Conservation Policy Manager

The Aquarium of the Pacific’s mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems.

The Conservation Policy Manager will serve as a lead for policy and advocacy engagement at local, state, federal, and international levels. This role will track policy, legislative, and regulatory developments, engage directly with elected officials, facilitate media engagement, and support call-to-action campaigns for the Aquarium’s audiences. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential to effectively share information, build relationships, and foster collaboration among Aquarium staff and external partners. As the Aquarium’s conservation policy portfolio continues to expand, the responsibilities of this position will evolve to meet emerging priorities and opportunities.
Essential Functions:

Monitor and analyze proposed state, federal, and international policy, legislation and regulation for impact to Aquarium and propose position and/or response, including on appropriations and natural resource, environmental and biodiversity.
Communicate conservation policy positions with a variety audiences, both internal and external, and from one-to-one meetings to larger audience presentations, including media on occasion.
Lead the tracking of the Aquarium’s policy portfolio at multiple levels of government.
Write, design, and edit correspondence, reports, and various conservation documents, including but not limited to fact sheets, comment letters, and action alerts.
Collaborate with the Marketing department including social media and web teams for advocacy campaigns reaching Aquarium audiences, and the press relations team for earned media opportunities.
Build and sustain relationships with staff of elected officials and key agencies or decision-making bodies.
Participate in coalition groups such as Association of Zoos and Aquariums Government Affairs Committee, IUCN and Aquarium Conservation Partnership policy working group.
Support the Development department in outreach to donors interested in supporting our conservation portfolio, including writing grant applications and proposals for earmarks.
Once a month serve as a lead for a field-based engagement opportunity for paid staff, such as debris removal or habitat restoration.
Provide administrative and coordination support to other large scale, cross-departmental activities seasonally such as budgeting, master planning, and campus sustainability.
Performs other duties associated with the conservation team’s programming needs.
Limited travel to Sacramento and Washington DC is anticipated, and other travel opportunities as needed to advance Aquarium policy needs.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in political science, public policy, conservation biology, environmental studies/science, marine affairs, or a related discipline
4+ years of experience in related positions
Must be willing and able to work nights, weekends, and other hours as required for events, fundraising opportunities, programs, and staff management reasons.

Knowledge and Skills:

Knowledge of legislative and regulatory processes including international non-governmental forums, Congressional legislative process, government budget process, and administrative rulemaking.
Strong preference for individual with familiarity with marine management systems and/or biodiversity.
Must be able to successfully interact with a very broad range of individuals of varying ages, ethnicities, interests, experiences, socio-economic backgrounds, etc.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Flexibility to absorb an evolving set of responsibilities.
Highly organized and detail oriented with strong administrative skills.
Professional manner and ability to maintain confidentiality.
Highly skilled in MS Word, Windows, PowerPoint and Excel.
Excellent internal and external customer service.
Experience in social media in a professional capacity is a plus.
Experience working to meet tight deadlines, completing unexpected projects, and effectively managing a demanding workload in a working environment with frequent interruptions.

Minimum starting pay for this role is $80,000 annually. Additional consideration will be given, depending on relevant qualifications and experience.

Tagged as: Law/Policy