POSITION SUMMARY

NRDC’s Environmental Health Department is seeking to hire a State Advocate in North Carolina to advance our regional environmental health goals in the Adaptation and Air & Water sectors, with occasional work to advance additional Environmental Health goals in the Southeast region, particularly North Carolina.

The advocate will be an empowering and collaborative individual who champions equity and justice. The successful candidate will have existing relationships with community, environmental justice, environmental groups, in addition to state and local elected officials and staff and state agencies. The candidate should also be adept at telling compelling stories to diverse audiences. The candidate must demonstrate a genuine alignment with the mission and values of NRDC and seek to apply their passion and skills to tackle the most important challenges humanity has ever faced.

The position is remote, with an expectation to be based in Raleigh, North Carolina and to travel occasionally to other parts of the Southeastern United States to advance NRDC’s policy goals and for team meetings, etc., as needed.

This is a limited term 2 year position.

The position you are applying for is part of the bargaining unit represented by The Washington Baltimore News Guild (WBNG / The Newsguild-CWA Local 32035).

• Support the development of a broad portfolio of policies that seek to protect communities in the face of climate change, environmental degradation, and inequality. Specific priorities include: risk reduction initiatives that protect homes from climate impacts, homeowner insurance reform, and drinking water contamination (due to PFAS, lead, or other harmful contaminants).
• Work to advance other community-driven, cross-cutting initiatives that advance the Environmental Health Department’s wider portfolio, including but not limited work on air quality, toxics, fossil fuels, and community impacts.
• Build and manage partnerships and collaborate with community groups most impacted by climate and environmental injustices (including Black, indigenous, and people of color, and low-income and rural communities) and other allies, including the environmental community, consumer and low-income advocates, labor, the faith community, state and local decision makers, and elected officials.

Minimum Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field
• 5+ years of work experience related to the environment, climate, energy policy, or a related field—with at least 2 of those years based in North Carolina.
• Community organization and/or advocacy experience with environmental justice and frontline groups and marginalized, low-income communities.
• Master's or other related advanced degree, or an equivalent combination of education and direct experience.

Skills, Abilities, Competencies

• A sense of mission and passion for public interest and environmental advocacy.
• Experience navigating diverse stakeholders, building consensus on policy issues, and driving toward positive outcomes within a team, in a coalition, and with other external partners, in particular partners that reach beyond the traditional environmental community.
• Broad-based interest in drinking water and/or climate adaptation work, including the ability to quickly get up to speed on NRDC’s policy priorities.
• Ability to represent NRDC with maturity, judgment, and professionalism.
• Strong oral and written advocacy skills, including a willingness to represent NRDC in a variety of public forums and in the media.
• Willingness and ability to register as a state lobbyist.
• Ability to travel to NRDC U.S. based offices, approximately 10% annually.
• Experience working collaboratively across teams (internal and external) towards shared outcomes.
• Commitment to NRDC’s mission, values, and DEI principles.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position within the described work environment.

Frequently: Perform desk-based computer tasks

Frequently: Ability to interact and communicate with employees and others as necessary

Frequently: Attend planned meetings and collaborate with management and coworkers

Occasionally: Ability to attend events and activities in the office or offsite

Work is sometimes performed primarily in office. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet in office settings and moderate in other situations. Hours of employment may sometimes require working flexible and/or longer hours, including nights and weekends, when necessitated by projects. The job includes work-related situations such as those involving challenging, important, urgent, time-sensitive, or multiple matters.