Collaborative Earth is an innovative 501(c)3 nonprofit that discovers pathways to new systems that successfully integrate human and ecological communities, fostering places where people and nature thrive. We have a unique approach to achieving this goal. By drawing diverse, talented individuals across disciplinary and cultural boundaries, we assemble and support teams that discover novel pathways to socioecological regeneration. These remarkable teams, which we call Collaborative Earth Labs, bring together leading-edge expertise and deep local understanding. The solutions they chart are centered on nature and its potent capacities, guided by science and design, and supported by technology.

In our first three years of work, Collaborative Earth has launched nine labs. Some of these labs have delivered impactful research publications as well as software useful to land stewards. Importantly, two of these labs have accelerated into well-funded CE Projects, which are now working to regenerate thousands of hectares of grassland and forest while providing measurable socioeconomic benefits to local communities. Before you apply, please read more about Collaborative Earth on our website.

About the Role‍

‍Collaborative Earth’s Org Lead holds many of the responsibilities commonly invested in a non-profit organization’s Executive Director. Working with the organization’s team and board, this individual leads development and deployment of strategy, contributes broadly across the organization, and reports directly to the board. That said, there is a substantive reason CE has adopted the unusual title for leadership: One of the Org Lead’s most important responsibilities is facilitating the process (described on our website) though which new CE Labs and Projects are elicited and formed from a broad and diverse network of experts. ED implies more strongly top-down organization, and such an approach could not generate the diverse, creative projects that constitute CE.

Envision and Realize the Next Stage of Collaborative Earth

‍One extraordinary opportunity and responsibility for the new Org Lead will be to envision and lead the next stage of Collaborative Earth’s development of an incubator and early-stage accelerator of nature-based solutions. The new Org Lead will have great latitude and autonomy to chart this development, building on foundational work that has already been done to identify promising directions. Workstreams we have mapped as potentially important contributions in this organizational evolution, to be led by the new Org Lead, include the following.

- Socialize the incubator and accelerator plan with impact investment, catalytic capital, and philanthropy professionals, solicit their feedback, and enlist advisors for future early-stage CE Lab review and input.

- Workshop the plan with key stakeholders – existing CE Labs and Projects, Org Advisors and Partners, and other relevant members of CE’s Open-Knowledge Network.

- Review steps, communications, and documents for all stages of the lab launch process, solicit feedback from experienced advisors inside the org, revise and finalize the process.

- Implement an integrated lab-launch tech infrastructure, including: Open-Knowledge Network enrollment system; Lab pitch; peer review and feedback; team solicitation and agreements; subsequent project management and reporting.

- Develop a cross-lab impact dashboard by gathering input from labs and projects past and present, establishing effective categories and metrics, and embedding these within the technological infrastructure of the organization to facilitate future reporting.

- Launch one new cohort of labs.

- Workshop novel financial models for CE as an NBS Incubator with key advisors, including models in which CE may share ownership of incubated entities with local community cooperatives and aligned capital investors.

In leading these workstreams, the new Org Lead will have the support of CE’s team, advisors, and board.

Funding Collaborative Earth

‍Several distinct sources of funding are potentially available to Collaborative Earth as an organization. These include:

- Philanthropic support for CE’s impactful work regenerating ecosystems and creating sustainable livelihoods

- Scientific grants to support CE’s cutting-edge research

- Catalytic capital investment in new ventures generated by CE’s Lab incubator and accelerator

- Carbon Financing: A core part of CE’s Waterways Project funding will come from the generation and sale of high-integrity carbon credits.

- Water-Based Funding: We anticipate drawing on government and philanthropic programs that support natural water infrastructure—such as wetland restoration, buffer zones, and native species planting.

The new Org Lead will need to prioritize and pursue the most promising directions, working with CE’s small yet truly extraordinary team, which includes deep expertise in relevant scientific fields, landscape planning, carbon markets, corporate and contractual law, and finance. The right leader for the organization will be excited by the diversity of available opportunities.

Steward organizational cohesion and oversight

‍As with any leadership role in a small, mission-driven organization, the Org Lead’s responsibilities and opportunities will be broad and dynamic. In addition to leading the important initiatives described above, the new Org Lead will:

- Provide high-level collaborative input and oversight on CE’s two larger Projects, Waterways and Bison, each of which is guided by its own Project Lead. Participate, as desired, in CE’s other active Labs, such as Ganges and Aicacia.

- Maintain a sense of cohesion and common purpose in a diverse and geographically far-flung constellation of teams.

- Work with CE’s Finance and Compliance Lead to ensure the organization remains an exemplar of fiscal responsibility, regulatory compliance, and organizational governance.

Qualifications

- Three or more years of demonstrable success in leadership roles at organizations with missions and operations that are, if not very similar to those of Collaborative Earth, at least highly relevant to the work described above.

-Experience funding projects. We will be especially drawn to candidates who have worked on more than one of the funding mechanisms mentioned above: traditional philanthropy; PES, including VCMs; and catalytic or impact investment.

- Familiarity with the science, technology, and design that inform development and deployment of nature-based solutions.

Compensation and Other Administrative Details

$125,000, plus benefits, with room for significant growth as the new Org Lead propels organizational growth and impact.

The role offers the opportunities and challenges of tremendous freedom to define when and how you work. Collaborative Earth is a fully distributed, 100% remote-work organization. Team members are currently in time zones ranging from Pacific to Central European.

To apply, please send a cover letter and a CV or resume to team@collaborative.earth. In your letter, please address the following questions:

- How do your education and experience to date prepare you to lead an organization that charts pathways to systems that successfully integrate ecological and human communities?

- More specifically, how are you the right individual to lead the next stage of CE’s development of an incubator and early-stage accelerator of nature-based solutions?

- CE is a distributed organization. What is your experience with remote work, and what strategies do you use to succeed in that environment?

- And please feel free to tell us more about yourself: Who is one of your heroes? What is one of your favorite books or works of art? What do you like to do?

We will begin reviewing applications on July 24, 2026. Especially promising candidates will be invited to participate in a series of interviews with CE team members. Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

Collaborative Earth

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