Assistant Director of Public Policy

Trying Together; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 61,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Benefits package

Travel opportunities

Job summary

Trying Together in Pittsburgh is seeking an experienced Assistant Director of Public Policy to lead the policy department's capacity building and advocacy efforts. You will work to advance the Public Policy Agenda, supervise the policy team, and manage grant deliverables, while coordinating with coalitions and external partners.

The role requires strong writing, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement, with occasional evenings and regional travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in organizational management, public policy, education or a relevant field.
• At least 5-7 years of professional experience overall.
• Knowledge of early childhood education content.
• Interest in state and local government systems as well as public policy communication strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with early childhood educators and families.
• Proficiency with office software including spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail, and calendars.
• Ability to travel regionally as needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead grant-supported advocacy activities aligned with state coalition goals.
• Guide development and implementation of the public policy agenda.
• Improve processes and systems for the policy team.
• Oversee workflow and reporting for internal and external evaluations.
• Supervise grant deliverables, timelines, and milestones.
• Track legislative trends to inform strategy and decisions.
• Collaborate with policy team on outreach to educators and meetings with stakeholders.
• Engage in coalition committees to align advocacy efforts.
• Monitor policy developments and contribute to reports and memos.
• Support grant activities and regional advocacy efforts.
• Build relationships with partners and elected officials.

Skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Collaboration

Grant reporting

Data-driven decision making

Policy advocacy

Education

Bachelor’s degree in organizational management

Bachelor’s degree in public policy

Bachelor’s degree in education

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

NeonCRM

Office software (spreadsheets, word processing, calendars)

Job description

Position: Assistant Director of Public Policy Full-Time | Exempt | Salary Range: $61,000 - $70,000

Culture:

Trying Together’s mission is to support high-quality care and education for young children.

Trying Together is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that supports the work of early childhood by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the adults who interact with them. A fast-paced organization, Trying Together looks for dedicated and passionate staff who bring positivity to their work and a solution-oriented sensibility.

Trying Together encourages its team, partners, and communities to interact compassionately and honor the range of cultures, ideas, and identities that root each person. Young children develop and learn by example; this means that children whose early learning environments reflect just actions, equitable opportunities, diverse representation, and inclusive approaches experience healthier interactions and build relationships that enable them to thrive.

Trying Together is an equal-opportunity employer. Trying Together does not discriminate and encourages qualified candidates of any gender, race, class, sexual orientation, faith, disability, or age to apply. All candidates will be evaluated on a merit basis.

Purpose:

The Assistant Director of Public Policy serves as the operational backbone in building and managing the policy department’s capacity to identify policy opportunities and drive advocacy actions to improve early care and education experiences for children, families, and the early childhood workforce. In this role, the Assistant Director works to advance the priorities of the Trying Together Public Policy Agenda and statewide advocacy coalition within a strong team. This position reports to the Director of Public Policy and provides day-to-day operational leadership and functional supervision for the public policy team, guiding management of grant deliverables, tracking, and workflows in close partnership with the Director, and serving as departmental lead in the Director’s absence. This is a full time role that will include occasional evening and weekend hours and some regional travel.

As a member of the policy department the Assistant Director of Public Policy will serve as a committed advocate mobilizing for policy change alongside communities to elevate the needs of young children, families, and educators for an equitable early care and education system.

Responsibilities

• Drive the execution of grant supported advocacy activities in accordance with the state coalition, strategy roadmap goals, and public policy agenda.
• Guide the development and advancement of the public policy agenda including the strategy for promoting the agenda and implementation of activities.
• Strengthen and build on the processes and systems to inform the work of the public policy team in alignment with existing organizational and coalition infrastructure.
• Establish and oversee team’s workflow for tracking of activities and outcomes to support internal and external reporting requirements, evaluations, and demonstration of program impact.
• Supervise the management of grant deliverables, timelines, and key project milestones, ensuring high-quality, timely completion across the policy team.
• Connect the routine tracking of internal deliverables and monitoring legislative trends to help the organization and department make strategic decisions.
• Collaborate with the policy team to carry out activities including, but not limited to, individual meetings with early childhood professionals, small and large group meetings, program visits and tours, and media events with policymakers.
• Engage in relevant coalition committees and working groups to build strategic alignment, monitor policy developments, and support collaborative advocacy efforts.
• Efficiently track legislation in alignment with the policy agenda and coalition priorities.
• Lead and contribute to the writing of reports, issue briefs, policy memos, white papers, and position statements on issues that fall under Trying Together’s policy agenda and the statewide coalition work.
• Assist in the delivery and implementation of grant supported advocacy activities in accordance with the state campaigns, strategy roadmap goals, and public policy agenda.
• Engage in on-the-ground outreach and relationship-building to expand our base of early childhood education (ECE) advocates across a 10-county region.
• Identify strategic opportunities to grow our advocacy and policy pipeline in alignment with Trying Together’s overall mission.
• Work effectively and collaboratively with partnering advocacy organizations, elected officials, and community stakeholders.
• Establish connections internally across departments and externally with local/regional organizations to advance policy agenda and advocacy efforts.
• Maintain a working knowledge of significant policy developments and trends in the early childhood field at the national, state, and local levels.

• Commitment to racial equity and inclusion and a willingness to do the ongoing personal work to bring about a more just society by actively participating in professional growth opportunities.
• Actively work with peers to create a culture of belonging at Trying Together.
• Willingness to disrupt practices that do not honor children’s, families’, educators’, and colleagues’ humanity.
• Work collaboratively across departments within Trying Together to meet the mission and accomplish the work.
• Participate in initial and ongoing professional development for continuous learning and expanding one’s professional knowledge base.
• Consistently use the NeonCRM platform to build relationships with constituents, record data that measure project performance, and support continuous quality improvement in the organization’s resources and services.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements (skills, abilities and knowledge)

• Exceptional organizational and detail-oriented skills with proven ability to manage multiple deliverables, deadlines, and workflows in a fast-paced environment
• Solid record of accomplishing challenging goals in highly professional work environment
• Proven ability to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and at different professional levels to accomplish mutual goals
• Track record of collaborating and contributing to the success of interdisciplinary teams
• Experience with supporting, monitoring, and reporting grants and using data to make decisions
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, meet deadlines, manage multiple responsibilities, and prioritize tasks
• Strong analytic, research, critical thinking and writing and presentation skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for various audiences
• Knowledge of local and state early education public policy preferred

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in organizational management, public policy, education or a relevant field, Master’s degree is a plus.
• At least 5-7 years of professional experience overall.
• Knowledge of early childhood education content.
• Interest in state and local government systems as well as public policy communication strategies to influence elected officials, legislation, and public policy.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and engage with early childhood educators and families.
• Demonstrated successful experiences in working with diverse populations and communities.
• Proficiency in office software including spreadsheets, word processing programs, e-mail, and calendars at a high competency level.
• Comfort with technology tools including tablet computers, laptops, presentation equipment, and additional hardware as needed, including a willingness to learn new technologies.
• Effective organizational skills and ability to handle multiple tasks and projects.
• Detail-oriented individual who can take initiative to pursue opportunities, while working within established systems.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills.
• Strong time management and ability to manage multiple projects with deadlines.
• Able to work independently and as a team member.
• Analytical and problem solving skills.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and/or weekends.
• Ability to travel when needed (mostly regional to 10 county region, Harrisburg 1-2x/year, and occasionally DC).

Required Clearances:

• Clean Act 33 Child Abuse Clearance.
• Clean Act 34 PA State Police Clearance.
• Clean Act 73 Federal Criminal History Clearance.
• National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) Verification.
• Valid Driver’s License and proof of insurance.

Required Training:

• Mandated Reporter Training (must be completed in the first month of placement).
• NeonCRM Training (required and recommended online courses must be completed in the first three months of placement).
• PQAS Professional Development Instructor Certification (must be obtained within the first year of employment).

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• Appreciative inquiry and strengths-based review process.