Policy Specialist

Title: Policy Specialist

Reports to: Director of Policy and Advocacy

Type: Full-time

Location: Remote, with ability to travel to Olympia during state legislative session

Position Summary: This position supports our policy advocacy by working closely with the Director of Policy and Advocacy to advance our policy priorities. The person in this position will support policy and campaign strategy, specifically by supporting members and supporters to effectively advocate, by helping to grow our campaigns, by compiling and disseminating data and by participating in coalitions and committees important to advancing our priorities.

About Us: The Housing Alliance changes public policy so that people in Washington of all races, ethnicities, abilities, genders, and identities can live in safe, healthy homes they can afford. We do this through educating decision-makers, organizing, and amplifying the voices and priorities of people and communities most impacted by housing instability and homelessness.

Our vision is an equitable and racially just Washington where each and every one of us lives in a healthy, affordable home in a thriving community of our choice.

We are looking for a staff member to join our team to support our policy advocacy. The Housing Alliance does not maintain an office, and this is a fully remote position that can be based anywhere in Washington state, with priority for someone with proximity to Olympia or who is able to travel to Olympia during the legislative session, including on short notice.

Essential Responsibilities:

In addition to general support of our legislative priorities, the person in this position will specifically be responsible for the following:

Legislative Advocacy Support (40%)

• Help grow support for specific policy priorities by working with other advocacy team members to identify, meet with, and engage stakeholders;
• Track large volumes bills and keep advocacy staff, members, and supporters up to date on our positions and progress;
• Help to plan and facilitate regular virtual legislative updates, trainings, and advocacy prep sessions including hearing preparations;
• During the legislative interim, support other advocacy staff in organizing and executing listening tours across the state to gather input on future legislative priorities from members, advocates, and people with lived experience with housing instability and homelessness.

Compile and disseminate data related to affordable housing and homelessness (30%)

• Stay up to date on data and reports that demonstrate the need for our policy priorities;
• Analyze and summarize data and reports on a regular basis and make the information available to our staff advocacy team, lawmakers, and advocates;
• Use data to develop factsheets, reports, talking points and other materials to support our policy advocacy.

Lead and participate in coalitions and committees (20%)

• Represent the Housing Alliance in key coalitions;
• Support member engagement including through a public policy committee and a homelessness advisory committee;
• Convene policy workgroups with key stakeholders on key issue areas.

Other (10%)

• Participate in staff meetings, training, and retreats;
• Participate in organizational equity and racial justice efforts;
• Other duties as assigned.

This job description is not intended to represent an absolute or final list of all elements, activities, or duties of the job. The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by the person in this position. Time percentages are estimates and may change based on the needs of the organization.

Who We’re Looking For:

Someone who is deeply committed to creating social change through public policy advocacy. If you aren’t deeply familiar with the affordable housing and homelessness system in Washington already that’s okay, but you should be ready to jump in and learn about the issues we advocate for, and you should be very interested in holding a lot of knowledge over the wide issue area of tenant rights, affordable housing, and homelessness. You should be curious and interested in diving deep into the details of affordable housing and homelessness policy. You’ll need to come with or be able to quickly develop a strong understanding of the policies we work on in order to be effective in this position. We expect the person in this position to be constantly looking for new ways to make a strong case for our policy priorities. You should also be interested in developing relationships with a diverse range of advocates statewide, including people who have experienced homelessness or housing instability.

You should be ready for a heavy workload during the state legislative session and the months leading up to it. We’re a small team that does a lot. We try to have fun doing it and encourage work-life balance. Since we juggle a lot at once you’ll need to demonstrate good organizational skills to manage your work. We all work independently and as part of various teams, so you’ll do best if you are proactive, able to motivate yourself, and collaborate and communicate well with colleagues. The person in this position should expect a heavier than normal schedule when the state legislature is in session, including some evening and weekend hours, and can expect to balance that with additional time off after the session ends. Overnight travel may also be required occasionally.

Our staff and board are committed to working toward becoming a fully equitable and antiracist organization and we are looking to bring on new team members who share that commitment and who also have a commitment to self-reflection, personal growth, and working on their own internal racial and other biases.

Qualifications:

The strongest candidates will have many of the following qualifications:

• 3+ years’ employment experience in policy advocacy;
• Experience analyzing Census Bureau or similar data;
• Strong writing skills;
• Experience organizing and supporting diverse groups of people in advocacy engagement;
• Experience and comfort with public speaking;
• A demonstrated ability to translate complex policy issues into plain and accessible language;
• Familiarity with affordable housing and homelessness issues in Washington;
• An understanding of institutional racism and a strong commitment to undoing racism and other forms of oppression;
• A strong commitment to policy advocacy as a tool for advancing social justice;
• Comfort using Microsoft Office products, including confidence with Excel.

Salary: Starting salary of $75,000-$80,000 per year depending on experience. Please note, since data shows that negotiating salary can lead to inequitable outcomes for women and people of color, we extend a salary offer within our range, based on a candidate’s experience, and do not negotiate.

Benefits: Our benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance with 100% employer-sponsored premiums; employer-sponsored life insurance; 5% employer contribution to SEP IRA retirement account after six months; health care/childcare flexible spending account; 3 weeks paid vacation, 3 personal days, and 11.5 holidays including 1 personal holiday annually; paid sick and safe leave; and an employee assistance program.

To Apply: Please send a resume and a short cover letter summarizing (1) your relevant experience, (2) why you are interested in this position, (3) how you would bring a commitment to equity and racial justice to this position to jobs@wliha.org. We also request that you complete our voluntary, anonymous demographic survey to help us improve our hiring processes. When you email your application materials, we would also love to know how you learned about this job opportunity. No phone calls, please.

To request accommodation during the hiring process please email jobs@wliha.org.

This position needs to be up and running in time for the 2025 legislative session. We will evaluate resumes as we receive them and will schedule interviews on a rolling basis. We hope to bring someone on board by the beginning of December.

We are committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We value and desire a diverse workplace and strongly encourage Black, Indigenous, and people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and people who have experienced homelessness or housing instability to apply.