Location:
This is a hybrid position within California. Applicants residing in Sacramento or Oakland strongly preferred and will be given priority; exceptional candidates located anywhere within California are invited to apply. Requires advocacy before the California Legislature.
Is this position in the Bargaining Unit? [X] Yes [ ] No
*Because this position is in the Bargaining Unit, some fees may be required depending on where the candidate lives as a condition of employment.
Application Instructions:
Please apply on our website (https://biologicaldiversity.bamboohr.com/careers/119?source=aWQ9MzE%3D) by submitting one PDF containing a cover letter, resume, writing sample (campaigning materials of 2-3 pages) and 3 references. Please also directly email your application to Roger Lin at Rlin@biologicaldiversity.org. No telephone calls, please. Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.
ABOUT THE CENTER
The Center for Biological Diversity, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, believes the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence of a vast diversity of wild animals, plants and people. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law, activism and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that humans, other species and all communities need to survive and thrive.
The Center’s Energy Justice Program wages innovative and bold legal-forward campaigns for energy justice and a clean and equitable energy future.
We want those who come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive.
POSITION SUMMARY
To fight the climate emergency and extinction crisis, we must transition our world to be entirely powered by clean and renewable energy. However, our energy transformation must go beyond technical solutions; it also must revolutionize our electricity system to be just, democratic, and distributed—protecting wildlife and the planet, empowering Black, Brown and other communities of color who have been disproportionately harmed by the fossil fuel era, and boosting energy resilience amidst ever-increasing climate disasters.
The Center’s Energy Justice Program wages cutting-edge campaigns to challenge a broken energy system dominated by monopoly utilities, which continue to burn dirty fossil fuels and obstruct the clean and just energy transition. In particular, we build people power from the bottom-up to campaign for rooftop and community solar policies and urgently-needed energy system reform, and support precedent-setting legal actions to combat utility obstruction of clean energy and other distributed resources.
We seek a highly skilled and passionate campaigner to join our Energy Justice Program team, focusing on our California advocacy campaigns. The position will require policy and legislative advocacy, top-notch campaigning skills, including strategic thinking, power-mapping, and effective execution and organizing; powerful communication skills in both written and oral advocacy; strong coalition-building skills, spanning both local communities and national allies; out-of-the-box creativity and understanding of the urgency of our clean energy mission as part of the greater political fight against fossil fuels and the climate emergency; and a desire to be part of a driven, fast-paced, and tight-knit team. This is an exciting role for those who want to go beyond talk and execute with action and effectiveness. One to three years of relevant experience is strongly preferred.
ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Craft and execute campaign plans to combat barriers to the clean and just energy transition on both state and federal levels, requiring power-mapping, strategic thinking, and organizing;
- Work to develop and execute legal-forward campaigns with the Program’s lawyers and policy analysts, and the organization’s communications team;
- Engage with policy makers in California and nationally to advocate for energy system reform;
- Create written campaign materials, ranging from comment letters and policy briefings to op-eds, action alerts, and digital organizing pieces;
- Build strong partnerships and coalitions with community-based organizations, as well as state, national, and international organizations, who work in the climate emergency and energy democracy space;
- Effectively communicate with the media, decision-makers, the public, allies and opinion leaders through writing, outreach and public speaking.
- Perform other job-related duties as assigned.
- Some travel required.
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS
- 1-3 years of campaign and/or policy advocacy experience.
- Demonstrated ability to think strategically and craft and execute campaigns, including the use of organizing, coalition-building, strategic media, power-mapping, and protest coordination.
- Demonstrated ability to build coalitions on local, national, and/or international level.
- Demonstrated experience and knowledge of climate policy, as well as clean energy, energy justice and energy democracy space dynamics; experience with fossil fuel campaigning welcome as well.
- Demonstrated understanding of the interlinkages among climate justice, racial justice, and energy justice.
- Excellent writing skills, including ability to write policy comment letters, op-eds, and campaigning materials.
- Excellent oral advocacy skills, including public speaking experience and confidence.
- A demonstrated ability to work both independently and with a team.
- A demonstrated ability to take initiative and think creatively.
- The ability to balance multiple tasks and deadlines with persistence and follow-through in a busy environment.
- Passion to fight for the urgent and just clean energy future we need and deserve.
- Ability to work 40+ hours per week.
WORKING CONDITIONS
Periodic travel required, evening or weekend work may be required at times due to project deadlines. Requires attending in-person events, actions, and meetings. Typical work schedule is Monday-Friday. Requires the use of typical office equipment including copiers, printers, etc.