Position: Permanent, Full-Time, Salaried ($55,000-65,000, commensurate with experience), Exempt; Reports to Executive Director
Locations: Remote plus regular in-person business in Burlington and Montpelier, Vermont
Benefits: Health and dental insurance; SIMPLE retirement plan contribution; Flexible schedule and remote work; Reimbursement for remote work expenses; Strong organizational culture supporting work-life balance
VBSR is a statewide, nonprofit business association with an enduring mission to leverage the power of business for positive social and environmental impact. Our diverse membership represents all sectors and geographic regions of Vermont – from sole proprietors to the largest employers in the state – all working toward a just, thriving, and transformative economy that works for all people and the planet.
For more than 30 years, VBSR has advocated for policy initiatives that recognize that what is good for people, communities, and the environment is also good for business. From our beginnings as a small group of pioneering businesses to today’s network of thousands, VBSR members have continued to prove themselves leaders, innovators, and influencers, with impact reaching far beyond the workplace: our members have shaped the Vermont brand, advanced leading-edge policy, and fueled the social responsibility movement.
VBSR’s Public Policy Manager helps give our members a voice on sustainable economic development and social equity issues. The manager develops and implements VBSR policy programs and services in consultation with VBSR’s Executive Director, and works closely with VBSR’s Public Policy Committee, advocating for policy priorities developed by the committee. The Public Policy Manager advances VBSR’s policy priorities through legislative lobbying and strategies, research, outreach, and education, in consultation with VBSR’s Public Policy Committee, study committees, coalition partners, and issue groups, as well as VBSR members.
Primary Responsibilities:
Issues and Advocacy
- Gather data from VBSR members and other internal and external sources to inform VBSR’s public policy process and its understanding of relevant policy issues.
- Recommend policy priorities, goals, and strategies for the organization’s policy work, working with the Public Policy Committee and Board.
- Monitor and track developments of legislative and regulatory proposals related to VBSR’s policy issues.
- Provide testimony on VBSR’s behalf to legislative and other decision-makers and also identify and coordinate testimony from others.
- Identify and implement potential collaborations in support of VBSR policy goals and strategies.
- Organize meetings of the Public Policy Committee, study committees, and issue groups.
Communication and Outreach
- Communicate VBSR positions, policies, goals, and strategies to VBSR members, decision-makers, and the public through presentations, events, earned media, paid media, email, blog posts, social media, and other media.
- Plan and execute public policy events, including forums, annual legislative breakfast, town halls, webinars, and other events – both in-person and virtual.
- Research and draft VBSR policy positions and lead the position approval process.
- Research and draft VBSR policy goals and lead the goal approval process.
- Work with other VBSR staff to forward the organization’s work and mission.
- Be a positive contributor to VBSR Staff Team and team-wide efforts, including membership growth, events, and organizational development.
Skills Needed:
- Demonstrated interest in socially responsible public policy.
- Demonstrated understanding of business needs.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Highly diplomatic and persuasive; Ability to build rapport.
- Good analytical and organizational skills.
- Ability to handle fast-changing, time-sensitive matters in stressful situations.
- Ability to work both independently and with teams, committees, and coalitions.
Physical Requirements:
- VBSR does not keep a physical office. Duties will primarily be performed remotely, at the Vermont Statehouse during the Legislative Session, and in-person in locations in Vermont. Some additional travel may be required.
- VBSR provides standard office equipment (including a computer, and, if needed, printer) and supplies as well as reimbursement for remote work expenses (phone and internet).
- Evening work may occasionally be required in order to attend events.
- This position requires sitting at a desk and working with a computer and phone for long periods of time.
Excellence in this position would include:
- Significant advancement of VBSR‘s policy priorities and policy goals.
- High visibility and deep public understanding of VBSR’s policy positions and the reasoning underlying the positions.
- Policy resources are sufficient for organizational growth, including information, funding, and collaborative relationships.
Those who identify as women and non-binary, Black, Indigenous and People of Color, First- or Second-Generation American, individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, formerly incarcerated, or other historically marginalized and underrepresented identities are strongly encouraged to apply. A college degree is not required to be successful in this position.
Deadline: January 19, 2023
To Apply:
Please send your resume and cover letter – attention “Hiring Committee” – to search@vbsr.org. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Questions may be directed to search@vbsr.org. No phone calls, please.
Our Commitment to Equity
In 2021 VBSR made a formal commitment to center equity within our organization and consulted with Claire Wheeler from REWORK to draft a Strategic Plan that embodies this principle, including our vision for centering equity:
“VBSR has a strong culture that welcomes, includes, and empowers identities historically underrepresented in our organization. Operationally, equity is a primary lens through which we design, implement, and evaluate our work: governance, operations, branding, programming, and policy. Our philosophy and practice of centering equity inspires and influences all VBSR stakeholders. Our internal transformation creates the necessary conditions for VBSR and our partners to contribute to the shared goal of expanded economic opportunity for all, including the redistribution of power, wealth, and access.”
We see delivering on this commitment as an unending journey. We have challenged our community to lean into discomfort, hold ourselves accountable, and support each other in new ways as we learn/unlearn. As one of VBSR’s core values, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are a part of each conversation of VBSR’s board, staff, and committees, and inform each decision we make.
VBSR Public Policy
Concurrent with creating this foundation of culture, policies, and practices internally within VBSR, we have been providing our membership with opportunities to engage in education and training focused on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI); and actively working to influence both the public narrative and Vermont legislation. In our policy work we have partnered with the Social Equity Caucus, Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, and Vermont Professionals of Color. In our educational programming we have partnered with numerous Vermont leaders and leading organizations to deliver content that aims to shift power dynamics in workplaces, create people-centered workplaces grounded in JEDI; address the inherit relationship between capitalism and racism, and support new ways of thinking. This work endeavors to shape not only policies for our state and our workplaces, but also the perceptions of individuals and communities through public dialogue around race, gender, class, ability, and identity.