Officer – State Decarbonization Campaign Lead

Officer, State Campaigns, Energy Modernization Project

The Environment Portfolio at The Pew Charitable Trusts

For more than 30 years, Pew has been a major force in engaging the public and policy makers about the causes, consequences, and solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Our environment work spans all seven continents with more than 250 professionals working at the local, national, and international levels to reduce the scope and severity of global environmental problems, such as the erosion of large natural ecosystems that contain a great part of the world’s remaining biodiversity, and the destruction of the marine environment. Pew’s global environmental program focuses on science-based, nonpartisan, and sustainable solutions to help protect the planet and people. We work in partnership with governments, Indigenous rights holders, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, local stakeholders, scientists, and other researchers to advance public policy so that nature and communities can thrive.

Since 1990, Pew has worked in North America, South America and Australia to protect large and critically important terrestrial ecosystems, including rivers and other freshwater resources, coastal temperate rainforests, interior mountain ranges, the northern boreal forests, Australia’s Outback, and Chilean Patagonia. We work to ensure these natural systems remain bountiful, functioning, and resilient, providing essential ecological services such as clean air and clean water, sustenance and food security for local communities and more broadly for the welfare of current and future generations. Our work relies on the sciences of conservation, sociology, biology, and economics to advocate for practical and durable solutions to the loss of biodiversity. 

In the sea, reforms to how our oceans are managed are essential to address overfishing, pollution, and loss of habitat. Pew began its oceans program in the United States, focusing on ending overfishing and protecting fragile marine habitat. Starting in 2005, Pew’s ocean conservation program expanded around the world and played a significant role in reforming marine fisheries management in the European Union and on the high seas and creating large scale marine reserves around the world. Our work is grounded in the best available science and pursues domestic and international conservation measures that are long-term and provide permanent, durable protections for marine ecosystems. We also work to address systemic threats to the ocean, including from plastics, over-and-illegal fishing, seabed mining, and climate change.

Energy Modernization Project

The Energy Modernization Project aims to secure policies that help meet increasing energy demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by modernizing the transmission grid, accelerating adoption of distributed energy resources such as solar and batteries, and increasing clean energy generation.

Position Overview

The officer, state campaigns, energy modernization project, will serve as a lead policy campaign advocate for state-level policies that modernize the electric grid by scaling the adoption of distributed energy generation, accelerating the buildout of transmission infrastructure, and supporting deployment of large-scale clean energy generation. Reporting to the project director, state campaigns, energy modernization project, the officer will collaborate with project leadership to identify campaign opportunities and develop and execute legislative and regulatory policy campaigns in priority states across the political spectrum.

Located in Pew’s Washington, D.C. office, this position participates in Pew’s hybrid work program with core days in the office and the flexibility to telework the remaining days. Staff also enjoy four telework “flex weeks” per year.   

Responsibilities

• Foster a work environment that inspires excellence, values impact, encourages transparency, builds mutual trust and respect, embraces and values diversity, and is collaborative, caring and compassionate.

• Work with the project director to develop and implement effective state-level policy campaigns that result in power sector decarbonization outcomes, including identifying opportunities, pivoting strategies as conditions change, and continuously assessing the effectiveness of tactics and partners.

• Identify partners, supervise consultants, develop and maintain excellent working relationships with government officials and partner organizations, and develop scopes of work and objectives with grantees to meet programmatic deliverables.
• Cultivate and maintain detailed knowledge of state public policy discussions and closely track relevant legislation and regulations related to grid modernization and the power sector.
•  Establish Pew as a trusted resource and partner to allies and key state administrative, utility commission, and legislative staff and officials. Represent Pew in government meetings, advocacy coalition meetings, hearings and testimonies, public events and conferences, and with local media.
• Write campaign materials, such as web analyses, fact sheets, presentations, and policy briefs for internal and external education and advocacy efforts, ensuring factual accuracy.
• Collaborate closely with Pew staff including communications, government relations, field operations, and others to execute and ensure coordination of campaign activities.
• Participate in activities that support program and Pew-wide objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Generally, eight years of applicable experience, including work on advocacy campaigns that seek to secure policy through Congress or state legislatures, or professional experience within policymaking institutions.
• Skilled at informing and influencing politically diverse external audiences through written and oral communications; demonstrates detail-oriented, fact-based applied research and writing.
• Possesses knowledge of the energy power sector and related emerging issues.
• Aptitude to apply a non-partisan, evidence-based approach to projects and campaigns that require support across the political spectrum.
• Develops and manages productive and collaborative relationships with partners, contractors, external stakeholders, and colleagues, including communications, government relations, and additional internal support functions.
• Prior to commencing employment with Pew, candidates who were registered to lobby in any jurisdiction must certify termination of previous registration(s) and provide copies of termination notices to Pew.

Key attributes and preferred experience

• Develops and moves projects forward with a high degree of independence and autonomy, and exercises sound decision-making in problem-solving.
• Demonstrated experience meeting multiple deadlines and managing short- and long-term goals, while maintaining attention to detail.
• Experience working productively with a wide array of stakeholders, both internal and external, and approaching issues with a nonpartisan mindset and sound judgement in a rapidly changing environment.

Travel

• This position requires domestic travel to meetings and conferences, including up to 35% of the time during key periods.

Work Authorization

• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the country for which they are seeking employment without visa sponsorship. 

Salary Range

United States Pay Range: $121,100 - $135,400

The salary range represents a reasonable estimate of the annual salary based on Pew’s commitment to provide equitable and market-competitive pay. The actual salary offered will take into consideration many factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills and experience, internal pay equity, and business need.

Total Rewards

We offer a competitive salary and benefit program, including: comprehensive, affordable health care through medical, dental, and vision coverage; financial security with life and disability insurance; opportunities to save using health savings and flexible spending accounts; retirement benefits to help prepare for the future; and work/life benefits to maintain a good balance.

Pew is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, or any other protected characteristics.