Vice President of Campaigns and Political Strategy

Position Summary

Western Resource Advocates (WRA) is hiring a Vice President of Campaigns and Political Strategy. This position will lead WRA’s strategic and political work and supervise seven Government Affairs team members. The Vice President of Campaigns and Political Strategy is an executive‐level leadership position that will play a key role in developing strategies that advance an ambitious and focused agenda to fight climate change and its impacts in the Western United States. Serving as one of the organization’s senior staff leaders and executive‐level partner to the President, the Vice President of Campaigns and Political Strategy will develop multi‐faceted advocacy plans and campaigns that leverage WRA’s policy work in clean energy, healthy rivers, and Western lands, throughout WRA’s seven‐state region. The Vice President of Campaigns and Political Strategy will collaborate with teams across the organization to ensure that priority campaign plans and objectives are aligned and oriented towards achievement of the organization’s long‐term goals. This role will also lead effective relationships with decision makers and political partners; and work with other senior organization leaders to cultivate an inclusive climate that promotes excellence and an engaging and supportive organizational culture.

About Western Resource Advocates

WRA fights climate change and its impacts to sustain the environment, economy, and people of the West. We respect the different needs of diverse people and partner with them to develop a shared vision for progress—one that advances communities while protecting biodiversity.

Our team of policy experts, scientists, economists, and attorneys has a 30-year history of working where decisions are made, sweating the details, creating evidence-based solutions, and holding decision makers accountable. This on the ground work with policymakers and other advocates advances clean energy, protects air, land, water, and wildlife—and sustains the lives and livelihoods of the West.

Location

This position may work remotely in our seven-state region, in one of our six offices, or a hybrid of the two. Our seven-state region includes Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. WRA has offices located in Boulder, CO; Carson City, NV; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; and Santa Fe, NM. Access to a major airport required, as this position involves some travel.

Responsibilities

Campaign & Advocacy Planning and Development

• Lead the campaign planning, political strategy, and advocacy efforts of WRA by:
  • Creating collaborative processes to design and build effective campaigns that maximize WRA’s expertise across our organizational teams.
  • Partnering with the Vice President of Policy and Programs to recommend priority campaigns to the Executive Leadership Team.
  • Developing and building sophisticated advocacy plans to advance WRA’s priority campaigns and other issue campaigns to achieve our policy objectives, including:
    • Identifying the venues to drive change.
    • Identifying decision makers to target to advance our objectives.
  • Develop cross program and cross departmental coordinated plans to advance WRA priority campaigns and other campaigns at the same time.
  • Develop advocacy strategies to achieve program goals and secure identified policies.
  • Building WRA’s strategic and political capacity to drive WRA’s advocacy work in multiple issues areas, in multiple states, and before multiple sets of decision-makers.
  • Working with the President and Vice President of Development and Communications, members of the Executive Leadership Team, and program directors to identify and investigate potential political opportunities to advance WRA’s mission of protecting the environment of the Interior West.
  • Working with Vice President of Equity and Culture, the Government Affairs Director, and the Government Affairs Team to identify partners whom WRA can engage with to build and strengthen relationships with those groups for future development of strategies and tactics that advance more equitable policy outcomes.
  • Work with the Vice President of Development and Communications to develop strategic communication plans, including audience targeting and development, to help achieve priority campaign objectives.

Training and Mentorship

• Assess advocacy training needs.
• Develop and provide training and professional development opportunities that build WRA’s advocacy skills and capabilities in ways that drive the organization’s success on current campaigns and priorities even in the face of difficult political environments.
• Build pathways that increase our team’s skills in designing, building out and successfully executing complex advocacy campaigns.
• Provide mentorship to staff with differing levels of advocacy experience.

External Engagement

• In partnership with other organizational leaders, ensure WRA develops, maintains, and strengthens working relationships with political leaders, policy makers and policy experts within government, the private sector, and other conservation organizations.
• Developing, maintaining, and strengthening relationships with key elected leaders and key elected leader staff and partners.
• Working with program directors and program staff, ensure that WRA has a strong voice and leadership role within environmental coalitions.
• Develop communications strategies that build and strengthen important policymaker and partner relationships.
• Working with our Government Affairs Team and our Indigenous Peoples Engagement Manager to continue WRA’s Tribal Engagement work consistent with our Guiding Principles for Tribal Outreach.

Fundraising/Development

• Working with President and the Vice President of Development and Communications, help develop plans, materials and communication strategies that clearly and compellingly describe new advocacy opportunities and our priority campaign goals, strategies and proposed work to funders in way that helps secure growing financial support for our work.
• With the President and Vice President of Development and Communications help build, maintain and strengthen relationships with major funders and prospects.

Senior & Executive Leadership Team

• In partnership with the President and other senior leaders, provide organizational leadership, strategic thinking and follow through to guide and build a stronger organization.
• Represent the Executive Leadership Team and the organization with a variety of constituencies and audiences, including members of the WRA board, our staff, and external partners.
• Participate along with other members of the Executive Leadership Team in the creation of an annual budget, in the ongoing review and development of staff policies.
• Partner with the Executive Leadership Team and Senior Leadership Team to build strong organizational culture and to develop new leaders throughout the organization.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise and work with the Government Affairs Director to:
  • Lead, empower, and manage the Government Affairs Team for the highest impact.
  • Provide strategic support and guidance to the team to effectively contribute to organizational efforts to meet strategic and advocacy goals, while also pursuing new opportunities for growth.
  • Build and execute strong plans for priority and, on occasion, other advocacy campaigns.
  • Champion collaboration with government affairs and marketing and communications functions as subject matter experts essential to advancing WRA campaigns.
  • Leverage government affairs and communications strategies to influence targeted decision-makers and to grow WRA’s network of supporters and advocates.

Qualification and Competencies

Any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience, which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of this position, will be considered. For example, the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities would include:

• At least 10 years of experience in nonprofit environmental advocacy or experience in a similar role focusing on a different subject matter area in our Western region.
• Demonstrated successful team leadership and personnel management skills.
• Experience managing multiple staff, consultants and projects with deadline pressures.
• Demonstrated track record of advocacy campaign leadership including strategy development in a policy-focused context, including legislative, regulatory and ballot campaigns.
• Demonstrated track record of successful advocacy campaign leadership.
• Nuanced, sophisticated understanding of the political environments and climate of the states in the interior West.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with diverse teams to leverage skills and expertise toward organizational goals.
• Track record of working collaboratively.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills, with attention to detail and follow through.
• Strong and engaging entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to experiment.
• Demonstrated awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.
• Experience in recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce.
• An appetite and excitement for political and conservation advocacy.
• A genuine passion to carry out WRA’s mission to fight climate change and its impacts.

Physical Requirements

Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Some travel is required.

Travel Requirements

Some travel is required for leadership, staff and board retreats, trainings, donor visits and other job specific meetings, within the individual’s state of residence and within WRA’s region (15% to 25%).

Salary And Benefits

The salary range is $160,000-$200,000 annually, salary depends on relevant experience and new staff rarely start at the top of the range. WRA’s excellent benefits package includes a 401(k)-retirement plan with up to 5% matching and health, dental, vision, and life & disability insurance with 100% of premiums paid by WRA. Annually, staff receive seventeen days paid vacation leave, twelve paid sick days, one paid volunteer day, twelve paid holidays, and WRA is closed for Winter Break between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day for additional paid time off. Employees are eligible for up to twelve weeks of parental leave, and after five years, staff are eligible for up to twelve weeks of paid sabbatical leave. Colorado staff receive an RTD EcoPass. Position is full-time exempt.

Deadline To Apply

Open Until Filled with priority review beginning on Monday, July 15, 2024.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are a critical component of our business strategy, mission and vision. We welcome candidates from an array of backgrounds and experiences to join our team. Learn more about our commitment here: WRA Diversity Commitment.

Learn more here