Assistant Director of Public Policy

Trying Together•Pittsburgh, PA

6d•$61,000 - $70,000

About The Position

The Assistant Director of Public Policy serves as the operational backbone of Trying Together’s policy department, building and managing capacity to identify policy opportunities and drive advocacy that improves early care and education for children, families, and the early childhood workforce. The position advances the priorities of Trying Together’s Public Policy Agenda and statewide advocacy coalition, working closely with the Director of Public Policy and the policy team. It provides day-to-day operational leadership and functional supervision, manages grant deliverables, tracking, and workflows, and leads the department in the Director’s absence. The Assistant Director contributes to a committed, collaborative advocacy effort to elevate the needs of young children, families, and educators and advance an equitable early care and education system. The role is full-time and exempt, includes occasional evening and weekend hours, and involves regional travel, with travel to Harrisburg one to two times per year and occasional travel to Washington, DC. The role reports to the Director of Public Policy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in organizational management, public policy, education, or a relevant field.
At least 5–7 years of professional experience overall.
Knowledge of early childhood education content.
Interest in state and local government systems and public policy communication strategies for influencing elected officials, legislation, and public policy.
Exceptional organizational and detail-oriented skills, including the ability to manage multiple deliverables, deadlines, and workflows in a fast-paced environment.
A record of accomplishing challenging goals in a professional work environment.
Ability to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and at different professional levels to achieve shared goals.
Experience collaborating and contributing to interdisciplinary teams.
Experience supporting, monitoring, and reporting grants and using data to make decisions.
Ability to work independently, meet deadlines, manage multiple responsibilities, and prioritize tasks.
Strong analytical, research, critical-thinking, writing, presentation, and problem-solving skills.
Strong written and verbal communication skills for a range of audiences.
Ability to communicate effectively and engage with early childhood educators and families.
Successful experience working with diverse populations and communities.
High competency with office software, including spreadsheets, word processing programs, email, and calendars.
Comfort with technology such as tablet computers, laptops, presentation equipment, and other hardware, and willingness to learn new technologies.
Ability to take initiative while working within established systems and to manage multiple tasks, projects, and deadlines.
Ability to work independently and as a team member.
Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends and travel as needed.
Clean Act 33 Child Abuse Clearance.
Clean Act 34 PA State Police Clearance.
Clean Act 73 Federal Criminal History Clearance.
National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) Verification.
Valid driver’s license and proof of insurance.
Complete Mandated Reporter Training during the first month of placement.
Complete required and recommended NeonCRM online training courses during the first three months of placement.
Obtain PQAS Professional Development Instructor Certification within the first year of employment.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree.
Knowledge of local and state early education public policy.

Responsibilities

Execute grant-supported advocacy activities in accordance with state coalition priorities, strategy roadmap goals, and the public policy agenda.
Guide development and advancement of the public policy agenda, including strategies for promoting it and implementing related activities.
Strengthen processes and systems that inform the policy team’s work and align with organizational and coalition infrastructure.
Establish and oversee workflows for tracking activities and outcomes to support reporting, evaluation, and measurement of program impact.
Manage grant deliverables, timelines, and project milestones, ensuring timely, high-quality completion across the policy team.
Connect tracking of internal deliverables and monitoring of legislative trends to support strategic decisions.
Collaborate with the policy team on meetings with early childhood professionals, group meetings, program visits and tours, and media events with policymakers.
Participate in relevant coalition committees and working groups to build alignment, monitor policy developments, and support advocacy.
Track legislation in alignment with the policy agenda and coalition priorities.
Lead and contribute to reports, issue briefs, policy memos, white papers, and position statements related to Trying Together’s policy agenda and statewide coalition work.
Support delivery and implementation of grant-funded advocacy activities aligned with state campaigns, strategy roadmap goals, and the public policy agenda.
Conduct outreach and relationship-building to expand the base of early childhood education advocates across a 10-county region.
Identify strategic opportunities to grow the organization’s advocacy and policy pipeline.
Collaborate with advocacy organizations, elected officials, community stakeholders, internal departments, and local and regional organizations to advance policy and advocacy efforts.
Maintain knowledge of significant national, state, and local policy developments and trends in early childhood.
Commit to racial equity and inclusion, participate in professional growth, contribute to a culture of belonging, and challenge practices that do not honor the humanity of children, families, educators, and colleagues.
Work collaboratively across Trying Together departments and participate in ongoing professional development.
Use NeonCRM to build constituent relationships, record project performance data, and support continuous quality improvement.
Perform other duties as assigned.