Overview
NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet’s wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America’s bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Bozeman, Montana; Chicago; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing.
NRDC is seeking a Policy Director for Industry to work with the Industry, Hydrogen, and Innovation team within the Climate and Clean Energy Program in our Washington DC office.
Position Summary
NRDC is seeking a Policy Director for Industry to lead our federal and state industrial decarbonization advocacy; identify and pursue opportunities to bolster our industrial decarbonization advocacy through coalition-building, thought leadership, strategic communications, research and analyses to fill information gaps, etc.; serve as the direct manager of the Federal Industrial Lead and the State Industrial Lead, and secondary manager to 2-3 additional staff members; and serve as the primary spokesperson at NRDC on industrial decarbonization, including with the media and funders.
Responsibilities
- Provide strategic direction to our federal and state industrial decarbonization advocacy, ensuring coordination across industrial subsectors (e.g., cement, steel, aluminum), geographies (e.g., federal, NY, CA), and policy approaches (e.g., emissions standards, decarbonization investments, manufacturing and procurement incentives). Serve as a close thought partner to the Federal Industrial and the State Industrial Lead. Lead engagement with other relevant teams within NRDC (e.g., government affairs, communications, state- and regional-specific advocates, transportation and buildings teams). Our current sub-sectors of focus are cement, concrete, steel, and aluminum, though we’ll likely expand into new sub-sectors over time.
- Identify and pursue opportunities to bolster our industrial decarbonization advocacy through coalition-building (including with labor and local communities), thought leadership, strategic communications, research and analyses to fill information gaps, etc.
- Serve as the direct manager of – and thought partner to – the Federal Industrial Lead and the State Industrial Lead, and secondary manager to 2-3 additional staff members.
- Serve as the primary spokesperson at NRDC on industrial decarbonization, including with the media and funders.
- Play a leading role in fundraising activities, including developing proposals, regularly reporting to funders, and serving as the main liaison with funders that support the industrial decarbonization portfolio.
Qualifications
Required
- Master’s degree in public policy, engineering, or a related technical field.
- 6-9 years of working experience in policy advocacy, engineering, or a related technical field.
- Strong strategic skills relevant to climate policy, advocacy, and project development.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze, understand, and translate complex scientific, legal and policy matters for advocacy purposes.
- Demonstrated ability to identify, and pursue, research and analysis to fill information gaps in order to inform and support advocacy.
- Persuasive verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong inter-personal, relationship-building and networking skills.
- Demonstrated ability to build and work within coalitions, including that reach beyond the traditional environmental community.
- Demonstrated ability to engage with industry.
- Experience managing complex projects involving many moving parts and teams.
- Demonstrated ability to work with and manage consultants, fellows and/or interns on discrete projects.
- Experience developing fundraising proposals and regularly engaging with foundations and/or major donors.
- Commitment to NRDC’s mission and values.
Preferred
- Experience serving as the direct manager of staff is preferred.
- Knowledge about one or more industrial sub-sectors – particularly cement, concrete, steel, and/or aluminum – is preferred.
NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet’s most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement.
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. For this position, the salary is $131,000 to $150,000. Internal equity considerations will be reviewed before making a final offer.
Our offices are open and we are operating in a hybrid model. We offer NRDCers flexibility, we ask them to come into the office and spend meaningful time there in collaboration with their colleagues. We call this purposeful presence.
As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination, those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions via NRDC Employee Relations. NRDC treats all vaccine-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws.
To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé and cover letter. Please mention where you saw this posting and upload any additional materials that showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates we would like to interview. Please no phone calls, emails, or in-person résumé drop-offs.
If you experience technical problems while applying or if you are a person with a disability and need assistance applying online, please reach out to iCIMS Customer Care at 1-800-889-4422.
For more about NRDC, visit www.nrdc.org.