Sustainability & Resilience Policy Manager

About SPUR

SPUR is a nonprofit public policy organization in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through research, education, and advocacy, SPUR works to create an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous region. SPUR works across seven policy areas: Sustainability and Resilience, Housing, Planning, Transportation, Governance & Economy. 

SPUR believes that the Bay Area region should be environmentally just, carbon-neutral, and resilient to climate change and earthquakes. We advance this vision through three goals: 1) Building decarbonization; 2) Community-led adaptation planning for sea level rise and groundwater rise; 3) Seismic safety of buildings and communities.

The Opportunity

SPUR’s Sustainability & Resilience Team is looking to build our expertise in climate adaptation, seismic resilience, building decarbonization, the housing and climate nexus, the clean energy transition and circular cities, insurance markets, environmental justice, community engagement and convening, and tenant protections amid necessary sustainability and resilience programs, like home energy upgrades.

The Sustainability and Resilience Policy Manager will engage in research, education, and advocacy that advances the goals of SPUR’s Sustainability and Resilience Team. With the support of the supervisor and team, the person in this role will carry out the following essential functions: 

Research activities

• Define/craft a project scope and goals
• Manage consultant support
• Set and meet deadlines, and design and execute engagement plans
• Produce high-quality policy analysis and recommendations in the form of articles, briefs, and reports that synthesize research for a non-technical audience. 
• Develop a thorough understanding of relevant issue areas, the policy-making process, key stakeholders, and the political landscape of the issue area.

Education and engagement activities

• Write brief articles
• Organize and speak at  SPUR public events.
• Engage with the media as part of advocacy campaigns: pitching stories to journalists, doing interviews, writing opinion pieces, and working with our Communications Team to promote our work on social media. 
• Cultivate strong relationships with key partners.  

Advocacy activities

The goal of SPUR’s policy advocacy is to impact legislation, plans, and policies/resolutions to ensure our recommendations become reality in the Bay Area and statewide. In this role you will:

• Raise visibility and shape public opinion on sustainability and resilience issues by creating, publishing, distributing, and contributing to various forms of content across multiple platforms. 
• Design advocacy campaigns and manage advocacy coalitions
• Write policy letters on proposed legislation and regulations, testify at government hearings, and present SPUR’s point of view to decision-makers and stakeholders. 

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Candidate must have a professional background in sustainability and resilience, land use planning, environmental policy, or similar.
• The candidate must be knowledgeable about sustainability and resilience issues in large U.S. cities. Knowledge of the San Francisco Bay Area context as it relates to resilience planning and land use planning is highly desirable.
• Candidate must have strong project management skills. They must have experience conceptualizing and delivering work products such as policy reports, articles, public events, and legislation. For example, candidates should be able to propose, outline, research, and write policy reports that inform pressing policy questions. 
• Candidate should have good written and oral communication skills and an ability to make complicated policy issues interesting and intelligible to a broad audience. 
• The candidate must have experience with quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and the ability to explain methodologies and express findings through tables, graphs, and charts. GIS mapping skills are highly desirable.
• Candidate should be excellent at building relationships and consensus with a broad range of stakeholders to drive policy outcomes.
• Candidate must be well versed in the sustainability and resiliency policy issues affecting the Bay Area and US cities today. 
• The job requires strong meeting facilitation skills and the ability to work well with people from different sectors of the economy/community. 
• Able to work well in a team and maintain positive working relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and interests.
• A Master's degree in public policy, environmental science, city planning, environmental planning, or a related field, or a minimum of five years equivalent experience is preferable. Jobs, internships, and fellowships held while in school are considered work experience. 

We are looking for someone who has an understanding of systemic racism and its role in urban policy in the United States. Candidates must have a demonstrated ability to work across differences. The candidate must be committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and manifest that commitment in their policy, facilitation, advocacy, and management responsibilities.

Desired Experience

• Experience working with municipal stakeholders and navigating public planning and policy landscapes. 
• Experience sourcing funding for work through grant writing and relationship building.
• Strong relationship network in the Bay Area with advocates, municipal practitioners, academics, policy professionals, and/or industry professionals working in climate, sustainability, and resilience. 
• Intermediate skills with data management and statistics, and advanced skills with spreadsheet software. GIS mapping skills are highly desirable.
• SPUR’s Sustainability & Resilience Team is looking to build our expertise in climate adaptation, seismic resilience, building decarbonization, the housing and climate nexus, the clean energy transition and circular cities, insurance markets, environmental justice, community engagement and convening, and tenant protections amid necessary sustainability and resilience programs, like home energy upgrades. If you have expertise in any of these areas, we welcome your application.

SPUR recognizes that no one person is an expert in all the topics that they are asked to address as part of SPUR’s policy team. The candidate will be a quick learner and self-starter, able to identify knowledge gaps and fill them either by learning or by working with the right experts.

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $85,000-95,000 and will be based on experience and commensurate with skills and qualifications. This is a full-time, exempt position. SPUR offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, dental insurance, vision care, basic life insurance, pre-tax commuter benefits, work-from-home stipend, an employee assistance program (EAP), and a retirement plan with 25% contribution matching.

Hybrid Work Environment

At SPUR the health of our employees and their families is our top priority. SPUR has a hybrid workplace model that combines remote and in-person work. We have mandatory all-staff in-person days on Mondays and Wednesdays, and staff will be required to attend other in-person meetings, events, and programs around the Bay Area region as needed. All policies are subject to change.

How to Apply

Please submit a cover letter and resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Equal Opportunity Employer

SPUR is an equal-opportunity employer with a strong organizational commitment to respecting differences of all kinds. SPUR prohibits unlawful discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, political orientation, disability, or any other basis prohibited by law. In that spirit, we strongly encourage applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, LGBTQ applicants, and others who will contribute to the diversity of our staff.

Applicants With Disabilities

Reasonable accommodations will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application.

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so assigned.