Vice President for Income Security & Child Care

The Position

The National Women’s Law Center seeks a Vice President for Income Security & Child Care to provide strategic vision, expertise, and leadership to the income security and child care/early learning portfolios. The Vice President will be a strategist, advocate, and spokesperson leading efforts to ensure that women and families have the supports they need to survive and thrive, as well as initiatives to build a robust child care system and larger care economy that meet the needs of children, people with disabilities, families, and care workers.

Women continue to undertake the lion’s share of paid and unpaid caregiving responsibilities and, relatedly, are far more likely than men to be poor. The Vice President will work to advance economic security for women and their families, including by advocating for robust in child care and early learning, that recognizes such care is a public good. This includes leading the Law Center’s policy strategies to advance a fair tax system; a federal budget that invests in women and families; a robust care infrastructure making quality child care, home and community based services, and paid family and medical leave available to all; affordable housing; programs that enable low-income women and families to make ends meet and succeed; and retirement security. In collaboration with the External Affairs team, the Vice President will elevate compelling narratives of need and impact to drive and frame these efforts, working to continue to grow the Law Center’s policy and cultural influence on these issues. The Vice President will also seek to build alignment and coordination among external stakeholders to advance income security and child care policy, bringing an intersectional lens to the work that includes a consistent focus on racial justice and LGBTQI+ equality. The successful candidate will bring a broad network of existing relationships with policy makers and advocates, successful fundraising experience, and a demonstrated ability to build trust with internal and external stakeholders.

The Organization

The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice — in the courts, in public policy, and in our society — working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls.

We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us — especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women and girls of color, LGBTQI+ people, and low-income women and families.

For more than 50 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women. Find out more at NWLC.org.

Responsibilities

Strategy, Vision & Leadership

• Serve as a member of the senior leadership team, working with the President & CEO, Chief Program Officer, Chief External Affairs Officer and other Chiefs and Vice Presidents to shape the organization's strategy, priorities, and resource allocation related to income security and child care and to cross-team initiatives and policies.
• Lead the team in identifying key programmatic priorities in the income security and child care portfolio, in close collaboration with the Chief Program Officer.
• Develop and advance policy and legal strategies to forward income security and child care priorities, that are informed by the lived experiences of women, families, and care workers.
• Track key legislative initiatives; identify relevant legal and policy trends at the federal and state levels; and position the Law Center as a leading influential voice bringing a gender justice lens to tax and budget policy, income support programs, and the care economy.
• Ensure that the Law Center remains a primary, go-to source for policy makers, media, and the public for insight, strategy, and solutions to advance gender justice through tax and budget policy, income support programs, and the care economy.
• Build and sustain relationships with key stakeholders and partners to advance Law Center interests.
• Work with the Vice President for Campaigns and Communications and the Chief External Affairs Officer to design innovative campaigns to advance NWLC policy and advocacy agendas and amplify the organization’s influence.
• In partnership with the Law Center's leadership and the Development team, raise funds for the Income Security & Child Care portfolio.
• Speak publicly and represent NWLC and its work to key stakeholders including policymakers, the media, funders, and other leaders of advocacy organizations.

Team Management and Supervision

• Lead a diverse team of policy advocates, including providing regular feedback, coaching to optimize performance, monitoring workload, coordinating and distributing assignments, and conducting annual performance evaluations.
• Help establish and maintain effective communications and collaboration with other NWLC teams, maintaining consistent implementation of internal policies, practices, structures and processes.
• Guide team directors in their leadership as managers, including by working with them to establish project goals and timelines, supporting them as supervisors, and collaborating with them in identifying team priorities and workplans.
• Maintain a culture that values learning, promote and guide team members’ professional development, and uphold a commitment to excellence and equity, in order to attract, retain, and motivate a talented, diverse staff.

Qualifications

We are seeking a candidate with:

• At least twelve years of relevant experience;
• A degree in law, policy, or a related field, and demonstrated success working on a mix of advocacy, research, policy formulation and analysis;
• Demonstrated success serving as a leader within a mission-driven organization with a diverse staff driving programming and impact.
• Demonstrated commitment to gender justice and deep policy expertise in at least one and preferably several of the following areas: child care and other pillars of the care economy, tax, federal budget, and federal income support programs.
• Deep familiarity and experience with conducting policy analysis, engaging public officials on issues related to child care and/or income security, and regulatory and legislative processes.
• Demonstrated ability to use and integrate racial equity, LGBTQ equity, and intersectional frameworks and analyses.
• A strong network with leading policymakers, thinkers, and advocates, bringing existing relationships that will facilitate the expansion of NWLC’s policy agenda.
• Proven track record of effectively interacting with diverse stakeholders including policy and advocacy organizations, public officials, and business leaders.
• Excellent research, analytical, oral and written communication skills.
• Outstanding time management and organizational skills, with high attention to detail and accountability for meeting deliverables and deadlines in a fast-paced, multi-tasking environment.
• Sound strategic judgment with demonstrated ability in creating and leading constructive partnerships.
• Successful fundraising experience, including developing and framing projects to appeal to a broad range of potential supporters;
• Demonstrated initiative and creativity, including ability to proactively spot and address issues, identify strategies and opportunities, and oversee effective implementation of these strategies.
• Collaborative and collegial approach, an ability and desire to work in a team-based environment, demonstrated ability to build trust with internal and external stakeholders, strong problem-solving and mentoring skills, and an orientation to the work that recognizes and values the contributions of all team members.
• Demonstrated commitment to centering diversity and equity in executing key responsibilities.
• Genuine passion for the mission of the National Women’s Law Center.

Additional preferred skills and knowledge:

• Senior-level experience at successfully building and managing a collaborative and diverse team in a larger organization; demonstrated success applying an equity lens to leadership and management; experience administering budgets and assessing infrastructure needs and organizational capacity.
• Media experience as a spokesperson.

Key Relationships

This position reports to the Chief Program Officer and is a member of the senior leadership team and oversees a team of approximately 15-20 employees, currently including 6 direct reports. Additionally, the Vice President will collaborate closely with all other teams across the organization, including Campaigns and Communications, Development, Research, and other program teams.

Compensation & Benefits

A salary within the range of $237,982-$274,116 will be provided to the successful candidate with 12 to 36+ years of experience, consistent with the National Women’s Law Center’s compensation framework. The successful candidate’s salary within this range will be determined by the number of years of relevant experience they bring to the role.

The Center offers a comprehensive benefits package, and four weeks of annual vacation.

NWLC is a non-profit organization whose headquarters and staff are based in Washington, D.C. at our new office at 1350 Eye Street N.W. This role is based in D.C. and will be eligible for some telework while also being expected to work in person at least two days a week. The successful candidate will need to live in or relocate to the DMV (broadly defined as DC, Maryland, or Virginia).

The first 90 days of employment will be considered a probationary period.

Classification

This position is a management role and as such is not included in the union-represented bargaining unit, NWLC United, affiliated with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union/IFPTE Local 70.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please submit a resume and cover letter outlining your interests and qualifications as well as contact information for 3 references. Resumes should include exact start and end dates (month and year) of employment. Electronic submissions are preferred. Applications should be submitted by Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Applications submitted after that date may not be reviewed.

Applicants will be contacted if selected for an interview. We kindly request that interested parties refrain from calling, emailing, or visiting NWLC’s offices to express interest or check on the status of their application.

The National Women’s Law Center is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and values a diverse workforce. We strongly encourage and seek applications from people with disabilities; people of all gender identities and sexual orientations; people of color; and veterans.

Research indicates members of marginalized groups tend to underestimate their qualifications and apply only if they are a 100% match. If you are passionate about NWLC’s mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role, even if you don’t check all the boxes, please apply. We’d appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

Reasonable Accommodations

If you require reasonable accommodations during any part of the hiring process, please email NWLCHR@nwlc.org.