Deputy Director

NY Renews, a multi-sector statewide climate, jobs, and justice coalition is seeking a Deputy Director with strong management, campaign, and advocacy skills to help guide our staff team and member organizations in the advocacy fights ahead.

About NY Renews

NY Renews is a coalition of over 380 environmental, justice, faith, labor, and community groups, and the force behind the nation’s most progressive climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Preservation Act (CLCPA). We fight for good jobs and climate justice, and given the state political climate and the result of the federal elections, we’ve got our work cut out for us.

Now, NY Renews is focused on two projects: implementing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in line with our vision of full decarbonization of the economy and climate justice; and advancing additional policies for climate justice in New York State.

NY Renews is governed by a Steering Committee of representatives from environmental justice, community organizing, labor, faith, and climate organizations across New York State. The Steering Committee sets the strategic direction for the NY Renews coalition. We operate in accordance with the Jemez Principles of democratic organizing and are committed to collective decision-making and leadership of frontline communities. NY Renews Staff are directed by the Executive Director and Steering Committee.

The NY Renews coalition comprises two legal entities: NY Renews, a 501 (c)(4) Project of Tides Advocacy and NY Renews Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) Fund of Tides Foundation.

About Our Campaigns

Rooted in a strong ethos of equity and climate justice, NY Renews and our member organizations are campaigning in three main arenas:

• NYS Legislation: Without strong laws, New York cannot protect its people or our shared environment from the impacts of the climate crisis. This year we’re campaigning to pass progressive climate and economic justice laws like the NY Heat Act and safeguard against any efforts to weaken or roll back the CLCPA.
• NYS Budget: As the adage goes, show me your spending and I’ll show you your priorities. We’re fighting to ensure that New York prioritizes climate justice through robust appropriations for community resilience and true climate solutions.
• NYS Regulations: The CLCPA is a framework for climate action. Now we need strong regulations to enact the law. We’ll be fighting to ensure that the state’s main regulatory proposal, a cap and trade system called the New York Cap and Invest program, is fair and just, and to ensure that the program is the beginning and not the end of regulations that enable the state to meet its legally mandated climate targets.

About the Position

The Deputy Director will have two main bodies of work: helping to guide the NY Renews staff team, and leading coalition campaign activities by centrally coordinating efforts and resources across campaigns and across member organizations.

This is a senior position with supervisory responsibilities, helping to coordinate and lead on multiple complex legislative, regulatory, organizing, and communications efforts. While candidates do not need to be subject matter experts, they should have strong collaborative, organizing, and management skills and an understanding of how to apply them with multiple and complex stakeholders.

Staff Management

Reporting to and coordinating closely with the Executive Director, the Deputy Director supervises the Communications Director, Lead Coalition Organizer, and Policy Director. The Deputy Director guides workplans, leads checkins, helps to conduct staff reviews, and ensures that communication is flowing easily and fluidly among and between staff.

Campaign Coordination

NY Renews’ Steering Committee sets the overall direction and policy strategy for the coalition, and both our staff and our member-driven committees inform and implement that strategy. The Deputy Director is a key component in keeping our campaigns on track and our staff well-coordinated. To this end, they will work hand-in-hand with the Executive Director to:

• Develop and implement annual and longer-term campaign plans to grow member power and win policy victories.
• Directly engage and organize member organizations to build alignment, strengthen their partnership, and coordinate actions across our campaigns.
• Track and share information about the status and direction of multiple intersecting advocacy campaigns.
• Support our coalition members in mass mobilizations, lobbying efforts, regulatory engagement, communications and digital engagement.
• Communicate to funders about our ongoing work.
• Connect member organizations to funders or press to showcase the coalition’s strength, depth, and expertise.
• Co-lead two committees, the Lobbying Committee, and the Organizing Committee. Actively engage in more (including Steering Committee, Policy Committee, and Media and Communications Committee).
• Build strong relationships with allies both within the coalition and across the movement space.
• Lobby and participate in direct advocacy efforts to further our campaigns.

Qualifications

Relevant experience for this position can take many forms, and we strongly encourage applicants from a diversity of backgrounds and movement spaces.

Core qualification:

• Ability to develop and maintain genuine working relationships of trust and solidarity with a wide variety of partners from diverse racial, economic, and political backgrounds.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, and the ability to clearly communicate long-term vision and campaigns to partners.
• Strong campaign strategy and planning skills.
• Strong facilitation and/or training skills.
• Strong alignment with NY Renews values and mission: a strong racial justice lens; commitment to social, economic, racial, environmental, and climate justice.
• Ability to work collaboratively, including in moments of urgency.
• Ability to independently manage projects from conception to completion .
• At least 5 years of relevant experience managing successful campaigns and policy advocacy.
• At least 3+ years of experience managing a team and across teams, including directly managing full-time staff.

Preferred qualifications:

• Strong preference for New York State residency (non-residents must be able to regularly travel to NYC and Albany).
• Experience running campaigns around the New York State legislative cycle.
• Experience in and commitment to climate and environmental justice.
• Proven record of organizing effective mobilizations, actions, and meetings with legislative, labor, issue, electoral, or other social justice campaigns.
• Exceptional ability to juggle multiple, simultaneous projects with cross-cutting stakeholders and deadlines, without sacrificing attention to detail .
• Experience as a member of, or working with, communities impacted by climate change, racial injustice, and economic inequality.
• Knowledge of environmental justice issues and policies.
• Bilingual: staff who will work in an additional relevant language, for example Spanish, will receive additional compensation for that capacity.

Compensation and Benefits:

This is a full time, exempt, salaried, and remote position. The salary range for this position is $85K to $115k, with the final salary offer based on our pay equity formula, which includes factors such as: working bilingually, location factors, difficult position to fill, seniority prior to hire, and relevant education, certification, training, or organizing experience. NY Renews provides employees 100% health and dental insurance and 80% of costs for family coverage, along with a generous paid time off, family leave, holiday package for staff over 30 hours/week, and phone/internet reimbursement.

FLSA Status: This is an exempt salaried position.

Work Location and Travel: Remote, and candidates must be in a location that makes regular travel (several times per month) to in-person meetings in New York City or Albany practical.

Application Deadline: December 5th

Submit your application here: Submit your application here.

NY Renews is committed to equity, inclusion, and justice. We strive to create a workplace that reflects the values we fight for in the world. Black, Indigenous, and people of color, people with disabilities, people impacted by the climate crisis, women, non-binary, and LGBTQ people are especially encouraged to apply.

NY Renews, a project of Tides Advocacy, celebrates diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.