Equitable Land Use Director

The California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) is a statewide coalition of grassroots, community-based organizations. We organize in communities most impacted by environmental issues – low-income communities and communities of color – to advance statewide policy that protects the environment and our health. For more information about CEJA, including our core member and partner organizations, please visit www.ceja.org. CEJA’s role is to advance an environmental justice (EJ) agenda in statewide policy, guided by the lived experiences of the communities we serve, and to grow the power and breadth of the EJ movement. Our work is based in the belief that no one EJ organization can win by itself; we need to be in a strategic alliance with each other to address the root causes of environmental and climate injustice.

CEJA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. CEJA also runs a 501(c)(4) organization (CEJA Action) and a Political Action Committee (PAC), which are fiscally sponsored projects of Tides Advocacy.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The Equitable Land Use Director oversees the development and operation of CEJA’s Land Use Program, formerly known as the Green Zones Program. The Equitable Land Use Director reports to CEJA’s Co-Executive Director for Programs, supervises one manager-level position, and collaborates closely with CEJA’s member and partner organizations.

The Equitable Land Use Director must be creative and enjoy working within a diverse organization that is mission-driven, results-driven, and community oriented. The ideal individual will have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, with strong written and verbal communications, administrative, and organizational skills, and the ability to maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities. The Equitable Land Use Director must be able to handle a wide variety of activities and confidential matters with discretion.

This is a regular, full-time, exempt, at-will position.

LOCATION/EMPLOYMENT STATUS:

The Equitable Land Use Director position is mostly remote but will require occasional travel to CEJA’s hubs in Sacramento, Oakland, and Los Angeles, and to other locations throughout California. The Equitable Land Use Director must be a resident of California.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Job duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Administrative:

Leadership: Serve on CEJA’s Leadership Team, identifying and implementing organizational strategies and ensuring that CEJA is a well-managed organization aligned with its mission, goals, and core values; attend occasional meetings of CEJA’s Board of Directors.

Staff Management: Oversee CEJA’s Land Use Program, serving as thought partner, mentor, and supervisor to staff. Provide clear and useful feedback and strategic guidance to staff, including through performance evaluations.

Grants and Development: Support CEJA’s fundraising by contributing to land use-related grant proposals and reports and supporting the execution of grant agreements; build and maintain relationships with key donors.

Fiscal Stewardship: Propose and manage the Land Use Program’s budget, in collaboration with CEJA’s Finance Director. Monitor spending and compliance, ensuring that the Land Use team adheres to the highest possible fiscal standards.

Programmatic:

Campaign and Program Direction: Develop CEJA campaigns, with ambitious, attainable, and actionable goals, objectives, and work plans for the Land Use Program. Build connections across CEJA’s intersecting program areas and ensure a coordinated strategy to advance in California.

Committee Leadership: Oversee CEJA’s Land Use Committee and any other committees that fall under the Land Use Program, including supporting the Equitable Land Use Manager in facilitating committee meetings, co-developing committee work plans, delegating roles and responsibilities, and monitoring progress.

Relationship Building: Build and foster strong working relationships within the Alliance, with CEJA members and partners, with a focus on community organizing. Serve as one of CEJA’s lead external representatives, cultivating and furthering relationships with a variety of decision makers and stakeholders, including elected officials, labor unions, and environmental and social justice organizations.

Advocacy: Serve as representative and spokesperson for CEJA and advance CEJA’s program goals, including advocating before the state legislature, executive branch, and regulatory agencies; provide media interviews as assigned. Ensure that CEJA’s advocacy is done in close partnership with members and partners.

Policy Analysis: Oversee CEJA’s policy analysis of land use-related regulatory and legislative proposals, and support strategy development, as necessary.

Media and Communications: Work with program staff and CEJA’s Communications Team to integrate strategic communications to advance program goals and help strengthen CEJA's capacity to produce timely and relevant communications materials.

Stakeholder Management: Facilitate ongoing stakeholder engagement through meetings, conference calls, and written correspondence. Develop, organize, and track comprehensive meeting and project agendas, materials, and follow-ups, proactively monitoring and managing action items from internal and external stakeholders to ensure precise project execution and accountability.

The successful candidate must have the following skills and experience:

Commitment: Deep commitment to environmental, racial, social, and economic justice and to CEJA’s mission.

Supervisory Track Record: Successful track record of at least five (5) years as a staff supervisor, ability to engage, inspire, and maintain transformational partnerships around shared values, purpose, and goals. Emotional intelligence and resilience, ability to engage in courageous conversations and to thrive in a feedback environment, both giving and receiving feedback.

Critical Thinking: Strategic planning, program evaluation, and project management skills, including the self-confidence and capacity necessary to be a lead thinker in program development. Ability to generate ideas that advance the vision and goals of the Land Use Program and CEJA overall; ability to navigate an ever-changing landscape and effectively problem-solve while keeping the big picture in mind.

Subject Matter Expertise: Significant policy/program expertise in environmental justice issues and familiarity with California’s EJ policy landscape within the CA Legislature, community, and advocacy groups; specific expertise in using place-based strategies to transform areas overburdened by pollution into healthy and thriving neighborhoods. The following skills are highly recommended but not required: 1) expertise in understanding of land use planning in CA, as well as permitting process for industrial, commercial and residential sites 2) knowledge of developing local General Plans across the state of CA 3) familiarity with brownfield remediation and mitigation practices and 4) familiarity with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Advocacy and Mobilization: Outstanding communications skills (written and verbal), with the ability to facilitate understanding across multiple audiences and to navigate and advocate before various policy-making bodies. Ability to develop and facilitate alliance-wide meetings and retreats that engage all members in campaign planning and decision-making.

Conflict Resolution: Ability to intervene when challenging group dynamics play out, in ways that build understanding, trust, and deeper self-awareness of team members; initiate and lead conflict resolution efforts between individuals and organizations as needed; proactively problem-solve with strong decision-making capability.

Non-Profit Operations: Non-profit financial literacy and a clear understanding of the core functions at a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, including governance, operations, development, and communications.

Education: At least a Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree preferred) in a relevant field, such as Urban Planning, Public Policy, Political Science, Environmental Science, or Law, but not limited to these fields.

SALARY RANGE: $105,000 - $115,000 per year

APPLICATION/DEADLINE:

To apply for the Equitable Land Use Director position, please submit your application along with your resume and cover letter to the CEJA career webpage at https://caleja.bamboohr.com/careers. Applications submitted by January 13, 2025, will receive priority review.

The California Environmental Justice Alliance is an equal-opportunity employer. CEJA provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.