Senior Campaign Strategist, Circular Economy

About Us

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.  Our communities, natural environment and our economy are under threat by an extractive “take-make-waste” economy. While much of Industrious Labs’ work focuses on the start of a product’s life — how we produce materials like aluminum, cement, or steel — it is critical to prioritize the end of a product’s life. The reality is that we waste far too much, and we emit an extraordinary amount of pollution through harmful production and disposal, including methane from organics decomposition in landfills.

Fortunately, there are already proven policies, practices, and technologies that can bring us closer to the regenerative, circular economy we envision. First, we must strengthen state landfill air emissions regulations to keep methane in check. We know that stricter emissions rules can work, because they already do! For example, the Maryland Department of the Environment estimated that their new landfill emissions standards would result in 25-50% reduction in methane emissions.  Second, we have to divert the waste going into landfills and driving methane emissions. Many local municipalities have made huge strides on initiatives like organics diversion, food donation requirements, and community composting — but to scale their impact nationally, we need statewide policies implemented, including organics recycling bans and financial resources dedicated to outreach, education and implementation.

About the Position

We seek a Senior Campaign Strategist to join our Circular Economy team. Industrious Labs is fully remote, and this role reports to Circular Economy Campaign Director, Katherine Blauvelt. 

In this newly created position, the Senior Campaign Strategist is a highly skilled relationship builder and campaigner, with a proven ability to establish, grow, and sustain diverse coalitions of stakeholders to drive state level policy forward. They are passionate about solving the climate crisis and centering BIPOC communities, through campaigns that deploy 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 BIPOC-led organizations, organized labor, environmental justice advocates, and policymakers.

With this new position, Industrious Labs is poised to take its work in states to the next level. We are building powerful coalitions that center impacted communities and BIPOC communities to advocate for methane mitigation and organics diversion policies. Our coalitions will utilize compelling data and media tactics to pressure policymakers, achieving aggressive landfill air emissions regulations and organics diversion state policies that result in local jobs, economic growth and less food insecurity in leading states. State level action will build momentum for equitable, community-led climate solutions.

The Senior Campaign Strategist will draw on dedicated communications, field and data analytics staff to help partners implement campaign strategies. Our high-level strategies for the initiative include (but are not limited to):

• Get leading states to promulgate state landfill air emissions regulations that force waste companies to aggressively improve how landfills monitor, capture, and control methane, centering community-led solutions.
• In key states, engage influential stakeholders, communities impacted by waste and BIPOC communities - resourcing where necessary - to educate & push state policymakers to move state regulation or organics diversion policies, deploying compelling earned media tactics and original analytics that drive home the human & climate impact of landfills, and showcasing strong and effective at-scale organics diversion policies that are both operational and center or are led by communities of color.
• Build the narrative on human impacts and federal Congressional champions to withstand rollbacks, while making progress on federal policy improvements where possible.

Core responsibilities include:

Policy, 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 with state and local policymakers, including policymaker education 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.
• Research and stay apprised of industry trends, organic waste diversion and waste prevention model policies, policy developments, and technology innovations that will inform the campaign's trajectory. 
• Write public-facing policy briefs and explainers.

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.

• Assess the state policy landscape, identify strengths, current players, and gaps, and engage key leaders, organizations, and industry partners.
• Recruit and build an aligned and powerful coalition of BIPOC-led, environmental, anti-hunger and other organizations with a shared vision of waste system transformation, deploying resources to build organizations’ capacity. 
• Collaborate in developing comprehensive campaign plans, and execute those plans, ensuring tight coordination and cohesion between field, 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 Circular Economy 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 waste. 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 enormous obstacles involved in 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 ideally some of the Preferred qualifications:

Senior Campaign Strategist Core Qualifications 

• At least 8 years of increasing responsibility in the field, 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 Michigan, Maryland or North Carolina.  

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 $117,000. 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 work-from-home stipend, up to a 5% employer match to 401k, 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 recognizes that a variety of different educational or professional pathways could lead to being a strong candidate and contributor for this role. You may have transferable skills from experiences that may not match exactly what we’ve called out in our list of qualifications for this position. We’d love to hear about your experience and the skills you would bring to serve in this roleIndustrious 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 Heather Beckford  at heather@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. 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 2-3 months.