Full Job Description
Job Title: Sr. Program Manager, Climate Equity
Classification: Union, Exempt, 35-Hour Work Week
Reports to: Associate Director, Climate Equity
Grade Level: 11
Overview:
The Greenlining Institute works towards a future where communities of color can build wealth, live in healthy places filled with economic opportunity, and are ready to meet the challenges posed by climate change.
We work with communities of color to:
- Understand and analyze the racist barriers to economic opportunity.
- Demand accountability from the public and private sectors to combat injustice.
- Foster consensus-building that produces long-term change and success.
- Bridge research and policy to spearhead innovative strategies at the intersections of racial, economic, and climate equity.
To achieve our vision, we focus on four strategic issue areas:
1. Economic Equity
2. Climate Equity
3. Transformative Communities
4. Leadership Academy
Please note: you are not required to list your academic institution if you prefer not to disclose that information. To learn more about our work and impact, please visit www.greenlining.org
The Opportunity:
The Senior Program Manager for Climate Equity leads implementation and capacity-building initiatives to advance equitable electric mobility and transportation, strengthening partner organizations' capacity for storytelling, advocacy, and community power. This role supports the Towards Equitable Electric Mobility (TEEM) Community of Practice, which advances racial and environmental justice through equitable transportation electrification. TEEM includes over 20 organizations across four states - Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia - and since its 2020 launch has built a peer learning and advocacy model centered on the intersections of mobility equity, community building, and transportation electrification.
Drawing on the networks and lessons built across the country, the Senior Program Manager provides direct, hands-on support to help partners build the organizing and narrative infrastructure needed to run effective policy campaigns - coordinating and aligning with other national efforts, including but not limited to The Clean RIDES Network. This includes maintaining ongoing partner relationships, delivering implementation support and technical assistance, and aligning partner priorities into shared campaigns.
Separately, the Senior Program Manager will also spend a portion of their time supporting California-based efforts to reform state transportation funding, ensuring public investment is directed equitably. While distinct from TEEM, this work draws on the same core skill set in coalition support, storytelling, and power-building.
Please note: This role is a supervisory role in nature but doesn't currently supervise staff.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
- Directly supervises program staff, fellows, summer associates and oversees their daily workflow
- May support indirect supervision of external vendors
- Contributes to cross-departmental collaboration and training
- Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains staff in the department
- Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations
Program Responsibilities:
Policy Research & Analysis
- Maintains and grows expertise in assigned issue areas, including policy processes, political dynamics, and key stakeholders
- Leads research to identify racial inequities through landscape analyses, literature reviews, interviews, and best practices analyses
- Produces high-quality policy reports, comment letters, and recommendations that center equity and justice
- Writes accessible content such as blogs, op-eds, and social media posts to inform and engage diverse audiences
- Sets priorities and handles multiple projects simultaneously
Policy Advocacy & Policy Project Management
- Drives advancement of policy objectives within an equity framework
- Leads and executes strategic advocacy campaigns aligned with organizational priorities and values
- Leads internal efforts when issues require collaboration with colleagues
- Tracks policy developments across the state of California, nationally, and at the federal level in specific area of focus
- Develops equitable solutions throughout the policy life cycle when presented with obstacles or opportunities to accelerate the policy aim
- Assesses short- and long-term impacts of enacted policies on communities of color and low-income communities to determine the degree to which desired outcomes have been achieved
Stakeholder Engagement
- Builds coalitions by conducting advanced independent outreach to community-based organizations, legislators, regulators, academics, and private sector partners
- Plans and facilitates trainings, webinars, and convenings to deepen awareness and collective action
- Represents the organization in conferences and public forums, and facilitates inclusive stakeholder collaboration
- Builds and maintains key relationships across the issue area, including allied organizations and policymakers
Other General Duties
- Supports strengthening commitment and support from funders, including giving input for to grant proposals
- Contributes to a work environment and culture that is centered on equity and inclusion
- Supervises or mentors a Greenlining Leadership Academy participant and/or staff
- Drives own specific area strategy and defines project scope and goals, including setting targets for milestones, adhering to deadlines, and securing necessary resources
- Handles multiple projects simultaneously including setting targets for milestones, adhering to deadlines and securing necessary resources
- Cultivates growth in all core competency areas including Communication, Collaboration, Strategic Innovation, Technical Expertise, Adaptability, and Accountability
The scope of responsibilities is not limited to those listed above and may change as organizational needs evolve. Specific work plan goals are developed each year to inform performance targets.
Key Skills:
1. Equity-driven policy research and analysis
2. Issue-area expertise and policy navigation
3. Stakeholder engagement and coalition building
4. Legislative tracking and advocacy coordination
5. Team supervision and internal collaboration
6. Multitasking, prioritization, and deadline management
QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor's Degree required
- Applicants are not required to disclose their educational institutions during recruitment, but to be verified post offer acceptance
- Three to five years of direct, related experience in policy, government, non-profit advocacy, or law
- Experience navigating the legislative and regulatory policymaking processes, with experience supporting causes that serve vulnerable populations or low income communities of color
- Ability to prepare well-organized written reports and other communication documents
- Ability to deliver effective presentations to diverse groups and present complex information in a meaningful way
- Excellent research skills with the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources into a coherent writing, as well as a strategy and workable plan
- Strong project management skills to manage multiple priorities, stakeholders, and workflows
- Experience using Slack, Google Suite, and Microsoft Office Suite
- Ability to adhere to a project budget and timeline, and assist hiring and managing consultants
- Proven ability to work with emotional intelligence, navigating individual and team conflicts productively, with empathy and integrity
- Ability to work with significant independence responding creatively and strategically when confronted with complex and multifaceted opportunities and challenges, and being able to manage supervisory relationships at multiple levels
SALARY: The final offer is dependent on qualifications and experience. New hires can reasonably expect an offer between $93,571.00 - $100,000
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here represent those that must be met by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
Ability and willingness to travel, as needed, to meetings and conferences throughout the state and other locations in the United States;