Finding your niche as a climate designer takes creativity, patience, and quite a bit of networking, but it’s worth it. Below is a collection of the most helpful resources I found for making the transition, no matter the path you choose.

How to start building your career in climate design

There are many more opportunities for designers to help climate-positive organizations than there are formal job postings, especially when it comes to service design and strategy. The need is there, but I highly recommend starting to network and look for opportunities well before you plan to leave your current position. Graphic designers and UI/UX designers will likely be able to find opportunities on job boards, and service designers and strategists may need to rely more on networking.

Finding Paid Opportunities

Search climate-focused and social impact job boards.

There are a number of climate focused job boards and slack groups, and the groups keep growing. You can see more in our “General Design Resources” section. The boards listed below have a relatively high concentration of climate jobs and are updated regularly. Use the boards to apply directly to open positions or to find companies you want to learn more about.

• Climatebase: Climatebase has quickly grown to be the leading climate tech focused job board. There are growing numbers of design roles, particularly on the digital product/tech side.
• Work on Climate - Active Slack group started by former Google employees. Large and active.
• Reconsidered: A job board for corporate social responsibility, sustainability and social impact positions. It is skewed towards more senior positions, typically at multinational companies, so is most useful for people with 5+ years of experience.
• Design Gigs for Good: Positions at the intersection of design & social impact. There aren’t many “traditional” climate opportunities, but there is a lot here for people interested in health, government, and sustainable development.
• Linkedin Jobs: Not too much to say here. You can use filters like “sustainability”, “climate change”, “clean energy”, “solar”, “environmental consulting” and other related topics to get alerts as jobs are posted that meet these criteria. I personally haven’t found it as useful as the dedicated climate and social impact job boards, but it’s worth setting up even if just to learn about what companies in the space are hiring. You can also set alerts for specific companies or organizations you areinterested in.

Check regularly on the careers pages of organizations you are interested in.

Climate-oriented organizations tend not to cross-post on lots of job boards. Have an organization you already know you want to work for? Your best bet is to regularly check their careers page to make sure you don’t miss an opportunity.