Policy and Legal Advocacy Director
This job description is intended to convey information essential to understand the scope of the position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, or responsibilities associated with the position.
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) seeks an experienced policy and advocacy expert, with ballot measure campaign experience to join our Program team. The Policy and Legal Advocacy Director will have 7+ years of policy, ballot measure campaign, and supervisory experience and a sophisticated racial equity lens. The Policy and Legal Advocacy Director will lead BISC’s ballot measure legislative and legal advocacy program efforts including policy development, analysis, and legislative and ballot measure tracking efforts. In addition, this person will supervise BISC’s Defend Direct Democracy campaign, which seeks to protect and strengthen the ballot measure process through legislative and legal advocacy and Legislatively Referred Constitutional Amendments (LCRAs). The person in the position will work in close collaboration, not only with their team, but also with the Director of Programs and Strategy, Strategic Partnerships Director, and Capacity Building Director.
As a leader in the Program team, the Policy and Legal Advocacy Director will co-strategize with other program directors to ensure a full integration of skill-building, policy development, legal advocacy and implementation work into the lifecycle of ballot measure campaigns when advising state-based partners that result in long-term sustainable wins that build independent power in states.
Location: BISC HQ is located in Washington, DC, but the location for this position is flexible in the United States. This position may require some frequent and/or extended travel. This position reports to BISC’s Director of Programs & Strategy.
Primary Job Responsibilities
Additional job responsibilities:
Requirements:
Job requirements include, but are not limited to, the following:
Notice of Exempt Position:
This is a full-time position and in accordance with the provisions of Federal and DC wage and hour laws, this position is classified as Exempt, which means that you will not be eligible for overtime for hours worked in excess of forty (40) during a work week.
Salary & Benefits:* (see BISC’s Compensation Philosophy below)
To Apply:
To apply: Submit cover letter, resume, and 3 references by clicking here.
Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
About BISC
BISC’s mission is to strengthen democracy by implementing a national progressive strategy for ballot measures rooted in building state-based power.
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), a 501(c)(4) organization, is the only progressive organization that works across many policy, organizing, and political organizations, with local, state, and national leaders to analyze and support the ballot measure landscape.
We believe direct democracy can be a tool for liberation. We leverage ballot measures across the United States as part of a larger movement to strengthen democracy, center people of color, queer, low-income, immigrant, indigenous and other marginalized communities, move towards racial equity, build and transform power, and galvanize a new progressive base. In February 2020, we launched our strategic framework to help move towards our vision of building a world where all people are fully liberated, live with dignity and thrive so that equity and justice prevail.
We lead by supporting the use of ballot measures as a tool for transformational impact, not just in a measure’s outcomes, but at every stage of the ballot measure process—from policy development, signature gathering, civic engagement, the campaign itself, implementation and beyond. We believe in movement building and empowerment, bringing communities into the work and leaving lasting infrastructure for continued social change.
We know that success isn’t just defined by getting 50% + 1 of the vote. If we’re serious about building a more equitable world, we also must consider who’s driving the change and whether it will have a transformational impact on the people and communities who have been pushed to the margins for too long.
We achieve impact through training the field and developing leaders, convening state and national leaders and funders in a co-created strategy that results in transformative wins, leading innovative research and providing assistance to support ballot measures as a tool to build long term power.
BISC’s Racial Equity Stance
At the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, we work to transform our country into one that is equitable and just. In our work, we strive to challenge structural racism, and center the people most impacted. BISC works with commitment to racial equity inside our organization in our operations and management processes, and externally through our research, training and organizing work with ballot-measure campaigns, partners and funders.
BISC’s Compensation Philosophy
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center seeks to recruit, retain, and develop high-talent individuals in order to achieve our mission. In 2022, BISC created a compensation philosophy that provides a framework for compensation decisions and shows how those decisions are a reflection of our organizational values.
Salaries are benchmarked to the most expensive geographic markets in the U.S. Incoming staff have the opportunity to negotiate within the published salary range but final offers will preserve relative salary parity with similarly experienced staff who have similar roles at BISC. Annual raises (budget permitting and after one year of tenure) are flat rate rather than percentages of salary and are not connected to annual performance reviews. We have chosen to structure salary bands so salaries can continue to grow even without a promotion (BISC is a small organization and upward mobility may be more limited than in larger entities). We offer above-market benefits to support employee medical, retirement, and other needs and strive to create opportunities for continued learning and investment in staff professional development.
EEO Policy
BISC follows an Equal Employment Opportunity Policy and employs personnel without regard to race, ethnic or religious background, descent or nationality, sexual orientation, gender (including pregnancy), gender identification, disability, marital status, age, height, weight, or military service. This policy applies to employment, internships, internal promotions, training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, relationships with vendors, use of contractors and consultants and in dealing with the general public.
Policy and Legal Advocacy Director
This job description is intended to convey information essential to understand the scope of the position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, or responsibilities associated with the position.
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) seeks an experienced policy and advocacy expert, with ballot measure campaign experience to join our Program team. The Policy and Legal Advocacy Director will have 7+ years of policy, ballot measure campaign, and supervisory experience and a sophisticated racial equity lens. The Policy and Legal Advocacy Director will lead BISC’s ballot measure legislative and legal advocacy program efforts including policy development, analysis, and legislative and ballot measure tracking efforts. In addition, this person will supervise BISC’s Defend Direct Democracy campaign, which seeks to protect and strengthen the ballot measure process through…