Context: At the Sierra Club, we believe in the power of togetherness. Together, we remain committed to the fight for a healthy climate built on a foundation of environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice – a future where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet and a direct connection to nature. As the climate crisis and deeply entrenched systemic racism all fuel inequity, we will continue to fight for a bold, transformational agenda that recognizes the interconnectedness between our planet, our humanity, and our democracy. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we continue to name that all things are fundamentally connected, and the overlap between ecology, race, gender, and representative government will move to either advance our collective humanity or to oppress it.

Sierra Club is comprised of staff across the country and a network of local chapters that support our grassroots engagement. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with two labor unions representing more than half of our employees.

The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club is committed to supporting environmental and social justice efforts throughout the state. We work with our powerful volunteer base and over 35,000 members and supporters to advance solutions to protect water, air, land, and public health.

The Chapter works with the Our Wild America (OWA) campaign to achieve protecting 30% of US lands and water by 2030 by centering and partnering with Tribal Nations, frontline and local communities, and prioritizing lands critical to climate solutions that provide connected wildlands and waters where wildlife, plants, and people thrive. The Lands and Water Programs Coordinator will advance our efforts to protect lands and waters in Utah by way of holding industry accountable and eliminating new, wasteful and pollutive leasing on public lands; advancing strategies to secure the future of the Great Salt Lake (GSL), and strategically engaging in work to secure protections for lands in the state.

Scope: This position will regularly collaborate with cross-functional teams, and engage the community, including at times, staff, volunteers, partner organizations such as business, media, community leaders, government officials, leaders, allies and others. Working with staff and volunteers this position would, coordinate, and implement a strategic water campaign to protect the Great Salt Lake and advance protections for unprotected lands. They will employ tactics including, lobbying, organizing, and strategic planning to build out benchmarks and long-term goals. As well, the Coordinator will represent the Sierra Club to government officials, the media, business and community leaders, allies and other organizations, and the public. Most importantly, the Coordinator will ensure that the programs engage the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club’s members and supporters, and build powerful partnerships that are oriented toward a shared vision of climate and environmental justice.

Job activities include but are not limited to:

1. Design and implement strategic campaigns:Water: Collaborating with the Chapter Director, Great Salt Lake Partners, volunteer leadership, and the public – design and implement a Great Salt Lake campaign to protect and support the health of the Great Salt Lake and critical water resources in Utah, in perpetuity.
   Lands: Acting as the Chapter representative with the Our Wild America campaign, engage in coalition spaces to advance protections for lands in Utah. In partnership with the Chapter Director and the OWA Campaign Representative, identify opportunities to engage, mobilize members and supporters, and advocate for projects that prioritize action on climate, public health, and a fair playing field for taxpayers over extractive industry.
   
2. Policy Development & Implementation: Advocates for annual state legislative appropriations to advance water conservation and land protections. Monitors, analyzes, and evaluates laws, initiatives and new developments affecting the Great Salt Lake and public and state lands. Lobbies state leaders to ensure protections for the Great Salt Lake and advocates for the removal and replacement of racist and derogatory place names, markers, and monuments on public lands. Synthesizes information and gathers perspective to inform strategy. Acts as a subject matter expert, providing technical and strategic positioning to staff, volunteers, and partner organizations. Coordinates with the legislative committee, Our Wild America campaign, and Chapter Director develops policy positions and advocates before decision-makers on water and lands issues.
3. Build capacity and grassroots power: Coordinating with the legislative committee, creates indirect grassroot lobbying opportunities. Supports the legislative committee to identify, recruit and organize volunteers around assigned campaigns. Develops organizing strategies guided by Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. Builds grassroots power at the community, state, and national level by helping leaders (Leaders = volunteers, grasstops and partners)  succeed through training, coaching and continuing political education.
4. Tracking and Reporting: Reports on progress toward established goals and the effectiveness of campaign strategies to Chapter Director and the Our Wild America campaign leadership. As well, reports on qualitative measures (i.e., storytelling and narrative analysis). Participates in Our Wild America field calls and check-ins as determined with the Chapter Director. Manages relevant software (e.g. Quorum, Salesforce, SmartVAN) and analyzes opportunities to improve tracking management, including actions taken and volunteers engaged.
5. Develop culturally-relevant messaging strategies: Develop educational/informational materials such as newsletters, flyers, and fact sheets that use community-informed language. Develops and implements a variety of engagement strategies including on-line, narrative strategy, and face-to-face to maximize the reach of campaign messages.
6. Media and Communications: Serves as Sierra Club spokesperson to media outlets and promotes volunteer media exposure on water & lands issues. Work with appropriate regional and campaign (Beyond Coal and Our Wild America) staff and volunteer entities to plan and implement visibility, media and community outreach events to generate public support in the media.

The successful candidate must have the following skills and experience:

• Equity Analysis and Practice. You are aware of your group identities and how they have shaped your life and experiences at work. You have an analysis of how racism and other forms of oppression in society impact relationships, systems and culture. You bring experience and skills for working effectively with colleagues across group identities and position/role.
• Experience in water and land policy and research. Familiarity with Utah land and water management laws and practices preferred. Knowledge of Federal Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act and land management practices also preferred.
• Experience lobbying and policy review. Substantial experience planning and managing grassroots conservation campaigns, including strategy, facilitation, grassroots organizing, lobbying, media, working with volunteers, and work with political leaders.
• Proficient computer skills and prior experience or aptitude with internet applications including email, google suite, constituent relationship management or other related data systems, social networking systems, mobile platforms and web applications.
• Excellent writing and editing skills. Demonstrated skills in writing and production of online campaign materials. Good verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to work effectively in an action-oriented office. Ability to meet deadlines, work under pressure, and reach consensus on shared projects. Excellent judgment and transparency on setting expectations on finished projects. Experience setting deadlines and meeting them. Ability to help achieve consensus within teams on project roles and outcomes

The strongest candidates will also demonstrate the following experience, skills and competencies:

• Experience with public relations
• Ability to train staff and volunteers effectively on email, social media, and mobile best practices.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $60,000 - $65,000.

This position is represented by a collective bargaining unit and is subject to the terms and conditions of the contract between Sierra Club and Progressive Workers Union.

The Sierra Club offers a competitive salary package commensurate with skills and experience plus excellent benefits that include medical, dental, and vision coverage, and a retirement savings 401(k) plan.

This is a category 5 exempt represented position.

Sierra Club is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. Sierra Club employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

Sierra Club values the expertise and talents of foreign nationals. Sierra Club sponsors both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas when certain criteria are met, based on immigration laws and organizational needs. Such sponsorship is at the discretion of the Department Head and Sierra Club Human Resources in consultation with the employee’s manager. The Sierra Club cannot guarantee the approval of a visa petition. The Sierra Club is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity.

To Apply

This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. If you choose to include your education history, please remove your schools from your resume. You may leave your degree (e.g., “B.A. Philosophy”), but please remove any undergraduate and graduate school names.

This anonymous process is aimed at opening this opportunity to more candidates, reviewing applicants on performance assessments and mitigating bias in the decision-making process.

Lastly, we are intentionally not asking for a cover letter, so please do not send one in with your application.

We are accepting applications until October 7, 2022.

Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.