Chief Advocacy Officer

About the team:

In a moment when the federal government is trying to advance an authoritarian agenda under the guise of “crime control” and the criminal justice and immigrant rights fields need to build political influence and power to make progress and protect wins, Vera and Vera Action plays a central role as one of the nation’s oldest and largest justice reform organizations. We work across the political aisle and with the belief that a majority of the American public believes in both safety and justice—and there is no false choice between one or the other. Our success, whether on legislative campaigns or to change hearts and minds, depends on collaboration and coordination with other partners, including national and local allies, progressives and conservatives, grasstops and grassroots organizations, and within the justice reform field and beyond. In the movement ecology of social change, where different groups play distinct roles (i.e., mass protest, organizing, inside lane, etc.), Vera and Vera Action’s role is to harness the data, evidence, and solutions about what works in criminal justice and immigration reform in the policy and political debate—particularly with government and grasstops stakeholders.

The Chief Advocacy Officer (CAO), a position that reports to Insha Rahman, the incoming President and Director of Vera and Vera Action, is on Vera’s Leadership Team. Vera’s Advocacy & Partnerships team and Vera Action are responsible for leading the vision, strategy, and staff development of both policy advocacy and political advocacy across the organizations. These teams also serve as an anchor for many of Vera and Vera Action’s coordination and coalition efforts, including on rapid response, messaging, and issue advocacy campaigns.

On the c3 side, Advocacy & Partnerships serves as a hub for Vera staff to develop campaign strategy and workplans, including power mapping, stakeholder analyses, and real-time campaign planning and execution. Externally, Advocacy & Partnerships serves as a resource for the larger justice reform field and regularly coordinates the field to provide information, make meaning of current events and their impact on criminal justice and immigration, and to take action.

On the c4 side, Vera Action operates to neutralize the politics of crime and create a political climate hospitable to justice reform. We use public opinion research and messaging to equip politicians across the political spectrum to lead with a new approach to safety, accountability, and justice and counter crime attacks on the campaign trail and while in office. Vera Action also helps to build relationships with other movements, including labor, faith, reproductive justice, climate change, gun safety, etc., to ensure that issues of safety and justice are core to a multiracial, inclusive democracy.

About the role:

The CAO has a strong foundation of knowledge about criminal justice and immigration, is an experienced manager of both substantive programs and staff, has a track record of supervision in complex and dynamic environments, possesses both c3 and c4 experience, and has relationships with both movement partners and the broader fields, as well as with funders. The CAO will guide an experienced team of policy experts, campaigners, and political strategists and ultimately be responsible for effective and impactful policy advocacy by Vera and political advocacy by Vera Action. The CAO is passionate about social and racial justice, motivated to drive change, and unafraid to challenge the status quo. The CAO is enthusiastic, collaborative, curious, and kind, and values working with and helping others build experience, expertise, and skills. The person must believe in the value of doing “inside” lane work with government as well as “outside” lane approaches of working in partnership with advocates, organizers, and grassroots and grasstops allies.

Advocacy Leadership

• Identify priority issues and campaigns for Vera and Vera Action where engaging in policy advocacy and political advocacy will lead to advancing progress or defending against backlash on our mission
• With the President and Director, set and build out the strategy for Vera Action, driving decision-making related to lobbying, advocacy, and political initiatives in service of changing both narratives and policies around the criminal justice and immigration systems
• Supervise staff in Advocacy & Partnerships and Vera Action, as well as collaborate with Vera’s Initiatives, to develop and execute on those issues and campaigns
• Coordinate with the Vera Leadership Team to ensure that the issues and campaigns are supportive of the overall organizational goals
• Provide thought leadership and guidance to ensure rigor in initiatives and campaigns

Field Leadership

• Lead, or help to build, coalitions and tables for the justice reform field
• Serve as a representative for Vera and Vera Action across multiple sectors, including building relationships with partners in democracy, labor, faith, and other fields
• Serve as a media spokesperson and one of the public faces of Vera and Vera Action
• Manage relationships with campaign consultants and contract lobbyists
• Represent Vera and Vera Action in rapid response contexts

Fundraising and Finance

• In collaboration with the development team and Vera and Vera Action’s President and Director, fundraise for Vera and Vera Action’s core advocacy efforts and campaigns, and the organizations generally
• Oversee budget, reporting deadlines, track spending, and ensure spending aligns with strategic needs

Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a core member of the Vera Leadership Team and engage in enterprise-level planning, administration, strategy- and goal- setting and decision-making
• Attend weekly VLT meetings and other responsibilities related to VLT membership

Talent Development, Supervision and Mentorship

• Supervise senior leads in Advocacy & Partnerships and Vera Action
• Ensure staff has the resources, skills, and infrastructure necessary to meet and exceed goals
• Provide mentorship and guidance to non-supervisee staff who are building advocacy skills

What qualifications are we looking for?

Required:

• 15+ years of experience in advocacy, campaigns, and policy and political change, including on criminal justice and/or immigration.
• A track record of managing complex work—including campaigns and people—across both 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to fundraise and serve as a representative for the organizations with key stakeholders, including donors.
• Experience planning and leading policy advocacy campaigns at the federal, state, or local level.
• Experience working in coalition and partnership with other grasstops and grassroots organizations, including across the aisle.
• A deep commitment to Vera’s mission to end mass incarceration, fight for immigrants’ rights, restore dignity to people behind bars, and build safe, thriving communities.

Preferred:

• Experience with political campaigns and elections a plus.
• Experience as a spokesperson on social justice issues and campaigns in traditional and/or new media outlets.
• A degree in public policy or law, or the equivalent work experience.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities you'll bring:

• You hold credible relationships with government partners, leaders, advocates, and organizers, as well as other leaders in the field.
• You are comfortable with the authority and decision-making responsibilities that accompany an executive position in the organizations. That means you must truly enjoy—and not just tolerate—working with others, both external to Vera and Vera Action and inside the organizations.
• You are flexible, highly-organized, and able to multi-task, prioritize, and manage multiple activities in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to travel 20% of the time.

Location:

Please note this role will report to our Brooklyn, NY or Washington, DC office. Vera employees adhere to a hybrid schedule and are in-office on an alternating schedule that generally amounts to 10 days per month.

Compensation and Benefits:

The compensation range for this position is $280,000-300,000. Actual salaries will vary depending on factors including but not limited to experience and performance. The salary range listed is just one component of Vera Institute’s total compensation package for employees. As an employer of choice in our field, supporting Vera staff - both personally and professionally - is a priority. To do this, we invest in the well-being of our staff through other rewards including merit pay, generous paid time off, a comprehensive health insurance plan, student loan repayment benefits, professional development training opportunities and up to $2,000 annual for education costs and fees relevant to Vera work, employer-funded retirement plan, and flexible time. To learn more about Vera’s benefits offerings, click here.

Application Process:

To receive further consideration for this career opportunity, applicants are asked preliminary questions about logistics, their interest and qualifications. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional details about their experience via a phone screen/form in advance of an invitation for a virtual or in-person interview with the team. Some searches may explore scenarios during the interview process and/or an assessment prior to reference checks and a hiring decision.

Compensation and Benefits:

The compensation range for this position is $280,000-300,000. Actual salaries will vary depending on factors including but not limited to experience and performance. The salary range listed is just one component of Vera Institute’s total compensation package for employees. As an employer of choice in our field, supporting Vera staff - both personally and professionally - is a priority. To do this, we invest in the well-being of our staff through other rewards including merit pay, generous paid time off, a comprehensive health insurance plan, student loan repayment benefits, professional development training opportunities and up to $2,000 annual for education costs and fees relevant to Vera work, employer-funded retirement plan, and flexible time. To learn more about Vera’s benefits offerings, click here.