Transportation Partnerships and Movement Building Advocate

Overview

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Bozeman, Montana; Chicago; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing.

NRDC is seeking a Transportation Partnerships and Movement Building Advocate to work with the Healthy People, Thriving Communities  team in our Chicago, New York, Washington, DC or remote office.

Position Summary

The Transportation Partnerships and Movement Building Advocate will join the growing transportation team within the Resilient Communities division to bring a new focus on identifying and building new partnerships to broaden our movement to support safe, robust, zero-emissions mobility choices like walking, biking, and public transportation. In particular, this position will focus on outreach to and engagement of non-traditional allies to identify common causes and build trusted working relationships with new and existing partners. Due to the inherently intersectional nature of the transportation sector, we see a compelling opportunity to invest the time in connecting with new stakeholders engaged in transportation work. The Advocate will work with regional leads on the team and other colleagues across the institution to execute this strategy in a way that advances both Transportation team and institutional partnership and movement-building goals. With a once in a generation opportunity presented by implementation of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) transportation funds over the next several years, the Transportation Partnerships and Movement Building Advocate will take a big picture view, seeking to better connect NRDC’s work at the city, state, and federal levels, and build partnerships to work to transform transportation in the United States. This position joins the Resilient Communities’ Transportation team, and works as part of a matrixed team including place-based advocates; an Equity, Networks and Partnerships team; a Center of Excellence that includes Buildings and Renewable Energy teams in addition to the Transportation team; and a National Policy team. 

Responsibilities

• Lead outreach to new partners in the transportation sector, including but not limited to: labor, traffic safety, mobility and tech companies, schools, youth, community-based organizations, health professionals.
• Build large and diverse coalitions to inform and advocate for NRDC priority policies and programs.
• In partnership with the transportation team’s research associate, NRDC Communications team, and NRDC Science Center, analyze impacts of current transportation system and spending on various stakeholder groups, analyze scenarios of transformative change, who benefits, who is burdened, understand spending and outcome priorities for partner organizations for IIJA investments.
• Identify capacity building and training needs in dialogue with partners and networks and work with partners to meet those needs, including by sharing relevant tools, resources and other materials developed by NRDC or informing the development of new resources. 
• Working with the Director of Transportation, research and author (or co-author) blogs, Op-Eds, thought pieces, white papers highlighting the collective need to transform the direction of transportation investments in the United States. Quantify and seek to daylight the current inequities of the system, spotlight who is burdened and who benefits, help to shape a narrative around the need for transformative change, and the pathway to that change.
• Collaborate with NRDC colleagues in Resilient Communities, the Center for Policy Advocacy, Communications, Clean Vehicles and Fuels, and Environmental Equity and Justice Center to manage and support partner networks and win on priority policies.

Qualifications

Required

• Commitment to NRDC’s mission and values. 
• Demonstrated success working with diverse stakeholders and coalitions to achieve transformative policy outcomes (could be in sectors other than transportation)
• Working knowledge of or ability to quickly learn and synthesize complex transportation planning and policy issues including public transportation, infrastructure, electric vehicles, goods movement, bicycle and pedestrian/safe streets issues or other related.
• Four to five years' experience in coalition building, community organizing, campaigns, advocacy or another relevant field.
• Experience utilizing equity frameworks or working with partners and communities to ensure equitable outcomes of policies and programs.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated professionalism
• Excellent writing skills and strong verbal communication
• Ability to participate in teams that work collaboratively towards shared outcomes (including remote teams using collaborative software) 
• Passion and commitment for transforming transportation systems to become more equitable and climate friendly.

Preferred

• Experience and expertise in culturally competent community outreach and engagement.
• Relevant network among key sustainable transportation, transportation justice, and transportation industry stakeholders
• Experience working in state and/or local government.

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. For this position, the salary is $80,000 to $100,000. Internal equity considerations will be reviewed before making a final offer.

Our offices are open and we are operating in a hybrid model. We offer NRDCers flexibility, we ask them to come into the office and spend meaningful time there in collaboration with their colleagues.  We call this purposeful presence.

As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination, those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions via NRDC Employee Relations. NRDC treats all vaccine-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws.

To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé and cover letter. Please mention where you saw this posting and upload any additional materials that showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates we would like to interview. Please no phone calls, emails, or in-person résumé drop-offs.

If you experience technical problems while applying or if you are a person with a disability and need assistance applying online, please reach out to iCIMS Customer Care at 1-800-889-4422.

For more about NRDC, visit www.nrdc.org.