Community Engagement & Field Director, Sustainable Cities for All

Position Announcement

POSITION TITLE: Community Engagement & Field Director, Sustainable Cities for All

LOCATION: Remote, with a preference for physical location in the southeastern or midwestern United States

STATUS: Exempt

APPLY BY: Open Until Filled

About PolicyLink

This position, available immediately, is an exciting opportunity to join the staff at PolicyLink. PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity by Lifting Up What Works®. We are dedicated to improving the lives of the 100 million people in America who live in or near poverty, particularly those facing the barriers of structural racism. We are currently working remotely. Please visit our website at: www.policylink.org.

Position Overview

PolicyLink is seeking a Community Engagement & Field Director to support Sustainable Cities for All (“SC4A”), a program designed to cultivate community-driven partnerships with city governments and local elected leaders to advance racial wealth equity and climate-related outcomes for Black populations. The Field Director provides leadership and facilitation across four regional teams responsible for supporting a portfolio of five to seven local initiatives in each region (“City and Community Coordinating Committee”), totaling 20 to 25 community engagements across the program.

Sustainable Cities for All is a national initiative that invests in transformational local solutions at the intersection of climate change and racial wealth equity by strengthening the capacity of relationships between cities and communities to co-create and implement solutions. The initiative will prioritize deep investment over four years in up to 25 cities with significant Black populations and high levels of climate vulnerability and racial wealth inequity. PolicyLink serves as the lead partner for SC4A and will coordinate the efforts of national, regional, and local partners to implement the portfolio of community engagements.

The Field Director has leadership responsibilities overseeing regional and place-based initiatives delivered with the support of a regional team in four US regions (Southeast, Midwest, Northeast, all other). Each regional team will have five to seven full-time, cross-sector positions staffed from multiple partners participating in SC4A. The Field Director serves as a critical point of coordination, information sharing, and coaching across the City and Community Coordinating Committee.

The Field Director is responsible for the following duties:

Team Leadership

• Translating overarching strategies for advancing community-driven programs and policies at the intersection of racial wealth equity and climate change into tangible initiatives driven by each community’s unique needs and opportunities.
• Managing four regional teams including PolicyLink field coordinators and core partner staff to support local planning and project implementation.
• Coordinating closely with data and outcomes associates to track and measure progress.
• Accountability for the fidelity of the city experience for community-based organizations, including proactive oversight and troubleshooting.

Program Communications

• Managing day-to-day communications across the City and Community Coordinating Committee to support shared understanding, effective program delivery, and internal trust.
• Interfacing with mayors, local leaders, community-based organizations, and other local stakeholders as needed.
• Building relationships with local city/community partners.
• Curating stories and analyzing outcomes to support internal and external communications.

Program Operations

• Overseeing all local engagement through a regional field engagement team, ensuring effective communications, coordination, and partnerships with stakeholders within and across cities.
• Interfacing with policy, technical, and community-based strategists, and subject matter experts, with an emphasis on racial wealth equity and climate, to ensure necessary support and alignment for local initiatives.
• Curating technical assistance as warranted to support local and regional teams in the implementation of projects and strategies.
• Regular review and analysis of individual city/community data and outcomes to ensure availability of needed assistance, technical support, and course correction if warranted.
• Providing coaching and support to regional teams as they deliver expertise in climate solutions (including state-level policy and advocacy, climate learning, research, water and climate, etc.) and racial wealth equity (including a focus on infrastructure, procurement, workforce development, housing).
• Making recommendations to the Sustainable Cities Fund for funding to community-based organizations and other local partners to support capacity and local implementation.

Learning Culture

• Supporting the aggregation of outcomes and indicators from implementation activities into a learning and evaluation framework that can be applied across and outside of SC4A.
• Providing coaching and technical support to regional teams, as needed, and spotting cross-team opportunities for shared learning, knowledge, and iteration.

Skills, Abilities & Knowledge Required

• Skilled at coaching multi-partner teams.
• A politically astute leader with the ability to set clear priorities, delegate, and guide partnerships and systems.
• Keen analytic, organization, and problem-solving skills, which support and enable sound decision-making.
• Excellent coalition-building skills with an ability to communicate and work effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Knowledge of racial wealth equity principles and programs and/or city climate and sustainability initiatives.

Experience and Qualifications

• Experience leading teams and being part of large, cross-sector, multi-partner initiatives.
• Experience developing and implementing public policy programs and initiatives at the intersection of climate action and equity at a local level.
• Experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and practices—both at the programmatic and administrative levels—that work to eliminate systemic institutional marginalization and promote inclusion and anti-racist practices.
• Experience working with community-based organizations and/or other frontline organizations that serve communities.
• Experience training, supporting, and managing staff in a community engagement capacity.

Additional Candidate Characteristics

• Ability to travel approximately 20 percent of the time.
• Able to manage a constantly evolving landscape, and shift priorities accordingly.
• Passionate about work at the intersection of racial wealth equity and climate change, advancing approaches to community co-creation, and developing strategies to mitigate extraction and harm.
• Sense of humor and a passion for prioritizing joy.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $135,000 - $175,000 dependent upon experience.

Additionally, PolicyLink provides a generous and comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401k match, ancillary benefits, access to Flexible Spending Accounts and generous leave benefits.

How To Apply:

We accept online applications only.

Please note: No phone calls please. Only those selected to participate in our hiring process will be contacted.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

PolicyLink strongly values equity and believes in a just and fair society where all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. We work towards a more inclusive world and as such we are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. PolicyLink is committed to maintaining a diverse and multicultural working environment.

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