End Food Waste Advocate

PIRG; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 42,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Time off

Commuter benefits

401(k) match

Parental leave

Disability insurance

Student loan assistance

Training program

Job summary

PIRG is seeking an advocate to lead national campaigns aimed at reducing food waste. The role involves education, organizing, and building broad support for policies to cut waste and better use resources.

The position emphasizes coalition building, events, advocacy, media outreach, and fundraising to advance our climate and environmental goals across the U.S. Portland-based work is possible with national impact.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of relevant professional experience.
• Demonstrated commitment to citizen-based social change and leadership.
• Grassroots organizing experience to win campaigns.
• Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent writing and public speaking skills.
• Connector/listener with ability to unite diverse people.
• Well-organized and able to manage multiple proposals.
• Fundraising experience, particularly grant-seeking from foundations.
• Willing to travel and work evenings/weekends.
• Experience with waste, environmental or climate campaigns preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and run campaigns that build support for reducing food waste.
• Coalition-building across organizations and constituency groups.
• Organize webinars, community events and public meetings.
• Advocacy: present solutions to legislators, governors, Congress, and boards.
• Media outreach as spokesperson and raise campaign visibility.
• Campaign strategy: build political support via coalitions and media.
• Program development: evaluate research and propose political strategy.
• Fundraising: write grant proposals and donor updates.
• Staff recruitment and development; potential to train staff.

Skills

Grassroots organizing

Public speaking

Writing

Leadership

Fundraising

Travel readiness

Organizational skills

Relationship building

Job description

PIRG is hiring an advocate to run our national campaigns to reduce food waste.

We waste too much food. In the United States, we throw away roughly 30% of our total food supply every year. By one estimate, if all of the food wasted each year in the U.S. came from a single farm, that farm would be roughly the size of California and New York state combined. What's more, all this uneaten food isn't just wasteful; it exacerbates climate change.

Given the amount of time, energy, and resources involved in growing, processing, and transporting food, the last thing we should do is throw it away, especially if it is still good to eat. We are hiring an experienced advocate to develop campaigns that will educate, organize and build support across the political spectrum for policies that would reduce food waste and make better use of these valuable resources.

Key Responsibilities

The End Food Waste Advocate will develop and run campaigns that build support for reforms that reduce food waste. This position requires exercising discretion and independent judgment in making decisions in matters of significance. Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Coalition building: Reach out to a broad range of organizations and affected constituency groups across the political spectrum to build support for our goals, including unlikely allies who might agree with us on one issue, even if we disagree on other issues.
• Organize events: Organize webinars, community events and public meetings. Recruit organizations and members of the public to attend and participate.
• Advocacy: Take our solutions directly to key decision-makers in state legislatures, Governors’ offices, Congress, corporate boardrooms, and other forums where we could advocate for ending food waste.
• Media Outreach: Serve as the spokesperson for our campaigns through media events, press releases and opinion writing. Keep abreast of important food waste issues and raise the profile of food waste and our campaign goals in the media.
• Campaign strategy: Assess opportunities for building political support for our agenda through coalition-building, grassroots organizing, media coverage and message development.
• Program development: Evaluate new research on the issue, create viable solutions and propose political strategy and messaging.
• Fundraising: Write grant proposals, build relationships with foundation staff and meet with major donors. Provide support for our grassroots fundraising work by writing appeals and providing updates.
• Staff recruitment and development: Build our team by recruiting and managing interns and participating in staff recruitment efforts. Potential to train and oversee staff.

Qualifications

Candidates must have at least 2 years of relevant professional experience. Qualified candidates will have a demonstrated commitment to citizen-based social change, as well as a track record of leadership. In addition top candidates will also have these qualities:

• Understand the power of grassroots organizing to win campaigns.
• Creative and effective at solving complex problems; a strategic thinker who can take advantage of new opportunities.
• Excellent writing and public speaking skills.
• A connector and good listener with a track record of bringing people together around a common goal; willing and interested in working with people who think differently than you.
• Well-organized and able to work on multiple legislative and administrative proposals at once.
• Fundraising experience, particularly in grant-seeking from charitable foundations.
• Able to travel regularly and be motivated to work when needed, which may sometimes be in the evenings and on weekends.

Experience working on waste, environmental or climate campaigns preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

The starting compensation range for someone with 2-5 years of relevant professional experience is $41,750-$46,000. Candidates on the lower end of directly relevant experience should expect to be on the lower end of this range; candidates on the higher end of relevant experience are likely to be on the higher end of this range. PIRG offers an excellent benefits package. Our benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents, time off, a commuter benefit program, a 401(k) plan with employer match, parental leave, long term disability insurance, and may include needs-based student loan assistance. We also offer an excellent training program and opportunities for advancement.

Locations

This position could be based in Boston or Amherst, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; or Portland, OR.

Why work with PIRG?

Check out 10 reasons: https://pirg.org/why-work-with-us/

About PIRG

PIRG is an advocate for consumers, advancing solutions to problems that affect our health, our safety and our well-being.

Being a consumer advocate means being a champion for a marketplace that is not only honest and transparent, but also wastes less because it reduces, reuses and recycles more; prevents toxic threats to our health and safety; and considers the impact of new products and technologies on the next generation, not just the next quarterly earnings report.

The true North Star of a successful marketplace should not be the quantity of “stuff” we consume. It should be the quality of our lives.

Our Mission and Values

PIRG is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a new future and a strategic approach to change. Visit https://pirg.org/core-values/ for things you should know about our network when you apply.

Please do not use AI to help draft your cover letter or responses to our application questions. We want to know how you think and write.