Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy

Position: Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy

Reports to: Policy Director

Background: The Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH) is a regional, membership organization promoting the production, preservation, and management of homes affordable to low-income people throughout the Southern California region. Our roughly 250 organizational members—including about 1,400 individuals—are based primarily in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, and include non-profit housing developers, private businesses, property management companies, government agencies, and social service organizations.

In its policy work, SCANPH engages decision makers at the local, regional, state, and federal level. Our work includes monitoring, advocating for, and commenting on policy initiatives and regulatory rulings that impact our members’ ability to develop and manage affordable housing. It also includes conducting and presenting research that furthers affordable housing development throughout the region. In some cases, SCANPH initiates and leads public policy campaigns designed to enhance our members’ work.

About the Role: SCANPH seeks a Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy to assist with its policy work. The Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy role balances research and analysis with membership coordination and facilitation. Fundamentally, it is the Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy’s job to gather information from SCANPH’s membership as well as other sources, and utilize this data to inform and carry out the organization’s advocacy work. A successful SCANPH Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy will collaborate well with fellow staff members, be responsive to SCANPH’s many members and partners, and be able to quickly produce clear, effective, and concise written communications. Solid skills in record keeping, facilitation, and the distillation of complex data and written information are also a must. The Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy will report to the Policy Director, and the position is full-time.

Responsibilities:

• Legislative and Regulatory Policy:
  • Facilitate industry comment on legislation and regulatory policy by mobilizing SCANPH’s membership and gathering their feedback;
  • Monitor local, state, and federal policy impacting the affordable housing field;
  • Draft official letters of support/opposition reflecting SCANPH’s positions;
  • Track SCANPH bills and maintain a public-facing bill tracker for SCANPH’s website which logs all bills that the organization is tracking and which positions we have taken.
• Member Organization and Mobilization:
  • Assist the Policy Director in facilitating groups which influence SCANPH policy positions such as the Board Policy Committee and the Policy Working Group (PWG);
  • Duties for the Policy Committee will include:
    • Collaborating with the Policy Team to determine which bills and priorities should be brought to the Policy Committee on a monthly basis;
    • Drafting meeting agendas and analysis rubrics which concisely distill bills for Committee members;
    • Conducting any necessary follow up work, including drafting official letters on legislation that reflect the Committee’s positions;
  • Duties for the PWG will include:
    • Drafting weekly “Policy Roundup” and ad-hoc requests for feedback e-blasts to collect information on how various policy proposals will impact SCANPH members, such as regulatory changes from funding agencies;
    • Occasionally assembling the PWG virtually and facilitating meetings to collect feedback on an issue in real time;
  • Collaborate with the Advocacy Director in mobilizing members to support SCANPH’s policy agenda.
• Empirical Research and Reports:
  • Collect data on how policy proposals impact SCANPH members by convening and polling working groups within the organization’s membership, conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses, and helping SCANPH’s Policy Team develop and implement effective policy solutions for affordable housing;
  • Collaborate with the Public Affairs Team to produce research-driven comms materials to support our policy work.
• Advocacy:
  • Build and maintain relationships with legislators by supporting and facilitating in-district meetings and other legislative visits, mobilizing members to attend meetings with legislators, and maintaining policy databases with Legislator contact lists and bill positions;
  • Give in-person public comment at meetings of government electeds and agency representatives, as well as organize partner organizations to do the same.
• Coalition Coordination:
  • Represent SCANPH and the affordable housing model with external coalitions of partner advocacy organizations;
  • Coordinate scheduling and programming, and occasionally present at coalition meetings and events, providing accessible subject matter expertise on affordable housing policy and related topics;
  • Facilitate small-group discussions in real time and ensure attendees are heard and their feedback is recorded;
  • Assist the Policy Director and Advocacy Director in event coordination and stakeholder engagement during in-person feedback sessions, such as SCANPH’s Legislative Visioning Session and the Resident United Network’s “There Ought to be a Law” event.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree preferred.
• Two years’ experience in policy and advocacy and/or working with organized constituents.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, including written and verbal presentations to a variety of individuals and organizations.
• Ability to lead organized groups of members, lead delegations to policy makers, and run membership and coalition meetings.
• Ability to work within a small staff and handle diverse duties.
• Familiarity with GIS mapping software is a plus.
• Spanish fluency is a plus.
• Working knowledge of affordable housing policy and finance is a plus.
• Previous experience in organizing/advocacy is a plus.
• Lived experience related to homelessness or housing instability is a plus.

Working Conditions:

• This position will be a hybrid position, where remote work is available aside from fixed, all-staff, weekly in-person day at SCANPH’s office in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles.
• Frequent local travel is required to in-person public meetings in addition to weekly in-person office days. These meetings may be with external partners such as SCANPH members, coalition partners, and SCANPH events/conferences. These events sometimes take place in the evenings.

Salary and benefits: The starting salary for this position ranges from $80,000 to $85,000 annually, depending on the applicant's qualifications and experience. SCANPH offers a generous benefits package, including healthcare and retirement.

Employment Status: Full-time, exempt position.

Preferred Start Date: As soon as position is filled.

To Apply: Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume and cover letter to Jobs@scanph.org with the subject line "Application for Senior Associate of Legislative and Regulatory Policy." The deadline to apply is June 1st. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early applications are encouraged.

SCANPH offers a generous benefits package, including healthcare and retirement.

Spanish fluency is a plus.