Farm Bill Campaign Director

TERM: 18 months

Food & Environment Program

Union of Concerned Scientists

Remote (can be hybrid if in close proximity to UCS office in Washington, DC; Cambridge, MA; Chicago, IL; or Oakland, CA)

Bargaining Unit Position: No

The Position

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is an independent national nonprofit that uses science to protect our health, safety, and environment. We are scientists, engineers, economists, activists, and everyday people who develop and advocate for innovative, practical solutions to some of our planet’s most pressing problems—from combating global warming and developing sustainable ways to feed, power, and transport ourselves, to fighting misinformation, advancing racial equity, and reducing the threat of nuclear war.

The Food & Environment Program (F&E) works to create a sustainable and equitable food system that makes farmland resilient to climate change and other challenges, produces healthy food for all, protects frontline food workers, and contributes to thriving rural and urban communities. Our talented interdisciplinary team of 16 scientists, advocates, communicators, and campaigners collaborates to build impactful campaigns to advance our food system goals. While hosted at UCS and within F&E, the Farm Bill Campaign Director is primarily a coalition-serving position.

Under supervision of the F&E Deputy Director and in close coordination with the F&E Director and partners at the Farm to Fork Initiative and the Windward Fund, the Farm Bill Campaign Director will build a national coalition and take primary responsibility for driving a values-based campaign that aims to expand the constituencies involved in shaping federal agricultural and food policy and to center the participation of historically excluded groups. Over an 18-month period, the Farm Bill Campaign Director will help to establish and facilitate a coalition advisory committee; lead power-building, grassroots advocacy, and visibility efforts; add strategic value and reach to the efforts of coalition members and other allied organizations; organize outreach and visibility events; and coordinate closely with related campaign efforts at UCS to ensure alignment.

Responsibilities

Direct, manage, and assess the coalition campaign’s effectiveness.

· Develop and manage a transparent and inclusive coalition campaign development and planning processes to create a plan that fully integrates racial equity and food justice.

· Provide direction, guidance, feedback and support to effectively and strategically manage externally changing conditions, campaign opportunities, resource constraints, and project management toward policy and other objectives.

· Manage a multimillion-dollar coalition budget judiciously and work with the campaign’s fiscal sponsor on financial reporting and to disburse funds to coalition members.

· Work with coalition members and policy specialists to develop DC- and targeted in-district/state base-building, and mobilizing plans and partnerships tailored to move specific Farm Bill targets.

· Develop and implement tracking systems and evaluative processes to measure and enhance the campaign’s impact, develop a culture of learning and growth in the coalition, and ensure accountability to our values and goals.

Support the consistency and resonance of coalition communications.

· Work with F&E and UCS communications staff, communicators at coalition member organizations, and consultants to guide and help develop media and online communications strategies and materials, such as web pages, blog posts, digital resources and public education products, and social media that bolster the campaign.

· Develop overarching narrative and engagement initiatives that tie together the various efforts, along with strategies for building strategic constituencies and partnerships.

· Represent the coalition at public events and conferences.

Plan and implement visibility and outreach events.

· Organize a series of regional round tables to gather key constituencies and leaders to heighten and demonstrate the relevance of the Farm Bill at local and regional levels.

· Provide a forum for coordination of sector and regional campaigns generating ideas and proposals for federal policy reform.

· Plan and carry out field hearings to elevate the policy goals and aspirations of values-aligned grassroots and frontline groups and draw widespread attention to the Farm Bill as a vehicle for transformation of the agricultural and food systems.

Facilitate the coalition Advisory Committee for effectiveness and inclusion.

· Play a key role on fostering, sustaining, and evaluating a culture of collaboration, clarity, cohesion and community for the coalition.

· Provide strategic guidance, advice, feedback, and support to ensure success of the campaign. Maintain flexibility to respond to rapidly changing conditions and to assume additional responsibilities as requested by the Advisory Committee and the F&E Director.

· Coordinate and ensure alignment with related efforts at UCS and other coalition members.

Qualifications and Experience

Position requires ten to fifteen years of comparable and relevant experience in outreach, organizing, campaign, and/or advocacy, including at least five years of senior level management experience.

Must also have several years’ experience with sophisticated organizing strategy and tactics, organizing grassroots and grasstops activists, building and leading coalitions, coordinating outreach events, preferably in a nonprofit organization; demonstrated ability to conceive, plan and implement effective campaigns; experience supervising organizers and leading matrixed teams; demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with professionals who may be expert and/or prominent in their fields; demonstrated ability to use web-based strategies and sophisticated online tools to advance education and advocacy goals; and demonstrated ability to write for and speak with various audiences.

Demonstrated capability to manage multiple projects for extended periods of time, to build and maintain a healthy team culture and functioning, and to be flexible to respond to fast-changing organizational needs. Demonstrated understanding of science-based policymaking and advocacy within an equity-centered, antiracist framework is needed, as is experience in fostering and leading collaborations with partners through a justice lens.

A solid level of understanding of database maintenance, web management and on-line organizing and collaboration tools is required, including Microsoft Office (Office 365) and Google Workspace (formerly G Suite of apps) is required. Demonstrated experience working in project teams or on cross-departmental projects is a must. Supervisory experience is required.

The successful candidate will have experience with the federal Farm Bill and fluency in the language and culture of both grassroots organizing and federal policy advocacy.

May spend extended periods at computer. Position requires substantial overnight travel to DC and other locations around the country.

UCS is an equal opportunity employer actively seeking to diversify its staff. In particular, we’re dedicated to broadening opportunities for individuals from demographic groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences and in environmental advocacy. We’re also committed to building an inclusive workplace culture where talented people of widely diverse backgrounds can thrive. We believe the inclusion of culturally diverse perspectives will improve our work and produce better societal and environmental outcomes for all, including historically disenfranchised communities.

Details:

This is an 18-month full-time remote/hybrid position. For those who meet all position requirements, the salary range is $114,671-129,000. UCS offers excellent benefits and a rewarding work environment.*CA Resident Only, we offer a 12% salary differential*

Information about the organization is available at http://www.ucsusa.org.

Comparable training and/or experience can be substituted for degrees when appropriate.

More about the team:

Our team is made up of a dedicated group of researchers, scientists, communicators, campaigners, and advocates from wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and a collaborative and supportive work environment where all staff can thrive. We continually strive to create an environment which is a welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, parents, empty-nesters, and people with a wide variety of interests and backgrounds.

To Apply: We know there are great candidates who won’t check all of these boxes, and we also know you might bring important skills that we haven’t considered. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. Please upload a cover letter and resume. In the cover letter, please confirm that the listed salary meets your expectations. Upload materials in Word or PDF format only. No phone calls, please.

Covid Mandate for New Hires:

For in office roles, UCS employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees are considered fully vaccinated as defined by the CDC. All new hires who will be reporting to an office location must provide notice of their vaccination status and vaccination documentation, on or before their first day of work. For all others, UCS strongly encourages full vaccinations among its employees, up to and including booster shots, even if working remotely.

All new employees must comply with the mandatory vaccination requirements outlined in UCS policies as soon as practicable. Union of Concerned Scientists will notify candidates for employment of the requirements of this policy before the start of employment.

Deadline: January 31, 2023