Regional Policy Manager

JOB DESCRIPTION – Regional Policy Manager

Job Title: Regional Policy Manager

Reports to: Director of Local Programs or Co-Executive Directors 

Classification: Full Time, Exempt

Salary Range: $70,000 - $90,000

Position Summary

The Regional Policy Manager is an exempt, management level position. This position is responsible for advancing local advocacy efforts in the assigned geographies and requires the regular exercise of discretion and independent judgment. The position is responsible for supervising and evaluating employees, including policy advocates and outreach specialists.

The Regional Policy Manager will also be responsible for leading regional advocacy, supporting statewide policy advocacy, and for maintaining content area expertise in at least four substantive areas.

The Regional Policy Manager will also be committed to the long-term health and sustainability of the organization and will participate in organizational development and sustainability efforts.

Duties & Responsibilities

The essential functions (i.e., the fundamental job duties of the position) are as follows:

Develop relationships with governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, community-based organizations, community members, academic institutions, decision-makers, and other relevant stakeholders

• Represent Leadership Counsel at community events, conferences, convenings, etc.
• Represent Leadership Counsel in local, state, and national level conferences to further organizational mission and goals

Develop and implement a regional advocacy agenda in the assigned region.

• Identify policy and program priorities of regional or state importance and establish performance metrics
• Develop and implement campaign plans for each policy and program priority
• Conduct policy analyses and draft written materials, including letters to public agencies, to further campaign goals
• Support legal advocacy efforts, including identification of legal advocacy opportunities
• Develop and present oral testimony at workshops, hearings, and meetings
• Work with Communications Director to use media to advance program and policy priorities

Develop and maintain working knowledge of Leadership Counsel’s various focus areas that are relevant to the assigned geographies.

• Develop and maintain content area expertise related to local and regional government
• Develop content expertise on relevant local and regional laws and ordinances
• Develop content expertise on at least four substantive areas that fall within Leadership Counsel’s program area and are relevant to local policy advocacy
• Participate in at least four substantive Leadership Counsel teams (that may include the Housing and Land Use, Water, Climate, and Transportation, Energy)
• Develop a research agenda designed to further advocacy goals in assigned geographies
• Author and co-author relevant reports and studies to advance advocacy goals

Inform and engage on statewide advocacy

• Inform statewide policy and program priorities
• Represent region in statewide policy and program development and implementation

Supervise Policy Advocates and Outreach Specialists in assigned regions to ensure high quality performance and growth in each aspect of their position, including but not limited to:

• Advancing identified advocacy goals and achieving performance goals in the assigned geographies
• Developing educational curriculum to support leadership development and ongoing engagement
• Coalition building
• Base building and community-mobilization
• Professional Development

Support Local Advocacy to ensure effective implementation of short- and long-term policy and program goals

• Work with Policy Advocates to identify and develop long term strategic goals in assigned geographies
• Support local advocacy as needed, through a variety of activities including, but not limited to policy analysis, development of written materials, provide testimony for hearings and workshops, and identification of legal advocacy opportunities. Ensure sufficient time and availability to effectively support policy advocates and outreach specialists

Resource Development

• Support resource development efforts including but not limited to identification of funding opportunities, drafting grant proposals and grant reports
• Cultivate and manage individual donor relationships

Organizational Development and Relationship Development

• Participate in senior level team responsible for informing and implementing medium and long-term programmatic and organizational strategies and development
• Recruit staff, volunteers, and interns

Administrative duties

• Maintain time records of all activities as directed by Co-Executive Directors or Director of Operations
• Maintain files, notes, and records, in accordance with office policies

Other duties as identified by Director of Local Programs or Co-Executive Directors

This job description is not intended to be all inclusive and the employee will also perform other reasonably related duties as assigned by the supervising manager or co-executive directors.

Skills and Qualifications

The following qualifications are required for this position:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree or comparable work experience
• Prior Experience:
• 3 years of demonstrated experience working with and on behalf of lower income regions of the State
• 2-3 years of experience in effective project management
• Technical Skills/Proficiencies:
• Computer skills including Microsoft Office Suite and Google Office Suite
• Excellent verbal and writing skills
• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• Exceptional project management skills
• Other Traits, Capacities, and Requirements:
• Ability to work regular evening and weekend hours
• Ability to travel within the State of California including throughout California and 1-2 times out of state per year
• Access to personal vehicle and insurance coverage
• Comfortable with working with residents and organizations from diverse background
• COVID-19 vaccinations required (including boosters when eligible).  Leadership Counsel will abide by all exceptions to the vaccination requirement required by applicable law.  Specifically, an employee may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation exempting them from the vaccine requirement if:
• The employee has a physical or mental disability that prevents the employee from taking the vaccine; or
• The employee has a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance that prevents the employee from taking the vaccine.

The following qualifications are desired, but not required, for this position:

• Education: Advanced degree in community development, environmental policy, urban planning, public policy, or public administration a plus

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

The physical demands listed are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Ability to drive frequently and for up to 8 hours in a day to community meetings, hearings, conferences and other related activities, ability to work long days occasionally up to 14 hours in a day, ability to conduct door-to-door outreach and conduct meetings, lifting materials and supplies such as chairs, easels, tables. Typically, these will weigh 30 pounds or less. Position involves sitting at a desk and working on a computer for most the workday. The employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit; use hands for clerical duties and keyboarding. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms; stoop and kneel. Specific vision abilities required by this job includes close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Acute hearing is necessary for telephone and in person communication with callers and community members, and visual acuity sufficient to read a computer screen and paper documents.

This position engages in functions both indoors and outdoors, in office environments with light to moderate noise, and in community gathering venues, private homes or government buildings with both small and large groups of people where noise levels may be higher than in a typical office setting.

Employees share office space with one or more other staff members. Out-of-office meetings both meetings will include meetings in other offices, in community centers, in homes, in government buildings, and outside.

Equal Employment Opportunity & Accommodations

Leadership Counsel is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and strictly prohibits any unlawful harassment and/or discrimination against applicants for employment or anyone in its employ based on sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity (including transgender status), gender expression, religious belief or practice, race (including natural hairstyle or hair texture related thereto), color, national origin (including possession of a driver’s license issued under Vehicle Code Section 12801.9 which authorizes licenses to individuals who cannot provide satisfactory proof of their presence in the U.S. under federal law), ancestry, age (40 and over), physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer-related physical or mental health impairment or history of same), genetic information, military and veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state or local laws. To comply with applicable laws ensuring equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability, Leadership Counsel will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with a disability who are applicants or employees unless undue hardship would result. Any applicant or employee who requires an accommodation in order to complete the application process or to perform the essential functions of the job should contact their supervisor or one or both of the co-executive directors to request the accommodation.

Currently offered benefits for full-time positions include: up to $70 monthly cell phone reimbursement; 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental insurance for employee; 50% employer-paid health, vision, and dental insurance for employee's dependent(s); up to 6% 401(k) match for employee; annual professional development allotment; 16 accrued paid vacation days per year and additional paid vacation days after 4 years of employment; 15 accrued paid sick leave days per year; 12 paid holidays per year; and paid family leave. Benefits may change from time to time.