Civic Advocacy Manager

Lenox Hill Neighborhood•New York, NY

About The Position

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a settlement house founded in 1894, is widely recognized as one of New York’s premier human services providers. It offers an extensive array of effective and integrated services—social, educational, health, housing, mental health, nutritional and fitness—which significantly improve the lives of 16,000 people each year, ages 3 to 100-plus, on the East Side of Manhattan and across New York City. Clients include older adults, unhoused and formerly unhoused adults, children and families, and adult learners. The Neighborhood House is expanding its policy, advocacy, and community engagement efforts with the addition of a Civic Advocacy Manager. This role will collaborate with senior leadership and clients to engage elected officials, local leaders, and other partners on civic issues critical to the community. Working closely with and reporting to the Director of Institutional and Civic Engagement, the Civic Advocacy Manager will assist with developing and managing an organizational policy and advocacy agenda focused on creating positive change in the systems that directly affect clients and other low-income New Yorkers. The Civic Advocacy Manager must be committed to the mission of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and have a passion for advocacy to improve the lives of clients. The role involves working across multiple human services disciplines, from education to social work to housing, and with diverse populations including young families, older adults, and English language learners. The goal is to strengthen and unify organizational policy and advocacy efforts to better position the Neighborhood House for long-term change on behalf of the community. The Civic Advocacy Manager will work both independently and collaboratively with internal and external key stakeholders, clients, neighbors, government leaders, local elected officials, and select coalitions to advocate for laws, regulations, and policies that will improve clients’ lives and enhance community prosperity. The position will initially focus on three crucial issues: healthy aging and strategies to support service and resource expansion for older adults; food insecurity and healthy food initiatives to increase nutritious food access, encourage local procurement for government-funded meals, and make New York’s food systems more equitable and sustainable; and government benefits and housing issues to ensure reliable, continuing access to essential benefits, housing subsidies, and related programs.

Requirements

Minimum of three years’ experience in public policy advocacy, public policy research, community affairs, legislative and local government experience, or community-based advocacy work required
Interest and strong working knowledge of human services programs and commitment to social justice
Excellent oral and written communication, research, analysis, and presentation skills
Excellent writing and editing skills, with proven ability to describe complex policy issues clearly and accurately for different audiences
Project management skills to work both independently and as part of a team to execute assignments and policy strategy
Interpersonal and communication skills necessary to work directly with a wide range of key stakeholders, including clients, government agencies, elected officials, nonprofit partners, advocates, policy experts and other individuals and organizations in our community

Responsibilities

Work in partnership with leadership to develop, manage and implement a growing policy agenda that seeks to positively impact systems directly affecting our clients and other low-income New Yorkers
Act as an ambassador and representative of the organization and its mission, demonstrating our values through thoughtful engagement with community partners, elected officials and policymakers
Advocate for the advancement of our policy agenda at the state, local and federal levels and support our organizational lobbying efforts
Develop and draft policy publications, reports, testimony and regulatory comments to advance our advocacy agenda
Translate internal program and services data into high-level messages and visualizations that have meaning for a broad audience
Conduct policy research and summarize findings in reports for internal use
Develop advocacy and campaign materials aimed at educating and mobilizing various communities and stakeholders
Identify and work toward important improvements, expansions and funding opportunities for the organization
Complete, submit and track applications for discretionary funding and government grants
Maintain internal systems tracking outreach to and partnerships with elected officials and other government partners
Cultivate relationships with diverse partners, including advocacy coalitions, umbrella groups, community-based organizations and individuals, in order to maximize our impact
Represent the organization at events such as legislative hearings, lobbying days, conferences, partner organization fundraisers and more, including events held outside of regular work hours
Work collaboratively with program teams to leverage capacity for social innovation and increase systemic impact in our sector
Complete all other responsibilities and duties as assigned

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package
Extensive paid time off – 25 days’ vacation time, 13 holidays and substantial sick time
Paid parental leave for all staff
Professional development opportunities: trainings, lectures and more
Free life insurance: 3x annual salary
Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts for Medical, Dependent Care and Parking/Mass Transit
Supplemental Insurance Coverage (Accident, Hospital and Critical Illness)
Staff events and parties including Film & Dinner nights, bowling parties, baseball games, food trucks, holiday parties, parties on our Green Roof, ice cream socials and much more
State-of-the-art fitness center, gym and swimming pool
Staff fitness classes, swimming lessons and lap swim
PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) Eligible Employer
The best colleagues in New York!