Director, State & Local Advocacy

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Oversee developments in state and local legislation, regulations, and administrative matters that impact youth homelessness and associated policy areas.

• Conduct analyses of the policy landscape and identify opportunities for systems change in collaboration with site leadership, frontline staff, community partners, and young individuals.

• Create policy briefs, issue papers, legislative summaries, talking points, fact sheets, and materials for advocacy.

• Simplify complex policy developments into actionable guidance.

• Support the domestic advocacy agenda of Covenant House International.

• Design and execute strategies to build advocacy capacity across U.S. locations.

• Assist site leaders in developing and enhancing state and local advocacy strategies.

• Create advocacy tools, guidance materials, training curricula, and resources for implementation.

• Provide technical assistance related to legislative, regulatory, budgetary, and administrative advocacy.

• Establish systems that enable sites to engage with policymakers, partners, and stakeholders.

• Support the execution of federal funding and policy initiatives at both state and local levels.

• Identify, scale, and share effective advocacy practices throughout the federation.

• Advise the Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships while independently managing projects and workstreams.

• Collaborate with colleagues from the strategy office, various departments, U.S. site leaders, and external partners.

• Foster relationships with nonprofit partners, advocacy organizations, research institutions, government entities, and philanthropic organizations.

• Represent Covenant House International within coalitions, working groups, and policy collaborations.

⛳️ Requirements

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in public policy, advocacy, systems change, government affairs, coalition leadership, technical assistance, consulting, or related fields.

• Proven track record in supporting policy implementation and/or advocacy initiatives at both state and local levels.

• Extensive knowledge of at least one key social determinant of health policy domain.

• Understanding of federal legislative and regulatory processes and their interaction with state and local systems.

• Experience collaborating with nonprofit organizations, public agencies, coalitions, or cross-sector partnerships.

• Ability to navigate politically diverse environments and cultivate bipartisan relationships.

• Capacity to manage multiple initiatives while delivering high-quality outputs within deadlines.

• Strong political judgment and the ability to assess risk, timing, and stakeholder interests.

• Experience in change management.

• Proven relationship management skills across various organizational levels.

• Expertise in facilitation and convening.

• Proficiency in data literacy for advocacy, policy analysis, and decision-making.

• Familiarity with public funding systems and nonprofit financial structures.

• Experience working with youth, emerging leaders, and senior executives.

• Ability to build systems, iterate, apply learning, pivot, and prioritize in uncertain environments.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Teams, Zoom, and project management tools.

• A bachelor's or master's degree in a relevant field is preferred.

• Preferred proficiency in Asana, Smartsheet, and Quorum.

• Expertise in capacity building and adult learning is preferred.

• Coaching and facilitation skills are preferred.

• Exceptional abilities in policy writing and communication are preferred.

• Experience with landscape analysis and environmental scanning is preferred.

• An orientation toward systems thinking and systems change is preferred.

• Expertise in coalition building and stakeholder engagement is preferred.

• Ability to translate strategy into operational plans and deliverables is preferred.

• Willingness to travel once a year to New York City.

• Capacity to travel nationally up to 25%.

🏝️ Benefits

• Fully remote work arrangement outside of required travel.

• Annual in-person gathering in New York City.

• National travel up to 25% for technical assistance, meetings, and conferences.

• Opportunities for professional growth and development.

• Mentorship and visibility through direct collaboration with senior leadership.

• Commitment to equal employment opportunity.

• Reasonable accommodations available for disabilities or medical conditions.