We're hiring a Policy Director

Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA) is seeking an experienced Policy Director to promote our statewide coalition’s policy priorities to improve transportation across the Commonwealth.

About Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA)

T4MA is the state’s leading transportation advocacy coalition. With more than 100 member and partner organizations statewide, we advocate for policy change at the state, federal, and local levels that has the broad support of our members and that will make the Commonwealth’s transportation system more sustainable, equitable, affordable, and efficient. We work in close partnership with our member organizations across Massachusetts -- from the Cape to the Berkshires.

Our transportation system’s status quo is both inefficient and inequitable. It needs to be fixed, and our job is to help make that happen by promoting strong and effective public policies. T4MA’s success depends on our strength in representing the transportation needs of all of the Commonwealth's residents and workers, including ensuring historically underserved communities are at the center of our work. The values of environmental justice and equitable representation are a foundation of our policy efforts. Read more at: https://www.t4ma.org/transportation_justice.

We are based in a co-working space within blocks of the Massachusetts State House, the State Transportation Building, and Boston City Hall, with excellent transit access and secure bicycle parking. While our work is remote in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we look forward to returning to the office when it is safe to do so. Transportation for Massachusetts offers some flexibility to staff who wish to work from home, but the Policy Director is expected to be in the office most days.

Policy Director Job Responsibilities

We seek a policy director who: 

• Represents the coalition on Beacon Hill, engaging with legislators, legislative staff, and the executive branch. This includes scheduling and conducting lobbying meetings, testifying at hearings, writing letters, and developing grassroots strategies. Because of this significant interaction with state policymakers, the coalition expects the Policy Director to register as a lobbyist.
• Works with members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and their staff to advocate on federal transportation policy.
• Analyzes existing and proposed public policies and actively monitors issues before the MassDOT Board of Directors and the MBTA’s governing board.
• Works with our diverse membership to identify priorities and facilitates a process to identify areas of agreement and disagreement, seeking to build understanding and consensus among members.
• Supports advocacy efforts of Transportation for Massachusetts coalition members and advises coalition members on a wide range of issues: from multi-state policies to reduce air pollution, to passing legislation to eliminate pedestrian deaths, to reforming federal transportation funding programs. This work includes partnering with and learning from community-based organizations. 
• The Policy Director serves as an integral member of T4MA’s team, and assists on a range of activities including communications strategy and initiatives, coordinating events, guiding research projects, and presenting to external audiences.

Qualifications + Qualities

• Significant experience working in or with the Massachusetts state government, strong relationships with the legislative branch and contacts with the executive branch.
• Proven ability to analyze legislation and public policy. Experience in transportation policy is preferred, but not required to succeed at this role.
• Excellent writing skills and experience drafting policy papers and legislation and communicating to a wide audience.
• Candidates should have a demonstrated commitment to addressing social, racial, and economic inequities through better public-policy and through engaging with leaders of communities of color, low-income communities, and limited English proficient populations to advance change.
• Is a team player, both with T4MA staff colleagues and with the broader coalition.
• Applicants should be self-motivated and organized, with excellent follow-through.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $65,000 to $80,000.

To Apply

T4MA is accepting applications through this online application form. No phone calls, please.  

T4MA staff expects to select fewer than ten applicants for an initial conversation with staff and coalition members. Additional steps in the process will include submitting writing samples, sharing references, interviewing with the coalition’s Director, and potentially meeting with a small group of coalition members.

Timeline

Please submit an application by June 4, 2021.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Transportation for Massachusetts is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome and encourage diversity among our staff and membership.