Senior Policy Director, Media & Technology

We are looking for a Senior Policy Director, Media & Technology to lead Common Cause’s work at the federal and state levels to advance a more open, accessible, responsible, and democratic information ecosystem. This includes shaping reforms on media and tech consolidation and ownership, promoting platform transparency and accountability, defending net neutrality and broadband access, protecting independent journalism and public media, establishing artificial intelligence governance, and addressing the harms of disinformation, surveillance, and algorithmic bias. This role will set the vision and direction for this work, manage staff members, and collaborate with senior directors and directors in the Policy and Litigation, Campaigns and Organizing, States, and External Affairs departments to drive strategies that achieve policy, legislative, and litigation wins for a healthy democracy where information empowers people, not just platforms.

In this role you will be a strategic and hands-on leader, using your deep subject matter expertise to power map, design federal- and state-level advocacy campaigns, and navigate policy, regulatory, legislative, litigation, and political landscapes, ensuring that we are a trusted expert and leader in this policy space.

This is a full-time role reporting to the Vice President, Policy in the Policy and Litigation department; this role is remote anywhere within the lower 48 United States, with an expectation to travel at least 6 times per year. We hope our new Senior Policy Director, Media & Technology will start in July.

Responsibilities

Lead national strategy on Media & Technology

• Set the strategic vision for the portfolio of issues within this policy pillar, ensuring alignment across state and federal advocacy
• Lead power-mapping and political analysis to identify key opportunities, threats, and leverage points using policy, regulatory, legislative, and litigation tools
• Oversee the development and execution of policy, legislative, and litigation strategies and campaigns that are actionable and viable to win pro-democracy reforms at the state and federal levels

Manage & mentor members of the Media & Technology team

• Manage staff on this team: coach and develop staff towards their goals and support their career progression and retention at Common Cause
• Provide guidance and coaching to team members, helping them develop expertise and maximize impact
• Ensure strong coordination across research, policy analysis, and advocacy efforts
• Build an internal culture of strategic collaboration, aligning your team within the Policy and Litigation department and with other departments

Drive policy implementation & state-level impact

• Work directly with state teams and coalitions to enact policy changes, pass legislation, and initiate litigation to create a more transparent, ethical, and accountable democracy
• Support states in policy, regulatory, and legislative implementation, ensuring new laws are effectively rolled out and enforced
• Build systems for peer-to-peer learning and technical assistance so state teams can better navigate policy, regulatory, and legislative processes
• Partner with state and national organizations, elected and appointed officials, and policymakers to advance policy, regulatory, and legislative reforms

Represent Common Cause at the highest levels

• Serve as a lead spokesperson, thought leader and subject-matter expert, representing Common Cause in coalitions, media, and policy, regulatory, and legislative settings
• Provide expert testimony, briefings, and guidance to policymakers and other key stakeholders
• Drive public education and thought leadership on media and technology issues through reports, opinion pieces, and public forums
• Ensure Common Cause is recognized as a trusted leader in media and technology policy, influencing national and state-level policy, regulatory, and legislative debates

Strengthen organizational impact & cross-team collaboration

• Ensure strong coordination between and among the Policy and Litigation, Campaigns and Organizing, States, and External Affairs departments, integrating policy advocacy into campaign
• Partner with Common Cause’s litigation team to develop legal strategies
• Work closely with the External Affairs department to produce materials that shape public and policymaker understandings of the portfolio of issues in this policy space
• Identify new opportunities for Common Cause to lead in this policy space

Perform administrative and other duties

• Perform other duties as assigned
• Complete administrative tasks as needed

Qualifications

You will thrive in this role if you have:

• A strong commitment to Common Cause’s nonpartisan mission and to advancing civil rights and policies to make our communications systems more open, accessible, and accountable
• A commitment to equity in the goals of your work and in how you work with others
• A track record of working collaboratively with others, with the ability to build rapport, trust, and credibility with multiple stakeholders with diverse interests
• Ability to navigate organizational and power dynamics, respectfully navigate conflict while maintaining your values, and influence others to adopt changes to meet common goals
• Ability to compel action through both written and verbal communication, including distilling complex concepts for a broad audience, and to differentiate communications as needed for various audiences
• Innovative and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to navigate through ambiguity to achieve goals, and a resourceful approach to solve problems
• Ability to manage and meet deadlines for multiple short- and long-term priorities at once, with high attention to detail; strong organization skills, and the ability to manage your time independently
• Openness to feedback and awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth
• Familiarity with office productivity tools including Microsoft Office, Slack, and Zoom

The following is required:

• Demonstrated subject-matter expertise in the portfolio of issues related to media and technology
• Experience leading successful public advocacy campaigns related to media and technology, democracy and/or civil rights, including creating and managing campaigns or annual plans from ideation through implementation
• Demonstrated experience with the legislative process at the federal level as well as in at least one state (ideally in multiple), including policy research and analysis, policy development, legislative drafting, legislative advocacy and lobbying, and policy implementation
• Demonstrated knowledge of funders and decision-makers at the federal level as well as within at least one state (ideally in multiple), with a preference for candidates who have existing relationships with these people and organizations
• Experience managing coalitions or groups that represent stakeholders with diverse interests to achieve a goal
• A track record of leading organization-wide change initiatives
• Have managed and developed a team; set strategic direction for a team, and built a unified approach to achieve goals
• Ability to travel at least 6 times per year to attend conferences, convenings, or summits in this policy space and for team and all staff meetings and retreats
• Per our nonpartisan policy, Common Cause staff members may not currently be in elected office (or running for office); on the Steering Committee or Finance Committee for any political candidate; or affiliated with the leadership of a political party

Additional information about this role

• This position is classified as supervisory and therefore not included in the union-represented collective bargaining unit.
• Common Cause is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time; please note that if hired, you will be asked to produce documentation for authorization to work in the US.

Compensation: $125,000-$140,000

Note that we do have geography-specific percentage increases, depending on where you are located; details here.

In order to ensure greater equity and transparency as an organization, Common Cause sets salary ranges consistently based on job responsibilities, and we determine salary for each staff member based on relevant years of experience (you can read more about our approach to compensation here, including where we offer geographical adjustments). For these reasons, we do not negotiate on our salary ranges or our specific salary offers.

In addition to salary, we also offer a generous benefits package, including:

• A robust healthcare plan that covers 97% of employee’s medical care, 100% of employee’s vision and dental benefits, and 75% of family medical care and 100% of family vision and dental benefits
• Long-term disability and life insurance
• Generous Paid Time Off including 20 Days of Vacation and 10 observed Holidays per year, and additional days off for Thanksgiving and Winter break
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Flexible spending accounts
• A 401k retirement savings plan, with immediate Employer Match
• Dependent Care and Pet Care Support when you travel for work
• Funds for professional development
• And more! See more details here: https://www.commoncause.org/our-benefits/

Common Cause is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of any race, creed, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, income class, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or marital status, as well as applicants who have been previously incarcerated.

Common Cause (501(c)(4)) and Common Cause Education Fund (501(c)(3)) are nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots affiliate organizations dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create an open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Common Cause has more than 1.5 million members and supporters living in every congressional district in the United States, and offices in 23 states around the country.