Director, Industrial Strategy & Competitiveness
Center on Economics & Foreign Affairs · United States
full timehybridDirector
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Sign in to applyAbout the role
Leads sector research and development strategies across critical minerals, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, logistics, technology, and supply chains.
Responsibilities
- Assess sector structure, supply chains, productive capacity, technology, workforce, trade exposure, and investment needs. - Develop evidence-based industrial roadmaps that identify bottlenecks, priority interventions, and project opportunities. - Engage operators, labor, government, finance, researchers, communities, and technical experts to validate assumptions. - Translate analysis into policy recommendations, partner strategies, and implementable development initiatives. - Maintain analytic independence and distinguish public-interest recommendations from the commercial interests of individual participants. Reporting & working relationships Reports to the strategy or programs executive. Leads analysts and external experts and works with industry participants, government agencies, researchers, workforce institutions, project teams, and capital providers. Authority & limits May lead assigned programs, staff, outreach, negotiations, and approved expenditures within written delegation. Final contracts, capital commitments, securities activity, public positions, and material partnership terms require authorized approval.
Required qualifications
- Deep experience in industrial policy, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, logistics, critical minerals, technology, trade, or economic development. - Ability to combine sector data, operator insight, policy analysis, and investment considerations. - Strong writing, convening, and strategic judgment across government and industry audiences.
Preferred qualifications
What success looks like: - Credible sector strategies grounded in data and practical operating realities. - Clear identification of capability gaps, policy levers, partners, and project pathways. - High-value convenings and research products that support real implementation decisions. - Balanced recommendations that advance public benefit and CEFA's independent mission.
Benefits
Employment classification: Paid senior staff position. Status: Full-time. Term: Ongoing employment, subject to applicable law and CEFA policies. Compensation: Salary and benefits commensurate with experience and CEFA's approved compensation framework. Performance cycle: Annual objectives with regular check-ins and a formal performance review. Work arrangement: Location, travel, schedule, and exempt/nonexempt status determined for the final role and jurisdiction.
Equal opportunity
CEFA is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration without regard to any legally protected characteristic.
About Center on Economics & Foreign Affairs
CEFA is a mission-driven nonprofit institution connecting research, policy, capital, and public- and private-sector partners to advance economic development and foreign-affairs priorities at national scale.