Senior Campaign Strategist, Clean Heat

About Us

Heavy industry is the foundation of modern society. We need materials like cement, steel, and aluminum more than ever to rebuild our bridges and roads, construct wind and solar projects, and manufacture electric vehicles and heat pumps that will undergird our future. But we also need a new social contract with industry. Heavy industry made the middle class and ushered in a remarkable era of prosperity for many; it also threatens our climate, reinforces environmental racism, wastes valuable materials and energy, and leaves communities and workers behind.

At Industrious Labs, our mission is to set into motion unstoppable policies, people power, and analysis to make a triple impact on climate, justice, and jobs that drastically reduce dangerous emissions, make industry accountable to communities and workers, and develop a circular economy. Because industry needs a second revolution.

About the Position

Guided by an inspiring vision, strategic plan, and significant early financial investment, we seek an entrepreneurial Senior Campaign Strategist to join our team. Industrious Labs is fully remote, and this role reports to Partner and Campaigns Director Evan Gillespie. 

In this newly created position, the Senior Campaign Strategist is a highly skilled relationship builder with a proven ability to establish, grow, and sustain diverse coalitions of stakeholders. They are passionate about solving the climate crisis by focusing on the strategies that will make the biggest impact, including focused campaigns, research and analysis, cross-sector collaborations, and communications. The Senior Campaign Strategist is energized by the challenge of the climate crisis, inspired to step into a new era of the movement and has a strong track record of working with diverse groups such as organized labor, environmental justice advocates, and policymakers.

Industrious Labs is poised to kick off a new Clean Heat initiative, initially focusing on California and a parallel national effort. Working collaboratively with partners over the past year, we have identified an exciting strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dangerous air pollution from industrial heaters and boilers. Today, these heaters and boilers burn fossil fuels to produce needed heat for industrial processes, but in many cases, this equipment can be replaced with all-electric or other zero-emission alternatives. We have received sufficient early-stage backing to begin campaign implementation thanks to a visionary funder.

Along with this role, Industrious Labs is currently hiring a Senior Field Strategist and Senior Campaign Analyst for the Clean Heat initiative. The Senior Campaign Strategist will work within this new, dynamic team. Our high-level objectives for the initiative include (but are not limited to):

• Accelerate zero-emission state policies and regulations that clean up and transform industrial facilities;
• Launch a coalition focused on industrial electrification to build power and pressure on policy-makers; and 
• Increase the urgency for policy-makers to act by building awareness of the harms created by fossil combustion at industrial facilities and the benefits of transformation.

The Senior Campaign Strategist holds key responsibilities that will evolve over time as the team grows and functions are distributed. During the first year of the role, we anticipate a push to shape and deliver on campaign opportunities already underway, such as the Air District regulations establishing zero-emission standards for industrial equipment and expanding state-level funding for zero-emission equipment. Other core responsibilities include:

Strategy Development & Implementation

• Work with partners to identify and implement new campaign strategies that accelerate the industry's transformation in line with the values we share with our partners.
• Engage in direct advocacy in agency settings, including participating in agency working groups, submitting comments, and lobbying meetings. 
• Build new organizational relationships and alliances that reflect our values and priorities around equity, diversity, and environmental justice.
• Engage key partners in strategy development to build institutional buy-in for the campaign's goals.
• Serve as spokesperson for Industrious Labs.
• Stay apprised of industry trends, policy developments, and technology innovations that will inform the campaign's trajectory. 
• Provide briefs and unvarnished analysis of these developments for partner organizations, including funders.

Coalition Building & Capacity Building

The following responsibilities will be a part of the Senior Campaign Strategist’s secondary role and will be executed in close collaboration and thought partnership with the Senior Field Strategist, Clean Heat. 

• Recruit and build an aligned and powerful coalition of labor, community and green groups with a shared vision of industrial transformation.
• Assess the industry landscape, identify strengths, current players, and gaps, and engage key leaders, organizations, and industry partners.
• Collaborate in developing comprehensive campaign plans, ensuring tight coordination and cohesion between convening, analytics, communications, and advocacy.
• Design and implement trainings and other opportunities for stakeholders to collaborate, train each other, and build the foundational knowledge to develop and refine campaign approaches.
• Identify partners with aligned efforts to accelerate action and leverage resources, relationships, and research.

The Successful Candidate

The incoming Senior Campaign Strategist is driven by their belief and commitment to Industrious Labs’ vision, mission, and values. Through their track record and expertise – optimally within the climate or another social justice movement – the successful candidate will play a vital role in the development and execution of a burgeoning Clean Heat initiative.

The Senior Campaign Strategist joins a deeply committed team with a track record of success in campaign strategy, data analysis, and communications, focusing on climate and clean energy. The successful candidate is entrepreneurial and excited about the prospect of building something new in the climate movement from the ground up. They have the experience of setting vision, establishing, and scaling successful programs with an ethos of creativity, humility, and an expectation of continual learning.

Despite the obstacles that stand in the way of decarbonizing heavy industry, the Industrious Labs team operates with a spirit of possibilities and seeks a Senior Campaign Strategist who shares the belief that we can all do things we’ve never done before and can stretch ourselves to achieve incredible results.

This role requires a deep commitment to the principles of environmental justice and climate justice, proven collaboration skills, and the ability to design and execute coordinated strategies that will generate change in a deeply entrenched and seemingly intractable aspect of the climate movement. The Senior Campaign Strategist demonstrates initiative by diving right in to take a concept from idea to implementation, navigating through internal and external barriers as they arise without getting stuck, and finding and deploying resources creatively to solve problems. The selected candidate will also possess most of the following Core and Preferred qualifications:

Senior Campaign Strategist Core Qualifications 

• At least 5-8 years of increasing responsibility in policy advocacy, with a proven campaigning and coalition-building track record.
• Emphasis on cultural competency and emotional intelligence—this could be demonstrated by experience leading multicultural teams, building alignment across divergent viewpoints, etc.
• Comfort in scrappy/entrepreneurial/resource-lean situations.
• Mastery of relationship-building skills and strong existing relationships with a wide range of diverse external constituencies.
• Experience in the climate movement or another social justice movement.
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills that demonstrate an ability to:
• Convey a compelling story about Industrious Labs’ mission and impact;
• Translate complex data and analysis into persuasive narratives;
• Communicate Industrious Labs’ strategies with accessible expertise (without jargon).

Senior Campaign Strategist Preferred Qualifications

• Entrepreneurial drive to build an organization from the ground up; prior start-up experience as an early team member in a growing organization.
• Deep experience working in California and familiarity with the California advocacy landscape.

Industrious Labs Core Qualifications

Below are the qualifications expected of all Industrious Labs staff. 

• Strong commitment to the mission, vision, policies, and goals of Industrious Labs.
• Highly collaborative work style with the ability to operate as a peer and thought partner to colleagues and external partners.
• Commitment to continuous learning, hunger for knowledge, and willingness to ask questions and self-correct; a curious, self-directed, and entrepreneurial approach.

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills with the ability to break down a complex issue into manageable and clear decision points that drive the desired campaign outcomes.
• Excited rather than intimidated by the challenge of what's unknown about this role.
• Proven leadership skills with clarity of vision and a commitment to the highest levels of integrity, quality, and collaboration, developing strong team cultures, promoting and enhancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, performance management, and professional development.
• Demonstrated experience working across lines of race, class, gender, and geography and an analysis of how climate change intersects with historically oppressed and marginalized communities.
• Proven ability to prioritize and be flexible in a fast-paced, constantly evolving, and collaborative environment, where working on a team and working individually are all required.
• Commitment to giving and receiving direct, compassionate feedback.

Salary and Benefits:

The salary for this position is $113,000. Industrious Labs has a policy not to negotiate on salaries. Historically, negotiations reward those who have the skill, privilege, and confidence to ask for more money; and because not everyone has those skills, allowing for negotiations undermines the economic equity we strive for as an organization. Rather than use negotiations to drive competitive salaries, we endeavor to pay people well and establish a transparent salary scale based on the experience, competencies, and responsibilities required to thrive in this role.

Industrious Labs offers a competitive set of benefits, including 100% comprehensive health care coverage for employees (medical, dental, and vision); a 50% contribution to health care coverage for dependents; a work-from-home stipend; up to a 5% employer match to 401k; generous paid parental/family leave; and 11 paid holidays plus unlimited vacation, starting with a minimum of 15 business days.

Our Commitment to Racial Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Climate Justice:

We believe that diversity in our team isn’t just a value but brings different lived experience and perspective that is essential to solving the climate crisis. If you’ve read this job description and are excited by it, and if you can see yourself happily filling this role and making a difference on climate change, we really hope you apply. Industrious Labs is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to transparent and equitable recruitment, hiring and promotion processes that foster inclusion and belonging. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please email Evan Gillespie at evan@industriouslabs.org.  

Application Procedure: 

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter answering the following:

1. What motivates you to spend your time, skills and expertise working on climate change?
2. What are your thoughts about industry's role in solving the climate crisis?
3. Can you share a story of a campaign you played a key role in -- what was the goal and outcome? What lessons did you take away from the experience that you would bring with you to Industrious Labs?

This position is open until filled. Candidate review and phone screens begin immediately and will be conducted throughout the search. We anticipate several steps of mutual exploration, including a phone screen, panel interview(s) and thought exercises for finalist candidates. Our search processes generally take 3 - 4 months.