San Diego Policy Advocate

Climate Action Campaign; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 69,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Cell phone benefit

Home office benefit

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Job summary

Climate Action Campaign in San Diego County seeks a Policy Advocate to advance climate and clean energy policies through strategic advocacy, coalition-building, and hands-on community engagement. You will drive efforts to reduce fossil fuel pollution, lower energy bills, and promote equitable access to clean energy across diverse communities.

You will build relationships with community members, elected officials, and partner organizations while coordinating outreach, testimony, and educational

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication for policy advocacy and community education.
• Understanding of climate justice and its impact on underserved communities.
• Ability to engage volunteers, partners, and officials; organize events and campaigns.
• Self-motivated, with strong time management and prioritization skills.

Responsibilities

• Prepare for government hearings and write position letters.
• Track California energy and utility legislation and advocate with partners.
• Build relationships with community members and stakeholders to advance policies.
• Conduct outreach and organize community events to mobilize support.
• Coordinate communications to raise awareness of climate issues in the San Diego region.

Skills

Communication skills

Climate justice passion

Organizing people

Independent worker

Team collaboration

Job description

Who We Are:

Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is a bold, people‑powered nonprofit advancing clean air, affordable energy, and vibrant, healthy communities. We believe transformative laws, policies, and programs are won through the energy, courage, and voice of everyday people. Building on our history of landmark victories in San Diego, Orange County, and across California, CAC recently helped pass historic legislation to reform the utility business model and lower energy rates for families. Now more than ever, we’re poised to scale our impact, and the Orange County Policy Advocate and Community Organizer role is central to that growth.

Culture:

We thrive in a fast‑paced, agile environment where we are constantly adapting and learning to most effectively achieve our goals. Our team is committed to climate justice, creating a passionate, inclusive, innovative, and collaborative atmosphere. Our team members spend most of their time working remotely and independently from home and participate in many in‑person events to create the relationships and opportunities necessary to win. We know working to make a real and lasting impact in the local policy space is difficult and demanding, so we also value time for rest and joy.

Job Overview:

The San Diego Policy Advocate advances affordable and equitable climate and clean energy policies through advocacy, coalition‑building, and hands‑on community engagement. This role builds support for policies that eliminate fossil fuel pollution, lower energy bills, and accelerate the clean energy transition, including building electrification initiatives, strong Climate Action Plans (CAPs), and state‑level policies that improve utility affordability and ensure equitable access to clean energy.

Major Goals and Responsibilities (including, but not limited to):

We recognize that skills and expertise are gained in many ways: on the job, in the community, or through lived experience. While not all qualifications are required, they reflect what we believe contributes to success in this role. If your background includes the right ingredients for success, we encourage you to apply.

• Policy Advocacy: Prepare for government hearings, write position letters, meet with government officials and stakeholders, develop action alerts, and attend and testify at city council and other public agency meetings.
• State Legislative Advocacy: Track, analyze, and advocate on California energy and utility legislation. Navigate the state legislative process, from bill introduction through committee hearings, floor votes, and enrollment. Draft support and oppose letters, prepare for lobby visits, and coordinate with statewide partners.
• Relationship Building: Build and maintain relationships with community members, partner organizations, elected officials, and other stakeholders to advance equitable climate and clean energy policies and programs. Expand, maintain, and strengthen networks of allies, advocates, volunteers, donors, and decision‑makers.
• Community Development/Organizing: Conduct outreach, and partner with community members, volunteers, and partner organizations to build community power and advance campaigns to advocate for change.
• Coalition Management/Participation: Participate in and lead diverse coalitions of climate policy advocates, including partners from community‑based organizations, labor, and environmental and environmental justice organizations.
• Public Education: Educate the community on climate solutions through webinars, presentations, trainings, and other events.
• Communications: In coordination with the Communications Manager, grow awareness and understanding of key climate issues facing the San Diego Region via messaging, storytelling, traditional media (press releases, media alerts, pitching, press events), email campaigns, social media, website content, newsletters and action alerts, and infographics.
• Continue expanding knowledge of climate, decarbonization, energy equity, and related policy issues to effectively respond to evolving community and program needs.

A good fit for this position will:

• Be passionate about climate justice and what we do.
• Have top‑note communication skills (written and verbal)
• Have an understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities, including understanding that the climate crisis disproportionately burdens working‑class communities of color.
• Enjoy organizing people and motivating them to act.
• Be a self‑motivated and resourceful independent worker who is also a team player
• Be organized, capable of managing deadlines and fluctuating priorities for an array of projects while maintaining attention to detail.
• Use tact, initiative, prudence, and independent judgment in politically sensitive situations.
• Have a thirst for learning and can tackle the sharp learning curve this position requires.
• Thrive in a fast‑paced environment where the job is different every day.

Climate Action Campaign Core Values:

Justice, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Inclusion, Health, Voice, and Safety are core values at Climate Action Campaign, and we’re passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment for all staff. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and discover, design, and deliver solutions.

Climate Action Campaign is an Equal Opportunity Employer:

Climate Action Campaign values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign‑born residents, and veterans to apply.

Climate Action Campaign provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

All offers of employment are conditional upon the successful completion of a comprehensive background screening, which may include criminal record, education, and work history verification.

Location:

We don’t currently have an office space, so our team works remotely. However, this position will be frequently out in the community meeting with community members and elected officials, and therefore, must be based in San Diego County with reliable access to transportation.

Position Details:

This is a full‑time, temporary contract position, anticipated to last one year, with the opportunity to extend, dependent on funding.

Based on the candidate's level of experience and the extent of independent work anticipated, we are seeking to fill the role of Community Outreach & Organizing Coordinator at either the I or II level. Only one position will be hired.

Policy Advocate I

- entry‑level, full‑time, hourly/non‑exempt, and will include consistent evening and weekend work.

Policy Advocate II

- full‑time, salary/exempt, and will include consistent evening and weekend work.

Compensation and Benefits:

Climate Action Campaign conducts research, assessments, and comparisons of non‑profit organizations of similar size in order to set salary ranges for different levels of positions, and to ensure that employees receive fair compensation. It is important to note that actual offers will take into consideration factors such as the length of service and tenure in a specific role, internal equity, qualifications, skills, experience, and other relevant factors. The full salary ranges allow for salary progression as employees develop experience and tenure in the role.

• Policy Advocate I $26.50 - $32.20 per hour (commensurate with experience, not expected to exceed $30.50 per hour)
• Policy Advocate II $68,640 - $85,000 per year (commensurate with experience, not expected to exceed $78,000)
• Health & Wellness: 100% employer‑sponsored health, dental, vision, and life insurance for employees (dependents may enroll at the employee’s cost)
• Retirement: 403(b) plan with 4% employer match
• Monthly Benefits: $65 cell phone benefit and $100 home office benefit
• Generous Paid Time Off:
  • 15 days of accrued PTO annually (years 0-1.99); 20 days of accrued PTO (years 2-2.99); 25 days of accrued PTO (years 3-4.99); 30 days of accrued PTO annually (years 5+)
• Exceptional Paid Holidays:
  • CAC is closed the following holidays (23 total): MLK Jr. Day (Jan); Presidents Day (Feb); Farmworkers’ Day (Mar); Memorial Day (May); Juneteenth (June); Independence Day (July); Labor Day (September); Veterans Day (November); the week of Thanksgiving (November); and the last two weeks in December (see calendar for exact dates)
  • CAC currently has a remote work policy that allows for approved remote work outside of San Diego or Orange County up to 10 days per year.

Deadline: The first review date is November 30, but the position will remain open until we find the perfect fit. We expect this position to start in early February 2027.