Remote Senior Advocacy Director

Summary

Join ZERO TO THREE as a Sr. Advocacy Director and lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to support and advance ZERO TO THREE’s mission of giving all babies and toddlers a strong start in life.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years relevant advocacy and policy experience
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge and facility with influencing and advocating at federal and local levels
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of federal legislative and regulatory processes and procedures
• Strong critical thinker and strategic planner with exceptional judgement and significant experience anticipating challenges and creatively problem-solving to address actual and possible scenarios and risks
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to devise and execute on strategies for multiple issue areas involving multiple federal and local agencies and stakeholders
• Able to work effectively independently and as a member of a team
• Strong and productive interpersonal and collaboration skills with track record of cultivating, building, and maintaining respectful and collaborative relationships at all levels
• Ability to influence, motivate, challenge, and inspire confidence among others
• Strong management and supervisory skills
• Experience providing reflective supervision
• Ability to inspire and motivate seasoned team members
• Experience with strategy development and execution
• Excellent oral and written communicator
• Demonstrated ability and skill serving as an external spokesperson
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to adapt work on multiple projects simultaneously
• Ability to travel, including occasional overnight stays

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of a multi-faceted strategy that effectively coordinates and marries advocacy outreach and government relations work with targeted and focused communications to deliver a comprehensive federal and local approach to the implementation of ZERO TO THREE’s policy agenda
• Collaborate with team members, internal colleagues, external government relations consultants, and relevant stakeholders to develop policy positions that reflect ZERO TO THREE’s values and commitment to racial equity and that are grounded in early childhood development science
• Work effectively with their team, colleagues and external government relations consultants to develop federal and state advocacy campaigns and government relations strategies in coordinated and interconnected ways
• Ensure all advocacy efforts comply with relevant laws and ethical standards and reflect transparency and accountability
• Lead their team in developing and fostering strategic partnerships and coalitions at the state and federal levels to drive and maximize impact
• Contribute to the development of effective ZERO TO THREE cross-programs and project integration and alignment
• Constantly monitor and assess impact and make needed adjustments to campaigns and strategies
• Work collaboratively to operationalize strategy and campaigns in ways needed to achieve significant policy wins
• Supervise a team of experienced policy analysts and government relations professionals
• Provide the level of mentorship, engagement, and support needed to build and retain a proactive team
• Ensure that work is planned in collaboration with the research agenda being carried out by the Policy Research team
• Evaluate team member performance and partner with members to establish annual goals and objectives
• Identify and provide appropriate professional growth and development opportunities
• Provide needed nuance and details when advising colleagues on crafting campaigns, implementing strategy, and on the optimal ways of presenting and communicating issues to specific audiences
• Establish processes to develop goals and priorities
• Work with team members to continuously monitor, analyze, and assess proposed and existing relevant federal and state legislation and activities of federal and local agencies
• Maintain a clear-eyed focus on crafting and directing appropriate campaigns and actions to ensure the needs of infants and toddlers are reflected
• Work closely with team members to collaborate with ZERO TO THREE’s outside government relations consultants
• Lead efforts to integrate their work into advocacy, policy, and legislative strategies
• Cultivate, build, and expand productive and strategic relationships with new champions for ZERO TO THREE
• Be a strong and active member of relevant coalitions and groups
• Identify ways to strengthen those relationships and partnerships to further amplify and advance the profile and relevance of ZERO TO THREE’s agenda
• Help garner visibility for the advocacy, policy, and legislative work through presentations at conferences, meetings, and in other relevant forums
• Serve as an engaged, dynamic, and thoughtful external voice and representative for ZERO TO THREE
• Maintain robust internal communications to stay abreast of the work of colleagues across the organization
• Keep colleagues informed of the department’s work with policy leaders and networks at the federal and local levels
• Coordinate with ZERO TO THREE colleagues to organize congressional briefings and other events designed to advance ZERO TO THREE’s federal priorities
• Contribute to grant proposals and reports to funders
• Keep the Chief Policy Officer and other senior leadership informed about pertinent legislative issues, external factors, and policy proposals and actions that impact infants and toddlers and their families

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package
• Medical, dental, vision
• HRA
• Retirement contributions
• Generous leave benefits