Policy Advocate

Protect Democracy seeks Policy Advocates who are passionate about protecting our democracy to rebuild and strengthen democratic norms and institutions by developing policy solutions and organizing strategic coalitions. Policy Advocates lead our efforts to influence congressional offices, state-level policymakers, candidates for elected office, executive branch officials, and similar decisionmakers through policy creation, direct outreach, coalition building, and collaboration with grassroots groups. Policy Advocates also lead efforts within Protect Democracy to develop policy solutions that would strategically advance our mission.

These are senior positions. You can work from any location in the United States. We expect to hire some Policy Advocates with significant Hill experience and an interest in doing Hill work, and we would expect those candidates to be based near the DC area.

Candidates from diverse backgrounds and with policy views across the political and ideological spectrum are strongly encouraged to apply. Our team includes people who have Republican, Democratic, and independent backgrounds. We are particularly interested in hiring some candidates who would expand the ideological diversity of our team, including by bringing center and center-right perspectives.

We expect to hire multiple candidates for this role, and as a result, we do not expect that any one candidate will have all of the experiences and requirements listed below.

Policy Advocates will:

• Develop, propose, and lead strategic campaigns aimed at influencing political and civic leaders at both the federal and state levels to rebuild our democratic norms and institutions that are under threat;
• Build coalitions of leaders, organizations, and activists in support of strategic campaigns to protect, rebuild, and perfect our democracy;
• Generate creative policy solutions and work with legislators, agencies, experts, and coalitions to advance them, including developing detailed policy proposals, such as our support for the Protecting Our Democracy Act or our white paper on accountability options for Trump-era misconduct;
• Collaborate with other organizations, including grassroots groups and advocacy organizations from across the political spectrum;
• Partner with colleagues to develop advocacy campaigns that will support our legal and litigation work in an integrated advocacy approach;
• Partner with colleagues to develop strategies to amplify our lobbying and organizing work work in an integrated advocacy approach;
• Draft concrete legislative or regulatory proposals, including legislative text and supporting policy documents with minimal supervision, and supervise team members to prepare these materials;
• Write, publish, and speak publicly to highlight the need for specific pro-democracy reforms and to build support among other nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the general public for the theories of change to achieve such reforms;
• Work with members of Congress, agency leaders, state-level lawmakers, experts, and coalitions to advance policy reforms into law;
• Brief reporters and provide expert commentary on complex policy issues and solutions;
• Contribute as a leader to the overall development of the organization across all areas;
• Work at both the federal and state level-therefore experience at either level is valuable.
  

Requirements:

• A passionate commitment to rebuilding democratic norms and institutions;
• Demonstrated ability to design and lead policy development, campaigns, or advocacy initiatives at the federal or state level at a high level of excellence;
• Ability to build and execute legislative and/or executive branch lobbying strategies;
• Ability and experience managing projects, i.e., designing and implementing step-by-step plans to get from A to B;
• Ability to generate ideas and creative policy solutions;
• Ability to draft concrete legislative proposals, including legislative text and supporting policy documents, and supervise team members to produce the same;
• Ability to persuasively present policy proposals to high-level decisionmakers, potential coalition partners, or think tanks/symposia through oral presentations and written products;
• Ability to write convincing and accessible policy analysis, articles, memos, and reports;
• Excellent judgment about political activism, including what levers can make change happen with limited resources;
• Understanding of the rhythms of the political-media world and legislative dynamics;
• Exceptional diplomatic skills and ability to build strong relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and ideologies;
• Comfort working in a collaborative start-up environment and partnering with team members from across disciplines;
• Comfort with an open and transparent culture with constant feedback up, down, and sideways.

Candidates who do not meet all listed requirements should still apply, because our organizational structure focuses on providing mentorship and opportunities for professional growth. Also, because we expect to make multiple Policy Advocate hires, we do not expect any one candidate to meet all requirements—we expect each candidate to be stronger in some areas than others.

About Protect Democracy

• Open to applicants from all over the country. Location requirements are flexible. The only requirement is that your location be one that allows you to complete the demands of the position and mission. We currently have staff in Washington, DC, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, California, Arizona, Colorado, and elsewhere around the country. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we offered shared workspaces for staff members who enjoy working in an office environment; we expect to do so again in the future.
• Commitment to a diverse workplace. Protect Democracy is an equal opportunity employer. Our culture principles emphasize that there is strength in diversity as we believe diverse teams are more innovative, creative, and productive. Protect Democracy encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

• Competitive pay and phenomenal benefits. This position is full-time and offers a salary and benefits commensurate with experience and designed to be at the leading edge of competitiveness for the social justice and non-profit sector. While we cannot match for-profit sector salaries, our intent is to not make finance a bar to people who want to do this work on the theory that paying for top talent will result in greater impact towards our mission. For example, our benefits package includes: three months of paid parental leave, a 401k plan in which we match employee contributions dollar for dollar up to 6% of salary, and full coverage for an excellent health care plan.