Director of Policy

Now Hiring: Director of Policy, Action & Engagement

Full-Time | Hybrid (minimum 2 days in office/week) | Downtown Los Angeles, CA

Reports to: VP, Action & Engagement

Salary Range: $85,000 - $115,000 - DOE

About CNM:

The Southern California Center for Nonprofit Management (CNM) is dedicated to helping Southern California’s social impact nonprofit sector thrive. CNM offers programs, education, and training solutions to nonprofit leaders whose organizations serve low-to-middle income communities. These communities face struggles linked to poverty, crime, poor educational facilities, lack of health care, language barriers, and other quality of life challenges. CNM helps these organizations develop and build capacity by ensuring that these nonprofit leaders have the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to pursue their missions.

We do this by working with leaders on program evaluation, strategic planning, organizational development, community impact assessments, and effective governance. CNM has been Southern California’s social impact nonprofit sector's most trusted partner when it comes to elevating its leaders, solving problems, and responding to change. In 2022, CNM served more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations and over 5,000 nonprofit staff through a variety of initiatives, projects, trainings, and seminars. Most recently, CNM convened nearly 500 nonprofit leaders from across the region at our annual conference.

Our ability to advance capacity building is done through our research, data tracking and analysis, sector action and engagement, advocacy, and innovation. CNM is comprised of strong leaders who help shape how nonprofit leaders approach challenges and opportunities, so these organizations can more effectively pursue their missions and impact their communities.

About the Role:

The Director of Policy reports to the VP of Action & Engagement and works closely with CNM’s leadership teams to develop and implement policy priorities to advance the mission and goals of the organization. The Director of Policy will have a supervisory role. This role leads the organization's policy efforts by conducting policy research, analysis, and proposals. They will build relationships with stakeholders, manage government relations, and coordinate policy advocacy efforts.

This is a great opportunity for someone who thrives at the intersection of strategy, community, and execution. and wants to be part of a mission-driven team committed to advancing social impact across the region.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Develop policy recommendations for each of CNM’s advocacy priorities, especially for policies affecting fair and true cost government contracting.
• Conduct policy research and analysis that includes landscape analysis, stakeholder engagement, and concrete policy analysis methodologies.
• Draft policy analyses for federal, state, and local policies impacting the nonprofit sector.
• Draft legislative and administrative policy proposals to advance our policy priorities.
• Develop and implement policy advocacy campaigns.
• Collaborates with government officials, nonprofit leaders, and community groups to promote CNM’s policy initiatives.
• Represents CNM on various boards, commissions, and advisory bodies, amplifying the nonprofit sector’s voice and policy priorities.
• Engages in continuous dialogue with policymakers to promote the adoption of CNM’s policy priorities at local, state, and federal levels.
• Engages in coalition-building efforts and strategic partnerships to amplify the organization's advocacy impact.
• Supports the VP of Engagement & Advocacy in training staff to understand and advocate for CNM’s policy positions effectively.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of advocacy efforts and adjust strategies as needed to achieve desired outcomes.
• Stays informed about emerging policy issues, best practices, and innovations in the field of nonprofit advocacy and public policy.
• Leads and mentors a team of professionals, including monitoring workload, distributing assignments and conducting annual performance evaluations.
• Will work collaboratively and cross functionally with all CNM departments.
• Maintains a positive high performing culture that values learning and a commitment to quality and attracts, retains, and motivates top quality staff.
• Supervises consultants as needed to develop and execute deliverables in a timely manner.
• Other duties, as needed.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, public administration, business, social sciences, or related field, or 8 years of related experience and/or training combined.
• Minimum of 8 years working in or supporting nonprofits or government, with experience in developing and implementing initiatives around policy and advocacy.
• Minimum of 3 years in a supervisory role.
• Demonstrated understanding of the challenges nonprofits face towards achieving organizational resilience and sustainability.
• Strategic thinking and the ability to research, design, develop, implement, and sustain policy change and program execution.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams or consultants.
• Comfort and experience representing an organization in external meetings, public forums, or policy settings.
• Ability to manage projects, prioritize work effectively and adjust to multiple demands with excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Proficiency in public policy research and analysis methodologies.
• Proven ability to educate, mobilize, and build relationships with diverse stakeholders across sectors.
• Computer expertise in MS Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, in addition to Salesforce, Monday.com, and Google Documents.
• High degree of ethics and integrity.
• Bilingual/Spanish preferred