Policy Advocate – 23048

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the world's leading conservation organizations, seeks a Policy Advocate.

Major Function

Under the direction of the Senior Director for Policy and Government Affairs, and in collaboration with the broader Policy and Government Affairs (PGA) team, including senior leadership, supports and advances policy advocacy efforts, policy formulation, relationship management with US government partners, and external communications around assigned issues. This position is intended to have a strong focus on US government action, domestically and internationally, to achieve WWF US objectives around plastics pollution, materials, and a circular economy. It may also involve targeted engagement at the state level on these issues. The focus of the position may change over time as WWF priorities and external opportunities evolve.

The Policy Advocate will work to design and implement policy advocacy strategies to achieve US government actions that support WWF's goals and objectives, working in collaboration with colleagues on other WWF teams, particularly the Private Sector Engagement, Media and External Affairs, and Activism and Outreach teams. In close coordination with PGA team leadership and members of the Private Sector Engagement team, the Policy Advocate will conduct external outreach to executive branch agencies and congressional offices, including direct lobbying, acting as a WWF representative and advocate for the organization's policy priorities and engaging a range of external audiences. As a professional-level contributor specializing in policy, advocacy, and conservation, they will assist in creating, executing on, and tracking strategies to achieve WWF's priority policy objectives, as determined in collaboration with other PGA team members and staff on relevant WWF program teams. They will also contribute to the design and implementation of strategies and content for external communications supporting US government advocacy strategies and objectives, including strategic use of online advocacy tools, social media, web content, and other written communications materials.

Specific responsibilities will include representing WWF with US government stakeholders in Congress and the Administration; representing WWF with relevant NGO partners and external coalitions; and advancing WWF's overall access, influence, and relationships with the US government. Responsibilities may also include some state-level advocacy as well as managing external consultants and budgets and junior staff. The Policy Advocate will need to track and report on all lobbying and US government outreach on behalf of WWF and must be willing to register as a federal lobbyist.

The successful candidate will help ensure strong and effective communication and collaboration within the PGA team and across WWF more broadly by actively promoting coordination, information sharing, and team building to leverage the organization's expertise, brand, and relationships in order to achieve WWF policy objectives with the US government.

Responsibilities

• Act as a WWF representative, advocate, and key point of contact with government partners in the administrative and legislative branches on a designated set of issues and WWF priorities. Cultivate and manage these relationships to build and maintain WWF influence and its ability to advance its policy priorities.
• Track legislation, appropriations, regulatory action, political processes and trends, and individual policymakers and their priorities to identify and capitalize on opportunities for WWF to advance its policy agenda.
• Help to build relationships between relevant policymakers and their staff and WWF representatives, including senior leadership on PGA and the organization's executive team. Builds WWF's overall brand, reputation, and influence with government audiences by providing them with accurate, trusted, relevant, and useful information and policy recommendations.
• Contribute to the formulation, execution, tracking, and reporting on overall and specific advocacy strategies and plans to achieve the organization's policy priorities, as assigned, including identifying key government partners and targets for advocacy, identifying effective tactics to achieve advocacy goals, helping to create persuasive external messaging and communications, and leveraging and collaborating with external partners and internal experts across WWF, in addition to PGA team members.
• Track and report on lobbying activities and USG outreach, including preparation of regular lobbying disclosures required under federal statutes.
• Stay current on relevant issues and external events, including meetings, briefings, hearings, markups, and broader policy trends, related to program areas of focus. Perform research on specific issues, policy trends and opportunities, and legislative and regulatory pathways.
• Track horizon events (such as the UN General Assembly, G7, and G20) and work with PGA staff to identify opportunities to leverage those moments to achieve WWF conservation objectives through US government advocacy. Work with PGA leadership and key individuals on other WWF teams to maximize those moments.
• Support internal processes to identify programmatic policy priorities and ensure relevant internal stakeholders are informed, clear, and able to contribute to WWF policy positions, including providing them with timely information on relevant legislation, opportunities, and developments within the USG.
• Help to identify short and long-term opportunities to achieve WWF conservation objectives through policy levers and to integrate these into external outreach and advocacy strategies.
• Compose or contribute to memos, fact sheets, case studies, testimony, public comments, policy briefs, presentation materials, and speeches or other verbal remarks to be delivered by WWF representatives, including senior staff and leadership at times.
• Formulate policy content, including legislative or regulatory language, budget justifications, and testimonies, to meet established policy objectives.
• Advance information sharing across the Policy and Government Affairs team and across the organization, as necessary.
• Perform fundraising activities as needed, including tracking progress on completion of specific deliverables, helping to manage external consultants, and conducting activities related to securing new funds, as needed.
• Execute on advocacy strategies and manage relationships with US government contacts as assigned and in consultation with department leadership.
• Perform other duties as assigned.