Senior Project Manager sus.lab (KTT Expert)
Immigration Policy Lab
Senior Project Manager sus.lab (KTT Expert)
80%-100%, Zurich, fixed-term
Join us at the Sustainability in Business Lab (sus.lab) at ETH Zurich and help us enable leaders in industry, policy, and society to address systemic sustainability challenges and drive the transition to a net-zero and circular economy.
Project background
We are seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead two projects, each at a 40-50% level of engagement.
KTT Expert, ACHIEVE consortium
The primary focus of this role is to serve as the Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) Expert within the ACHIEVE consortium as part of the SWEET funding programme of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). ACHIEVE supports Switzerland’s transition to net zero by collaborating with stakeholders from industry, policy, and society to co-develop scientifically grounded roadmaps to reach this goal. In this capacity, you will ensure that research insights are translated into actionable knowledge, tools, and processes for practitioners and decision-makers (see ‘Duties/Job Description’ for details). Depending on your experience, you will lead or be supported by more junior sus.lab colleagues.
Additional sus.lab project(s)
The other 40-50% will be dedicated to a first-of-its-kind industry-related sus.lab project, with the exact focus determined by your skill set, experience, and the available projects. For example, it may be similar in scope and complexity to recently completed initiatives such as our work on the project DemoUpCARMA or the rPET report on the long-term prospects for recycled PET in beverage bottles.
Job description
KTT Expert, ACHIEVE consortium:
- Overall project management: As part of the project management team, in strong collaboration with the head of the consortium and the scientific integration expert, you are responsible for the overall execution of the project, ensuring strategic alignment with objectives and expected outcomes, timely achievement of milestones, submission of deliverables, and efficient allocation of resources.
- Stakeholder engagement & co-creation: Lead the planning and implementation of stakeholder engagement formats (problem-framing workshops, roundtables to discuss project results, panel discussions to address stakeholder questions, conferences, webinars), conduct ongoing stakeholder mapping, and document knowledge needs and contributions between researchers and stakeholders
- Communication & dissemination: Coordinate the preparation and distribution of stakeholder-facing communication materials (such as policy briefs, industry briefs, website content, social media, outreach notes).
- Monitoring & impact tracking: Track stakeholder uptake and integration of project outputs, including adoption of technologies, initiation of pilot projects, and policy developments.
Additional sus.lab project(s)
- Lead and manage first-of-its-kind industry-related projects.
- Oversee, co-develop, and publish project deliverables in collaboration with project partners from industry, policy, and society.
- Oversee project budgets and project teams.
- Develop and secure new projects focused on decarbonization and circular economy.
Profile
- You hold a Master’s degree (or higher) in sustainability, environmental policy, engineering, environmental science, business, or a related field.
- You have 3-4 years of work experience in (sustainability) consulting, policy analysis, transdisciplinary research, or a related field.
- You have excellent stakeholder management skills and can communicate with leaders from research, industry, and policy at eye level.
- You have strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills.
- You have excellent command of English and at least one Swiss national language, i.e., German, French, or Italian (at least C1, written and spoken).
- You are based in Switzerland and work in Zurich once you start the position (remote work is not possible).
- You are able to start the position by March 2026 at the latest.
Preferred qualifications:
- You demonstrate the ability to design, facilitate, and moderate participatory workshops and dialogues.
- You have experience in translating technical content into accessible communication formats (e.g., briefs, presentations, stakeholder updates).
- You are familiar with climate policy, decarbonization pathways, or carbon capture, utilization, storage, and removal technologies.
- You have a network or engagement experience with Swiss policy, industry, or civil society organizations.
Workplace
Workplace
We offer
Sus.lab is a “think-and-do-tank” of highly motivated people with diverse backgrounds in engineering, science, management consulting, and entrepreneurship. As part of the Group for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) within the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics of ETH Zurich, we benefit from an entrepreneurial research atmosphere where our work bridges the gap between the latest academic research and industrial application.
The contract for the position is initially limited to one year (in accordance with ETH guidelines), with the intention of a multi-year employment relationship.
We value diversity and sustainability
Curious? So are we.
If you are interested in shaping Switzerland’s transition to net zero, we look forward to receiving your online application with the following document:
- CV (please include the final overall grades of your degrees)
Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.
Review of applications will occur on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until we have a sufficiently large pool of strong candidates.
Further information about our sus.lab can be found on our website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Oliver Akeret oakeret@ethz.ch (no applications).
IMPORTANT: If you are rather interested in an academic career as a Postdoctoral or Senior Researcher in this area, do let us know; we might also be able to offer you a role within the Group for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) or the Group for Circular Economy.