Senior Manager, Policy and Advocacy (Apply By: Friday, November 22, 2024)

About JFF  

Jobs for the Future (JFF) drives transformation of the U.S. education and workforce systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. Seeing that millions of people are unfairly shut out of quality jobs and the chance for a better life, our goal is to align education, workforce, and employment changemakers toward a shared North Star: In 10 years, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs.  

To achieve that goal, we design solutions, scale best practices, influence policy and action, and invest in innovation. With a staff of more than 300 people across the country working remotely and in offices in Boston (headquarters), Washington, DC, and Oakland, California, we operate at the national, state, and local levels, forging deep partnerships with employers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and education and workforce development providers to break down barriers and reimagine what’s possible.    

We’re on a path of ongoing growth and expanding impact. We have an operating budget of $105 million, and we’re funded by dozens of leading government agencies, foundations, and corporations. Learn more about JFF and join us as we build a future that works—for everyone.   

DEIBW at JFF  

Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and well-being (DEIBW) are core to JFF’s North Star and mission. We employ and build diverse teams across race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, age, and lived experiences and are constantly working toward ensuring these differences are celebrated and included. We aim to cultivate a culture that centers the overall care, well-being, and success of the employee through flexible work hours, balanced workloads, professional development, and equitable career advancement opportunities. Learn more about what DEIBW looks like in practice at JFF.  

We seek to invest in and learn from those who represent the communities we serve, particularly individuals from populations who have been explicitly or implicitly excluded from the workforce. Knowing its importance to the success of our work and the engagement of our staff members, we aspire to attract and retain a diverse team and welcome people of all backgrounds to apply to our open roles. JFF is a fair chance employer and in alignment to our North Star, we strongly encourage individuals whose highest level of education attained is less than a 4-year degree; People of Color; and people with records to apply.  

About the Position 

The ASA Center on Career Navigation (CCN) is a newly created center at JFF and was developed in partnership with the American Student Assistance (ASA). The CCN’s work will center around helping 16- to 24-year-old learners find, evaluate, access, and pay for high-quality education and training programs while helping employers identify workers with skills that match their needs. Our goal is to empower 20 million young learners by 2030. 

In this newly developed position, this Senior Manager for Policy and Advocacy will begin their work at JFF by supporting the federal and state policy and advocacy workstream of the CCN, which will influence policymakers by developing and implementing policy positions that ensure all young people gain equitable access to the information and experiences they need to navigate to meaningful, quality education and jobs. This work advances JFF’s enterprise-wide North Star goals and the organizational wide No Dead Ends policy strategy to elevate policies that eliminate “dead ends” to economic advancement. To do this, the Senior Manager, Policy and Advocacy will surface critical trends, produce resources for stakeholders and lead collaboration with external partners.   

The Senior Manager role will work closely with JFF’s Policy and Advocacy team but will be embedded within JFF’s Field Implementation Team (FIT). The Field Implementation Team is a team within our Solutions Design & Delivery (SD&D) at JFF and is the largest team with more than 150 members who contribute to the design and execution of JFF’s funded work across the Solutions Group, JFFLabs, Strategic Engagements, the Policy & Advocacy team, and other teams. The Field Implementation Team is comprised of subject matter/domain experts, or developing experts, and generalists across a range of experience levels. This position presents an exciting opportunity for an individual to help support policy work within a new space at JFF and will allow an individual to work cross functionally on other policy work across JFF in as their time with the organization continues. This position also presents the opportunity for this individual to meet with stakeholders on Capitol Hill, meet with the Executive Branch, meet with National Coalition partners in D.C., and to help run logistics for D.C. based events. 

What you’ll do:  

 Contribute to the development of JFF’s overall policy agenda, through writing, data analysis, and research. 

• Partner closely with key stakeholders across the CCN and Policy & Advocacy team, leveraging your specific content expertise and perspective to connect the dots between different bodies of policy work, JFF’s priorities, and to advance the development of key deliverables.  

• Identify and analyze opportunities to influence state and national policy priorities that increase career navigation opportunities and equitable advancement for 16- to 24-year-old learners.  

• Conduct policy research and analysis, including helping JFF develop new policy issue knowledge and positioning around supporting best practices connected to the CCN’s goals and JFF’s North Star. 

• Plan, develop, and write policy issue briefs, memos, and papers for diverse audiences, particularly policymakers. 

 Build and implement strategy around JFF’s advocacy agenda.  

• Support the development and execution of the CCN’s advocacy strategy to help achieve key goals.  

• Support the development, design, and implementation of strategic issue campaigns to influence policy change on key career navigation priorities at the national and state level. 

• Help establish and deliver CCN’s priorities and advocacy strategies by representing JFF in external meetings and developing relationships with key external stakeholders, peer organization, policymakers, leaders, funders, and other advocates. 

• Develop and present key metrics to assess the mission-impact of our advocacy efforts. 

 Lead and manage impactful policy and project work  

• Lead and manage project execution for the CCN policy work-stream to build out efficient deadlines and deliverables around key deliverables to help meet team goals.  

• Strategically utilize knowledge management and project management tools such as Salesforce, Asana, and other similar tools. 

• Manage timelines, workflow, communications, production of deliverables, and other aspects of project implementation. 

• Build relationships with key stakeholders across JFF and contribute to key projects to develop and advance education policy priorities. 

 Oversee and manage key administrative functions, including grant management and key fundraising components. 

• Manage and support funder meetings and communications to help maintain strong funder relationships and grant stewardship. 

• Oversee and track multiple grant deliverables, outcome metrics, and prepare reports for funders.  

• Contribute and help design and develop proposals to support the advancement of CCN policy work and deliverables with funders and colleagues.  

Who You Are:   

The qualifications listed within the job description are intended as a guide and we do not expect candidates to bring all experiences and skills listed. Research supports that self-selecting out of potential professional opportunities is particularly common among individuals with identities that are marginalized in professional spaces. So, if you believe that you can meet the overall expectations of the position, we encourage you to apply so that we have an opportunity to learn more about you and the unique strengths you would bring to the work. 

• You bring experience working in public policy, preferably with a focus on education, career-connected learning, youth development, or other relevant fields (New hires at the Senior Manager level at JFF typically bring 5-10 years of prior professional experience through a combination of full-time, part-time, internship, and/or freelance positions). 

• You have a strong working knowledge and experience in supporting the advancement of federal and state policy priorities preferably around education and career-connected learning issues.  

• You have experience in project management and have been able to leverage these skills to lead multiple projects at once, build out project plans, meet key deliverables, and meet key deadlines. 

• You have experience supporting and writing policy pieces with the ability to synthesize and communicate complex issues in clear and actionable way and across multiple audiences.  

• You bring experience leveraging data and conducting research to help support key arguments that help advance policy ideas. 

• You bring experience supporting the developing the design, and implementation of strategic issue campaigns, preferably with a passion for supporting the economic advancement of 16–24-year-olds. 

• You have experience presenting key metrics and data to stakeholders to help present key findings and to help advance an advocacy agenda. 

• You have experience supporting grant management work within a team, including funder connections, tracking grant deliverables, and supporting grant proposals.  

• You thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and can seamlessly pivot between being an individual contributor and working in close collaboration with others. 

• You are a curious and adaptive learner, with a willingness to take in new information, perspectives, and data to inform your work.   

• You demonstrate a growth mindset and desire to continuously improve in your work and approach. 

• You are energized by stewarding JFF’s DEIBW values and practices within your day-to-day work, including embracing the differences and celebrating the diversity that each individual brings to JFF. 

• You value building positive and collaborative relationships with others, including people whose identities and backgrounds differ from your own. 

• You possess high energy and passion for JFF’s mission and North Star, and the ability to apply JFF’s core values to all areas of your work. 

• You are able to engage in in-person meetings with key stakeholders in the Washington D.C. area with a regular cadence, around 5 times a month 

• You are able and willing to travel up to 10% (The frequency will vary according to mix of projects). 

What We Offer  

At JFF, we’re fueled by the desire to create a world where everyone has equal opportunity for economic advancement. Our team works hard to push the boundaries of what is possible, and in return, we provide a gratifying work experience, competitive salaries, and a comprehensive benefits program that includes flexibility and choice as core values in order to support people wherever they are in their lives and careers. 

JFF has offices in Boston, Oakland, and Washington, DC; employees are welcome to use JFF office space to work in-person or hybrid, or completely remote. To improve the employee experience and promote productivity while working remotely, JFF offers an annual home office stipend to all regular full-time and part-time employees. In addition, new employees receive office equipment as needed.   

 The hiring range for this role is $80,000 - $100,000 annually, in alignment to JFF’s Senior Manager salary band and our compensation philosophy. Starting salaries for new hires will be determined based on a combination of the new hire’s relevant experience and market demands.  

To Apply  

As part of your application, please include your resume and a thoughtful cover letter, addressed to Erica Cuevas, Director in the Policy and Advocacy practice, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position. 

We are accepting applications through November 22nd, 2024, at 5:00 pm ET. Applications submitted by that date will be reviewed and candidates will receive updates on their candidacy by the week of November 25, 2024.   

At JFF, we’re also committed to accessibility and want to ensure that everyone, including people with disabilities, can fully access and engage with our application and hiring process. If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability and/or have specific access/accommodation needs in order to fully participate in our hiring process, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Positions at JFF are not eligible for employer-visa sponsorship or open to F-1 student visa holders.