Climate Finance Policy Analyst

Join us in the fight to hold Wall Street accountable, and make finance work for us, not against us. Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) is seeking a Climate Finance Policy Analyst to join a team leveraging AFREF’s expertise on financial regulation to contribute to the movements addressing climate change and environmental injustice, and to mitigate the associated financial risks.

AFREF played a leading role in winning passage of the Dodd Frank Financial Reform law, and we are driving the fight for broader transformations of the financial system to advance economic, racial, and social justice. AFREF’s staff develops plans and strategies in collaboration with a coalition of more than 200 consumer, civil rights, labor, community-based, and other organizations, along with academics and policy experts.

AFREF’s climate finance policy work is aimed at creating a more sustainable, ethical, and equitable financial system that helps solve rather than exacerbate the climate crisis and promotes racial, economic, and environmental justice. We advocate for changes to rules to better incorporate climate financial risk into capital markets and prudential financial regulation, and to promote safe, equitable, and just climate investment.

The Climate Finance Policy Analyst will work with AFREF staff and partners to develop, analyze, and respond to regulatory and legislative proposals, write materials exploring and explaining issues for a variety of audiences, and develop and implement strategies to advance our policy goals. The analyst’s portfolio will include climate-related insurance, banking, and systemic financial risk policies, and finance sector net-zero transition plans.

Job responsibilities include:

• Work with AFREF staff and coalition partners to develop and advocate for climate-related financial policies at the various federal financial regulatory agencies.
• Contribute to and take ownership of policy development projects to address the current climate-related property insurance crisis. This role will include policy leadership in a new coalition focused on developing and implementing policy solutions to that crisis and addressing fossil fuel underwriting and finance by insurers.
• Contribute to policy development projects in climate-related bank regulation, finance sector net-zero transition plans, and systemic financial risk mitigation, and lead on certain efforts.
• Contribute to development of administrative, legislative, and state and local advocacy strategies to promote priority policies, and lead on certain efforts.
• Write regulatory comments, letters to Congress, policy documents and memos, reports, fact sheets, blogs, and other materials for a range of audiences.
• Represent AFREF at meetings with regulators, legislators, and subject area experts.
• Engage effectively in coalition work to advance our shared goals.
• Communicate AFREF’s perspectives and policy positions through our social media and to the press, in collaboration with our communications staff, through press releases, press memos, and interviews.

Requirements

Ideal candidates will have:

• A strong commitment to racial, economic, climate, and environmental justice
• Knowledge of insurance, banking, and regulation of those industries—related work experience a plus
• 6 years or more of experience preferred
• Strong policy analysis and research skills
• Comfort working both independently and cooperatively with other staff and partners
• Ability to balance multiple tasks and priorities and to respond to short-term deadlines while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking capabilities, and good judgment
• Effective writing and oral communication for a broad range of audiences
• Experience with legislative and regulatory processes preferred
• A finance or economics degree, law degree, or an advanced degree in a related field are desirable, but not required
• Experience working with economic data and research is a plus

Benefits

Annual salary range: $90,000-105,000, commensurate with experience. This is a 1-year fixed-term position with possibility to renew based on funding. Generous benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and 401K, and generous time off.  We invest in growth opportunities for our employees both within a position and within the organization. For purposes of internal equity, AFREF will not negotiate salaries outside of this posted range.

AFREF’s office is in downtown Washington DC. AFREF offers both a fully remote and a generously flexible hybrid/remote work schedule (for staff based in the DC metropolitan area)—depending on the nature of the position and organizational needs. The Climate Finance Policy Analyst position is open to all applicants based in the United States.