Starting in September 2019, the international Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) initiative, will begin year-long observations in the high Arctic supported by the German icebreaker Polarstern, which will serve as a central observatory embedded within an extensive, distributed network of deployed sensors and instruments that will drift together across the Arctic Ocean, and when combined with additional airborne and satellite observations and modeling will be used to better understand the evolving Arctic climate system, and the role it plays in a changing global climate. This talk will describe the international framework and processes for planning the logistics of the project, developing scientific observing teams, organizing scientific contributions, coordinating the use of resources, and ensuring MOSAiC’s legacy of data and products, with a focus on the participants and projects supported by the National Science Foundation and other US federal agencies.