Now Hiring: Advocacy Director
Position Title: Advocacy Director
Reports To: Executive Director
Status: Salaried Exempt, Full-time
Location: This is a hybrid position with at least 2 days required in office. Number of in-office days are subject to change. Our office is currently located in downtown San Jose, near San Jose State University which will change when we secure a new workspace. This role may also require being out in the field to support community events and develop relationships beyond the 2 days in the office.
About Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) is a non-profit membership-based organization founded in 1993 that seeks to build healthy and just communities. We’re proud of the extraordinary impact we’ve had over the past ten years in improving local infrastructure and normalizing bicycling for transportation in San Mateo & Santa Clara Counties. And we’re excited about how much more we can do to solve challenging local and global issues through the humble bicycle. SVBC stands among peer organizations in the nine Bay Area counties as one of the largest bike coalitions in North America. See our strategic plan to better understand SVBC’s vision, strategy, and priorities.
You’ll join a team of approximately 15 core & 15+ ad hoc staff members who are passionate about getting more people on bikes safely. We invest a great deal of time in strengthening relationships and building a high-trust environment where feedback in all directions is welcomed as opportunities to learn. The organization is a non-profit with a start-up culture that values creative problem solving, open communication, and a can-do attitude.
It is also important to highlight that we are a group of folks deeply committed to doing one of the most difficult things on the planet – to get people out of cars and onto bikes to solve some of society’s most intractable problems. If you’d like to join a team who want to build better communities through the humble bicycle, we want to bring you on, and continue investing in building a team who can do great things together.
Position Summary
You’ll manage a team of 5+ advocacy staff who aim at making bicycling the easiest and most obvious transportation choice by creating connected, comfortable bike networks and ensuring new development is planned around people, not cars. SVBC uses a bottom-up, community organizing approach for its advocacy where staff train and manage local teams (a group of passionate volunteers) to run and lead their own campaigns. Your role would be to think and execute innovative ways of efficiently running local teams to get maximum output, along with managing regional priorities and relationships.
Qualifications
A passion for SVBC’s mission to build healthy and just communities.
Minimum of five years of experience in transportation advocacy and policy. Is familiar with transportation policies in the San Francisco Bay Area region, and ongoing/upcoming transportation policies at the regional and state level.
Experience in running and leading campaigns and demonstrated know-how in navigating public policy processes.
Experience in community organizing or managing teams of volunteers for a specific cause.
People management experience with the ability to inspire staff and volunteers to joyfully accomplish great things.
Demonstrated ability to lead inclusive coalitions and build avenues for diverse participation as SVBC aspires to welcome people of all ages, abilities, cultural groups, economic status, and sexual orientation.
Specifically, the person in this role would:
Position the organization as a thought leader in transportation policy and planning, with a focus on active transportation, bicycling, and safe streets.
Build the power of the bike movement with active, diverse residents creating change in their local communities through SVBC’s local team model (bottom-up approach). Create necessary systems to effectively run and manage local teams.
Ensure that the interests of SVBC, San Mateo County, and Santa Clara County residents are well-represented at regional decision-making bodies (Caltrain, BART, Caltrans D4, MTC) to bolster strong policy and funding support for bike-friendly communities at all levels of government.
Oversee our El Camino Real Campaign through our El Camino Real Local Team with a goal of implementing protected bike lanes, rapid transit, and safe crossings along the entire corridor from Daly City to San Jose.
Lead and organize SVBC’s Annual Bike Summit: an annual conference of active transportation leaders in the area.
Nurture and maintain relationships with foundation, corporate, and government entities to secure funding for SVBC’s advocacy efforts.
Advocacy Team Management:
Provide leadership in contract management, budget oversight, and deliverables management.
Manage a team of 5+ staff: have regular check-in meetings, approve timesheets, conduct annual reviews, facilitate team bonding etc.
Recruit and hire advocacy staff as needed to accomplish organizational goals.
Provide staff with necessary tools, guidance and systems for efficient community organizing and campaigning
Advise on the policy agenda and strategic direction of the organization with the Executive Director and management team.
Work closely with the Programs Director and Development Director to ensure collaboration across departments.
Core Competencies
Reliability: Excellent attendance and punctuality and ability to set and meet deadlines. Reliable and trusted source of knowledge and updates on policy issues. Meets regularly with all direct reports to ensure each member has the support, guidance and information needed.
Productivity: Highly organized and detail oriented. Able to track and execute on important information from a variety of sources. Able to manage time effectively, identify priorities among competing demands, coach staff, and to bring projects to timely completion.
Relationship Building: Ability to build and sustain relationships with external partners for strategic alliances, organizational growth and development. Proficient at negotiation, partnership management, and leveraging networks to drive growth and innovation to help strengthen the organization's reputation, competitiveness, and sustainability.
Communication Skills: Fluent communication skills: present or discuss any advocacy related work with internal and external partners with ease. Strong public speaking skills to articulate messages persuasively, engage diverse audiences, and inspire action and awareness. Provides necessary guidance to the team on their communication skills.
Teamwork and collaboration: Ensures inter and intra department teamwork and alignment on meeting strategic goals. Advises Executive Director on issues related to staff culture and morale.
Creativity and Innovation: Displays "outside the box" thinking in creating solutions and solving problems. Is receptive to fresh and out of the box ideas of the team, can brainstorm practicality and execution of the same. Uses imaginative thinking to help the organization grow. Participates in networking and other local nonprofit events and keeps current with best practices and innovations in advocacy.
Flexibility and adaptability: Prioritizes, considers alternatives, and responds quickly and thoughtfully to unexpected changes. Provides necessary direction to the team that fosters productivity and innovation in dynamic work environments.
Leadership: Guides and inspires the team through their workstyle and accomplishments and a constant learning-mindset. Designs and implements training for all team members, works with ED on org wide professional development. Acknowledges employees publicly for their work and is able to guide the team on professional development opportunities. Is able to motivate everyone to do their best and keep the team moving forward.
Project Management: Has the ability to organize tasks and people to get things done on time and within budget. Makes sure everyone knows what they need to do and when. Good project management keeps projects running smoothly and achieves goals successfully.
Emotional Intelligence: Provides mentorship and direction during times of change and upheaval. Seen as a trusted source or "go-to" for navigating interpersonal conflict. Displays maturity and sensitivity in all interactions. Able to facilitate conflict resolution with team members without any bias.
Racial Equity and Inclusion: Actively encourages diversity and inclusiveness within the team, is accepting of divergent viewpoints and ensures all voices are heard. Plans org wide DEI training and ongoing conversations with ED to implement initiatives that align with the SVBC Cultural Humility and Social Justice Framework and goals.
Salary and Benefits:
Annual salary is $85,000-94,000 depending on experience. Full-time, exempt position with a competitive benefits package including PTO, health, dental, and vision insurance, and 401k with employer match.
How to Apply:
Send a compelling cover letter and resume to jobs@bikesiliconvalley.org. Please include "Advocacy Director, [YOUR NAME]" in the subject line. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
SVBC is committed to providing an open, fair, inclusive non-discriminatory environment for all individuals across differences of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, socio-economic status, ethnicity, physical ability, or medical condition
