and able to manage a large number of varied projects simultaneously.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational Development and Operations

• The Deputy Director will have lead responsibility for all organizational development and operational functions and will work to ensure the firm consistently pursues best practices and systems improvements.
• Principal responsibilities in this arena include grant docket process management, board meeting materials development, annual planning, contract review, and grant evaluation processes, as well as overseeing budget development and financial tracking.

Staff Leadership and Development

• The Deputy Director will directly manage a small team of operations staff and will initiate and lead staff development functions for the organization. They will have the leadership experience to help staff members excel in their respective areas and the process and team development skills to ensure highly effective cross-departmental coordination.
• The Deputy will manage all aspects of human resource development working in partnership with Pi Advisors, the family office.
• The Deputy will have responsibility for training, oversight of knowledge. management, leadership of semi-annual performance management processes, and consistent attention to cultivating a productive and healthy organizational culture.

Planning and Evaluation

• In partnership with the Executive Director, the Deputy Director will coordinate the annual strategy setting process to ensure clear outcomes are developed and ensure the firm’s organizational functions facilitate these priorities.
• The Deputy will refine and manage grant and strategy evaluation processes to ensure continual learning is reflected in the ongoing grantmaking operations.
• The Deputy will manage and support client and philanthropic partner engagement.
• The Deputy will work directly with the firm’s clients and philanthropic partners, including foundations and individual donors, on organizational development, priority setting, and administrative issues.
• The Deputy will collaboratively identify options and provide solutions in ways that meet the needs of clients and other philanthropic partners.

Other Executive Functions

• The Deputy Director will serve as the primary back-up to the Executive Director and may be asked to step in to act on behalf of the Executive Director in additional ways not listed here. The job responsibilities are not static and are likely to evolve over time.