State Industrial 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 State Industrial Policy Advocate to work with the Industry, Hydrogen, and Innovation team within the Climate and Clean Energy Program in one of NRDC's offices.

Position Summary

NRDC is seeking a State Industrial Advocate to work with the Climate and Clean Energy Program’s Industry, Hydrogen, and Innovation Group in our New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, or San Francisco office to help the team effectively tackle deep decarbonization of U.S. industrial manufacturing, with a particular focus on the cement, concrete, steel and aluminum industries. The new hire will help build internal capacity to advocate for decarbonization policies in 3-4 target states, beginning with developing a well-informed and effective decarbonization strategy that complements – and does not delay – our existing decarbonization efforts in other sectors. This includes building technical expertise on existing and emerging decarbonization levers, their respective barriers, and emissions reduction potential; assessing and understanding the health and local pollution impacts of each on adjacent communities; helping evaluate and/or design model decarbonization policies that fit state contexts; and building state-based coalitions to advocate for such policies. This work will be coordinated with our federal advocacy on industrial decarbonization and also in collaboration with our hydrogen team on cross cutting issues.

Responsibilities

• Support NRDC’s industrial decarbonization advocacy in 3-4 priority states
• Develop technical expertise on decarbonizing the cement, concrete, steel, and aluminum industries, including on existing and emerging decarbonization levers, their respective barriers, and emissions reduction potential, as well as health and local pollution impacts of each on adjacent communities.
• Help evaluate and/or design model decarbonization policies in target regions and states.
• Work closely with NRDC’s federal and state advocates and Government Affairs team to carry out advocacy to remove impediments to decarbonizing industrial plants in key sectors; create demand for low embodied carbon alternatives (via public and/or corporate procurement); and build a coalition of stakeholders for action.
• Represent NRDC through active participation in state coalitions, providing collaboration and guidance to maximize effectiveness and grow support for needed policies.
• Liaise, as needed, with funders in support of the industrial decarbonization team’s development goals.
• Develop written materials (e.g., blogs, action plans, white papers) to educate state policymakers and other stakeholders on the decarbonization opportunities and policy options.

Qualifications

Required

• Commitment to NRDC’s mission and values.
• 4-5 years’ working experience in policy advocacy or a related technical field.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, understand, and translate complex scientific, legal, and policy matters for advocacy purposes.
• Strong strategic skills relevant to policy, advocacy, and project development.
• Experience managing complex projects involving many moving parts and teams.
• Demonstrated ability to build and work within coalitions, including those that reach beyond the traditional environmental community.
• Demonstrated ability to work with and manage consultants, fellows and/or interns on discrete projects.
• Persuasive verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong inter-personal, relationship-building and networking skills.
• Substantial experience with public speaking and oral advocacy with decisionmakers.

Preferred

• Engineering degree or experience with a technical subject matter is strongly preferred.

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 $87,000 to $93,000. 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.