Vice President, State and Local Advocacy

Department: National Affairs

Title:  Vice President, State and Local Advocacy

Reports to: SVP, National Affairs

SUPERVISION EXERCISED: Yes, management of state and local policy team, and possibly others

LOCATION: Anywhere ADL has an office

Grade/Class: Grade K, Exempt, Non-Union

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.

PRIMARY FUNCTION

This position is an integral member of the National Affairs team. The Vice President, State and Local Policy (Vice President) is the national staff person charged with overseeing the development and execution of state and local policy campaigns that further ADL’s policy objectives. These will focus primarily on state and municipal legislative, executive and administrative campaigns, and will leverage staff, volunteers and local coalitions in the relevant ADL regional offices. The Vice President will work across the organization to coordinate and leverage the expertise, experience and output of other departments, divisions and regions, and to involve them, as appropriate, in state and local campaigns and initiatives. The Vice President coordinates with Regional and Divisional colleagues to ensure ADL representation and advocacy on behalf of its interests and policy concerns before state and municipal legislatures and executive officers. They are a government relations leader with strong political acumen, innate political instincts, and deep legislative and regulatory procedural understanding and experience who can reach and build strong relationships with a broad array of constituencies to advance ADL’s mission. 

Primary:

• Nationally, oversee State and Local Advocacy Strategy and Initiatives:
  • Lead the development and pursuit of national policy priorities and strategies for ADL at the state and local levels. Develop goals, milestone, metrics, and track/report. Targets may include state legislatures, state executives and agencies, attorneys general, and municipal governments.
  • Manage ADL’s CSC state and local policy team. Hire and manage professional staff, including setting goals, work plans and performance management. 
  • Develop and coordinate ADL’s state policy agenda and proposals, working with policy counsel team to develop model state executive action and legislation, and other policy content. 
  • Direct and supervise policy, programmatic, and special event projects, activities and written materials.
  • Coordinate with Divisional Policy Directors and Regional policy point people, including guiding Divisional and Regional teams in building strategic relationships with state and municipal elected officials and staff.
  • Provide guidance to ADL’s SVP, National Affairs and other staff and leadership (national staff, divisional policy directors, policy counsels, regional board members) on important developments and trends in government policy relevant to ADL’s work. 
  • Build strategic relationships with public policy experts, Jewish communal, civil rights and other coalition partners, as well as with other key stakeholders critical to the achievements of ADL’s state and local policy goals.
  • Be a catalyst to establish new relationships between ADL leaders and key community officials, including by representing ADL at major conferences and gatherings pertinent to state and local advocacy work.
  • Ensure integration of the state policy and political agenda into other departments (g., CTS, COE, CAR, CCAE, Law Enforcement, Education), as appropriate. 

Secondary:

• Partner with the Growth team to identify and maximize potential donor opportunities.
• Collaborate with the Leadership team to develop thematic, program and speaker ideas for the annual National Leadership Summit, Never-is-Now conference and other events, as requested.

Skills and Attributes:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including legislative drafting.
• Significant leadership and management experience with success in building, retaining, motivating, and developing a high-performing teams.
• Substantial experience in driving collaboration throughout an organization.
• Ability to manage a diverse range of activities across a complex organization, setting priorities and supporting the successful achievement of goals.
• Advocate who has successfully developed and executed on multi-state campaigns.
• A demonstrated interest in ADL’s mission and policy priorities.
• Committed to Equity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Diversity values. 
• Able to develop project/work plans and execute on them with minimal supervision.
• Creative problem solver with entrepreneurial spirit and self-starting nature.
• Results-oriented with a sense of urgency. Willing to make tough decisions in a timely manner.
• Team player with willingness to play multiple positions as needed.
• High tolerance for ambiguity.

Work Experience

• The ideal candidate has significant experience and can demonstrate an increase in skills, responsibility and leadership in organizations leading state and local advocacy, and volunteer activation in support of policy priorities.
• Experience working for a state or local government in pursuit of legislative and executive policy agendas preferred.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience required.

Work Environment: 

• Flexibility is required to work extended hours or on weekends as may be needed.
• Ability to spend long hours upon occasion at workstation/computer.
• Occasional travel is required to attend meetings, events and conferences.
• ADL is a hybrid environment; this role may require 3 days in the office. ADL is a hybrid environment, though this role may be performed remotely.

Compensation:

• This position has a salary range up to $205,000. This salary range is reflective of a position based in New York, New York. Please note that actual salaries are commensurate with experience and reflect the budget for a given position, and since ADL has a location-based compensation structure, there may be a different range for candidates in other locations. For an overview of our total rewards package, please visit https://www.adl.org/about/careers.

ADL values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of underrepresented ethnic groups, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. ADL is an equal opportunity employer. Recruitment, hiring, promotions and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment shall be maintained in a manner which does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, marital status, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or military status, or in violation of any applicable Federal, state or local laws.    

ADL will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation to support the interview process, please contact People & Culture at [email protected].

ADL will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and all other applicable State, Local, and Federal laws. 

The information in this job description indicates the general nature and level of work expected of employees in this classification. It is not designed to contain, or be interpreted as, a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and objectives required of employees assigned to this job, nor is it to be interpreted as a contract for employment.