Policy & Advocacy Manager

Puget Soundkeeper (PSK) is hiring a full-time Policy & Advocacy Manager to work on our Law & Policy team. We seek a passionate, community-focused professional with a commitment to clean water and healthy communities who can help drive the progress needed to protect and enhance the Sound for the people and ecosystems that rely on clean water. Through environmental enforcement, administrative and agency action, and community engagement, our Law & Policy team maintains a robust, Sound-wide legal and advocacy docket and works with stakeholder groups across the region and nation. The Policy & Advocacy Manager will lead our legislative, policy, and issue-based campaigns and advocacy including collaboration with partners, communities, legislators, and the public. This position reports to the Executive Director and collaborates closely with our Staff Attorney.

Key Responsibilities

• Coalitions & Campaigns (40%) Attends, builds, engages, and connects with coalitions and develops new community connections to collaborate across the Sound, state, and region to advance our strategic goals. Leads PSK involvement in coalitions’ campaigns (e.g., legislative actions, broadening public awareness, securing victories), and develops and leads PSK’s own campaigns for clean water and a healthy Puget Sound. Works with Staff Attorney and Executive Director to set the organization’s policy and advocacy direction.
• Government Relations (30%). Builds and sustains relationships with legislative and executive branch officials (local, state, and federal). Works with contract lobbyist and communications support to execute campaigns. Manages grassroots lobbying efforts and state PDC & federal reporting requirements. Leads annual legislative advocacy plan for PSK with the WA State Legislature – including initiation of bills, coordination with elected officials and their teams, public engagement, and bill tracking.
• Law & Policy Support (20%) Drives clean water progress through a mix of other legal and educational programs, including helping with permit and regulatory advocacy (comment writing, coalition building, engineering, and scientific expert engagement).
• Internal Engagement & External Comms (10%) Supports PSK’s other programs internally (e.g., working cleanups, attending fundraisers) as needed and works externally on communications for PSK’s law and policy work, including acting as a spokesperson, drafting statements and blogs, and working on campaign messaging with internal colleagues and external partners.

Puget Soundkeeper’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan includes several goals which will be within the responsibility of the incoming manager; those include:

• Sustain impactful public outreach and engagement
• Achieve durable legislative victories locally, state-wide and nationally, and
• Support sound science and innovations in public policy

Overall, Puget Soundkeeper seeks someone with attention to detail, who is comfortable working with communities and partners in a wide array of situations – both in the public and behind a desk, who can multi-task under tight deadlines and pivot quickly when an emerging need arises, and who is willing to help colleagues as a member of our all-hands-on-deck team.

Note: a law degree is not required but would be a benefit; similarly, advanced degrees in PSK-related fields are also beneficial but not required. This job description provides a general overview of the position and is not a comprehensive mandatory list. If you feel passionate about our efforts and believe that you can contribute, we’d like to hear from you!

Potentially Relevant Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in environmental advocacy and policy work at state, local, or federal level; experience with Puget Sound issues (water pollution, aquatic ecosystems, salmon and orca restoration, stormwater) is advantageous.
• Demonstrated aptitude for quickly grasping new technical information and converting it to recommendations, strategies, talking points and action plans.
• Strong writing and public speaking skills.
• Commitment to the environment, social justice, community protection, and ethics.
• Strong time management skills, ability to work independently under tight deadlines, and ability to pivot between projects sometimes on short notice.
• Experience in cross-cultural community engagement, comfort speaking to diverse audiences, strong interest in advancing equity in the environmental movement, and an understanding of systemic barriers to participation.
• Supervision or management experience (e.g., program budgets, interns) preferred.
• Growth mindset and interest in lifelong learning.
• Passion for Puget Soundkeeper’s mission.

Data shows that women and BIPOC candidates often hesitate to apply for a job because they may not meet all the qualifications listed. This is not a mandatory comprehensive list; if you feel passionate about our efforts and believe that you have the skills to contribute, we want to hear from you!

The position provides competitive health care and other benefits, including a closed-office winter holiday during the last week of the calendar year, flexible work scheduling, and more. Any successful candidate must be willing to work, as needed, on some nights and weekends. PSK's in-person office policy currently requires working from our office twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Note: PSK will also consider early career professionals for a coordinator role, or career professionals – if you’re interested in helping us protect and defend Puget Sound, please apply!

• Demonstrated aptitude for quickly grasping new technical information and converting it to recommendations, strategies, talking points and action plans.
• Strong writing and public speaking skills.
• Experience in cross-cultural community engagement, comfort speaking to diverse audiences, strong interest in advancing equity in the environmental movement, and an understanding of systemic barriers to participation.