Irelands Knowledge Centre for Carbon Climate and Community Action (IKC3) Programme Manager (Kerry Campus) Irelands Knowledge Centre for Carbon, Climate and Community Action (IKC3) is dedicated to advancing sustainability, climate action and community development across Ireland.
Through collaboration, education, and capacity-building, IKC3 plays a key role in fostering knowledge and skills to drive sustainable development and climate resilience in communities and businesses alike.
Munster Technological University is recruiting for a Programme Manager to join Ireland's Knowledge Centre for Carbon, Climate and Community Action (IKC3) team.
This is a specific purpose post to the end of the project at 31 October 2026.
IKC3 is developing a national collaborative multi-university digital sustainability skills platform for the agile development and co-delivery of Sustainability, Carbon and Climate Knowledge to advance the skill and talent pipeline in Ireland to enable enterprise and society to adapt and transition to a decarbonised economy and sustainable living.
The consortium, led by Munster Technological University in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, involves an extensive EU network of partners, including the EIT Climate KIC Sustainable Innovations Spain, European HEIs, companies, enterprise clusters, community groups, local government, civic and social innovators.
The IKC3 team is taking a radical approach deploying a quintuple helix model of innovation to education developing scalable multi-university solutions for a flexible and personalised learning, integrating state of the art pedagogies and learning pathways, including micro-credentials, summer schools, dual and collaborative learning, deep learning demonstrations and digitisation to foster the transition to a carbon neutral society and achievement of the Climate Action Plan.
The HEA has identified the following key objectives to continue the momentum and ongoing development in the IKC3 project and to move towards mainstreaming the following activities: To maintain and develop the IKC3 sustainable skills platform including listing course provision from all national HE providers To increase public sector engagement and skills capacity for sustainability for SMEs including regenerative tourism for SMEs To develop a mainstreaming plan for the project post additional funding To develop a marketing plan for the project Role: IKC3 is seeking an experienced and driven Programme Manager to lead and oversee multiple initiatives focused on sustainability skills development, public sector engagement and the growth of key programmes within the organisation.
The postholder will play a pivotal role in enhancing the Sustainability Professionals Network Ireland (SPNI), delivering sustainability-focused educational modules on some of the IKC3 micro-credentials, driving the development of the IKC3 sustainability skills platform and supporting public sector and SME engagement.
This role will also focus, in conjunction with the Sustainable Futures project, on strategic development, delivery of national responses to sustainability skills needs and ensuring the sustainability skills ecosystem thrives in Ireland, both in the public and private sectors.
These two projects have been invited to collaborate to mainstream and increase enterprise engagement for sustainable skills.
The HEA has identified the following key objectives for collaboration between the two projects: To deliver a national response to skills for sustainability To develop a joint marketing plan for sustainable skills for Ireland The Programme Manager will collaborate closely with the IKC3 team and the Sustainable Futures project to develop and deliver a national response to skills needs for sustainability.
The appointee will also contribute significantly to the development of the IKC3 network, collaborating and complementing the ecosystem development activities in engaging with stakeholder groups, including researchers, industry, public agencies and NGOs to share the activities, results and impacts of the IKC3 project towards the goal of delivering a national response to skills needs for sustainability.
Input and involvement in the innovation activities across the project on micro-courses, microcredentials and pedagogies is expected.
In addition, participation in workshops and other teaching and learning developments are also a key part of this role.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Development and expansion of the Sustainability Professional Network Ireland o Lead efforts to develop, grow and engage the Sustainability Professional Network Ireland, fostering collaboration among sustainability professionals across sectors.
Organise regular SPNI networking events in close collaboration with Chambers Ireland and other local and civic groups.
Identify opportunities for networking, knowledge-sharing and professional development.
Continue to build strategic partnerships with key stakeholders to expand the reach and impact of the Network.
Sustainability education and teaching o Deliver teaching on a range of sustainability modules, including climate action, carbon management and sustainability practices.
Develop and update course content, ensuring alignment with emerging trends and best practices in sustainability.
Collaborate with academic partners and industry experts to enhance the quality and relevance of the teaching materials.
IKC3 sustainability skills platform development o Lead the development and ongoing refinement of the IKC3 sustainability skills platform, ensuring it meets the needs of both public and private sectors.
Collaborate with experts to integrate diverse sustainability skill sets and build a comprehensive learning ecosystem.
Promote the platform to a broad audience ensuring maximum engagement with SMEs, public sector employees and sustainability professionals.
Public sector engagement and skills capacity for SMEs o Develop strategies to increase public sector engagement with IKC3 programmes and initiatives focusing on capacity building for the public sector.
Work closely with government bodies to identify sustainability skills gaps and provide targeted learning interventions.
Facilitate collaboration between the public sector, private sector, and academia to address the skills needs of SMEs in the context of sustainability and climate action.
Mainstreaming plan for IKC3 post funding o Lead the development of a comprehensive mainstreaming plan to ensure the sustainability of IKC3 initiatives following this initial public sector funding phase.
Develop strategic plans for long-term impact, including identifying new funding sources to ensure the continuity of key programmes.
Establish robust systems for monitoring and evaluating the success of mainstreaming efforts.
National response to skills for sustainability o Work with the IKC3 team and the Sustainable Futures project to deliver a coordinated national response to skills for sustainability across Ireland, ensuring alignment with national climate goals and the skills needs of key sectors.
Build collaborative networks and partnerships to ensure a coordinated approach to sustainability education and skills development across government, academia and industry.
Contribute to national policy discussions and thought leadership around sustainability and climate action skills.
Project management o Planning and monitoring of project tasks, deliverables and milestones, liaising with partners to coordinate report writing.
Applicants must have:
Minimum of 3 years experience in a programme manager role.
Honours degree or postgraduate degree in sustainability, environmental science, climate change or a related field.
Demonstrated experience in project management of large-scale collaborative projects a project management certification (PRINCE2, PMP) or equivalent would be an advantage.
Excellent interpersonal, presentation and facilitation skills.
Applicants should have demonstrable experience of the following expertise: Sustainability, carbon and climate knowledge and experience and knowledge of Irelands sustainability and climate policies.
Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills with the ability to develop and implement long-term plans for sustainability and skills development.
Event organisation in both physical and virtual mediums.
Experience in creation of dissemination and communication plan and organisational skills to manage and monitoring.
Participation in large scale collaborative projects.
Salary:
Post Doc Researcher 2 (€52,715 to €57,332) per annum to 31 December 2026
Application Procedure:
All applications to be made online.
Informal Enquiries:
Informal enquiries ONLYmay be addressed to Helena McMahon, email: Location:This post is based in Munster Technological University Kerry Campus and ongoing national visits will be essential to collaborate with academic partners and to run SPNI events.
Citizenship Requirement:
Candidates should note that eligibility to compete for posts is open to citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA) or to non-EEA nationals with a valid work permit.
The EEA consists of the Member States of the European Union, United Kingdom along with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Swiss citizens under EU agreements may also apply.
It is an offence under the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006 for both an employer and an employee if a non-EEA National is in employment without an appropriate employment permit.
Employment permit holders can only work for the employer named on the permit.
Closing date for applications is 1.00pm Monday, 24th February 2025 Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.
The Human Resources Office, Munster Technological University, Tralee, Co Kerry MTU is an
Equal Opportunities Employer Skills:
strong strategic thinking & problem solving excellent interpersonal skills min 3 years experience in programme manager role