Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Job Description:

Position Overview

RMI’s Third Derivative program is looking for a visionary entrepreneur-in-residence to lead a game-changing climate technology and public health program – accelerating passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) products from promising pilot projects to mass-scale deployment. 

This is a rare opportunity – at the intersection of public health, climate, materials science, manufacturing, supply chain development, and policy – to advance a technology that could fundamentally transform how communities, building owners, and governments manage heat stress. 

The entrepreneur-in-residence will have the opportunity to create and lead a new market-shaping platform and build a team to drive this global effort. The platform will coordinate global efforts to connect demand and supply for this new technology to facilitate significantly faster scale-up than if the market was left to its own devices. As such, this platform will serve as: 

• a demand aggregation engine that pools buyers from government, corporates, philanthropy, etc., into a coordinated purchasing consortium

• a supply development framework that actively shapes supply chains, manufacturing scale-up, and de-risks investment

• a blended finance stack that layers capital and risk appropriately to graduate projects from subsidized to commercial financing over time

• a backbone for standard and certification development, working with third parties for technical standard, performance benchmark, and verification establishment

While initially housed as an initiative at RMI, this platform could spin-out into a new nonprofit, analogous to other “field-building” organizations like Arete, Carbon-to-Sea, or Cascade Climate. RMI would provide initial staff support as the entrepreneur-in-residence secures the funding for, recruits, and builds their team. 

If you have spent your career in market shaping and new venture building with a passion for scaling public health and/or climate solutions, are skilled at forging coalitions around a shared mission, are energized by the urgency of our climate and public health challenges rather than daunted by them, this role is for you.

Note: This position is funded for an initial 12-month term that could be converted to a permanent staff role if additional funding is secured.

The significance of this effort 

Without concerted action, 8.3 billion people globally – three-quarters of the projected global population – will be exposed to deadly heat conditions (more than 20 days during the year in which ambient air temperatures and humidity cross survivability thresholds when body core temperatures exceed 37°C) by the end of the century, up from 30 percent today.

The vast majority will be in low-income countries, with 1.1 billion in India alone. Even with major emissions reductions, 48 percent of the global population will be at risk. The health impacts of extreme heat are notoriously underreported, as heat stress manifests itself as organ dysfunction or failure and is therefore often misdiagnosed.

In many of the world’s hottest countries, the majority live without air conditioning and the ability to escape life-threatening heat. Many of these deaths will occur in informal or self-built settlements, home to over 1 billion people worldwide. Their dwellings make the problem worse; indoor air temperatures in these communities have been found to be a median of 3.6°C higher than outside. The corrugated tin and asbestos sheet roofs commonly used in these settlements have been associated with significantly longer and more severe periods of heat stress.

PDRC products are like conventional “cool roof” paints that reflect sunlight – but they offer a major step up in performance. Like regular cool roofs, PDRC reflect incoming sunlight (short wavelength solar radiation) – but they also emit heat into deep space (in longer infrared wavelengths). This translates to life-changing and potentially life-saving reductions in indoor air temperatures. 

When deployed at scale, especially in high-heat regions of the Global South, PDRC solutions could save up to 122,000 lives annually, reduce labor loss by 92 billion hours (equating to $28 billion in economic benefits), and lower cooling energy use by 156 TWh, cutting CO2 emissions by 122 million tCO2e.

In this role, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence will:

• Create and lead a new market-shaping platform.

• Create a framework for rapid PDRC tech scale-up and defining the most appropriate market mechanism(s) to scale PDRC and achieve low costs (e.g., IP acquisition, supporting direct procurement, designing and implementing an advance market commitment). 

• Identify key stakeholders necessary to scale PDRC solutions, including investors, philanthropies, incumbent paint producers, commercial customers, government agencies, and grassroots deployment partners. 

• Forge a coalition of key stakeholders and solicit commitments needed to stimulate PDRC production at scale and low-cost. 

• Create a deployment approach with key stakeholders such that commercial deployments (warehouses, data centers, housing developments, cold chains, etc.) effectively cross-subsidize deployment in vulnerable communities.  

• Build and lead a world-class team driving these efforts.  

• Successfully fundraise to support program. 

Minimum Qualifications 

• 12+ year's experience building and scaling new ventures, market-shaping initiatives, or field-building organizations in climate, public health, or global development, with demonstrated outcomes at scale (e.g., capital mobilized, markets created, or programs taken from pilot to multi-country deployment).  

• Proven fundraising ability: a record of securing multi-million-dollar commitments from philanthropies, governments, development finance institutions, or corporate partners to launch or scale a new initiative or organization.  

• Experience designing and closing large-scale market mechanisms, such as advanced market commitments, pooled or aggregated procurement, volume guarantees, or technology transfer and IP agreements, with direct accountability for structure, negotiation, and execution.  

• Demonstrated ability to build and lead a team from zero: recruiting talent, setting strategy, and standing up governance, ideally including a spin-out or independent organization.  

• Fluency across blended finance and supply-side development, including how to layer concessional and commercial capital and de-risk manufacturing scale-up. 

• Senior external credibility: a network and reputation that opens doors with C-suite executives, ministers, and funders, and the ability to represent the initiative publicly.  

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical literacy in materials science, paints and coatings, or manufacturing scale-up. 

• Background in cooling, building materials, or the built environment. 

• Experience in India or other high-heat Global South markets. 

• Comfort leading in ambiguity: a self-starter who can define the strategy and operating model for a category that doesn’t yet exist. 

Location  

While the position may be based anywhere globally, the ideal candidate will be based in India or be able to travel to India frequently.

Compensation    

The annual base compensation range for this position is $150,000 – 200,000 USD.  In addition, this position will be eligible for a performance-based bonus.

Diversity          

We know that the diversity of our teams makes us stronger as an organization, and RMI is dedicated to the principles of equal employment opportunity as outlined in U.S. federal law. We prohibit discrimination against applicants, interns, and employees on the basis of any legally recognized basis, including but not limited to: age (40 and over), race, color, sex, pregnancy (including lactation, childbirth, or related medical conditions), religion, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), sexual orientation, gender expression/identity, uniformed service member status, veteran status, citizenship status, or any other applicable status protected by applicable law.

RMI is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.