Priority Application Deadline- December 2nd

Background: The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is a 501c3 non-profit organization with over a $5 million annual budget. EPN has a small staff across the country, a number of contractors, and more than 700 EPA alumni volunteers focused on building and defending the capacity of environmental agencies and the communities they serve to address the most urgent health and environmental crises. EPN works to:

• Ensure that EPA advances policies, budgets, and institutional changes to address climate and environmental injustices, as well as other pressing public health needs 
• Provide pro bono capacity-building technical assistance and training to environmental justice communities, NGOs, and under-resourced state/local/tribal government agencies 
• Provide pro bono support to civil servants. 
• Educate Congress and serve as a critical resource for facts, objective analysis, and scientific rigor for reporters and NGOs. 

Work will be predominantly remote, as EPN does not have an office. There will be some in-person meetings in other locations in the United States. You will work closely with other staff, including the EPN Senior Director for Policy. We are looking for this position to start immediately.

About The Position:

Reporting to the Civil Service Resilience Manager, the Senior Civil Service Resilience Associate will partner with and act as a support across the civil service resilience efforts. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who loves working in deep collaboration with others and can quickly adapt to changing landscapes and conditions. This staff member will support two main workstreams:

• First, this person will work closely with our CSR manager to prepare and execute programming for our civil servants, including our job placement & matchmaking, networking & mentorship, career development support, and creating and supporting a community of former EPA civil servants.
• Second, they will support operational needs across our civil service resilience efforts (including but not limited to scheduling, material creation, outreach, and data entry). 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

General Civil Service Resilience Team Support

• Schedule meetings with and draft emails to EPN volunteers and partners.
• Track projects and accomplishments in EPN’s database and update the database, as needed.
• Assist with Weekly EPN Updates and Bimonthly Newsletter, as needed.
• Help with organizing event logistics and operational needs 

Community Support & Collective Care

• Assist with developing and implementing mindfulness and related wellness programming for existing and recent EPA career staff (i.e. Mindlab)
• Assist with creation and moderation of peer group communication channels for recently departed EPA staff/scientists/volunteers (i.e. Signal, LinkedIn) 
• Curating and maintaining updated resources for federal workers

Workforce Development & Career Pathways

• Assist in coordinating individualized mentor and coaching support, including follow-up and next steps
• Assist with scoping, scheduling, and moderation of environmental roundtables for colleges and universities with an emphasis on HBCU/MSIs and other regional priority universities
• Curating and maintaining effective job placement information and sharing information between partners 
• Assist Civil Service Resilience Manager with developing and implementing resource webinars and trainings (i.e. scheduling, running slides, monitoring chat/Q&A)

Communications, Organizing & Coalition Building

• Attend assigned CSR coalition meetings and report out next steps to appropriate staff
• Supporting collaboration between partners (i.e. EPA Alumni Association, DOE Alumni Association, FedsForward, UCS, Partnership for Public Service, etc.)
• Partner with community outreach associates to support our volunteers and civil servants in quickly organizing around critical issues (state and local events, rallies, etc.)
• Assist in the development of essential resources and frameworks to support our partners, alumni, and volunteers in their efforts to organize peacefully.

Supporting Independent Scientific Capacity

• Assist in matchmaking scientists with academic institutions for fellowship opportunities
• Act as a conduit between EPN volunteers, scientists, and academic centers for joint projects, webinars, and collaborations 

Science Fellowship and Related Support

• Manage individual contract relationships with scientists to do research and publish reports
• Coordinate meeting spaces and oversee fellows/contract

QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least 2-4 years of relevant work experience 
• Highly productive in remote working environments 
• Self-starter 
• Interest in environmental justice, US environmental and health policy, and/or the work of EPA
• Experience with or knowledge of social justice and equity issues 
• Strong writing skills 
• Strong project management experience 
• Detail-oriented and unafraid to ask questions 
• Ability to work independently, work on many different projects, and switch effectively from one task to another 
• Experience working in collaborations or with multiple partners 
• Strong work ethic 
• Familiarity with Google Docs and Spreadsheets 

CORE COMPETENCIES: 

1. Building Relationships: Establishing and maintaining strong relationships is vital for success in this role. The Senior Policy Associate should foster trust and rapport with internal and external staff, leveraging these connections to advance organizational goals. They must be skilled in networking, collaborating, and navigating complex relationships to execute support across the entire policy and public affairs team. 
2. Making Decisions & Demonstrating Judgement: The Senior Policy Associate demonstrates sound judgment by prioritizing tasks, assessing resource needs, and providing support where necessary. They evaluate staff and volunteer capacity, connect communities with appropriate resources, and form strategic partnerships. Using data and stakeholder feedback, they make informed decisions to ensure effective and sustainable community support.
3. Managing Execution: This Senior Policy Associate ensures effective execution by coordinating tasks, tracking database progress, and supporting staff during absences or high demand. They facilitate connections between volunteers, communities, and resources, schedule key meetings, and foster partnerships to align community needs with organizational goals. Additionally, they collaborate with senior leadership on policy and public affairs on resource needs, special projects, and conference representation, ensuring seamless and impactful operations.
4. Planning- The Senior Policy Associate creates strong plans to ensure effective management of their core responsibilities and day-to-day workflow. Additionally, the Senior Policy Associate will be responsible for becoming a project manager for a core priority for the policy team. This will require creating and managing a project plan with a wide variety of stakeholders, monitoring progress, and adjusting the course when necessary. 

PAY:

• An annual salary of $74,261 based in D.C. We will adjust the salary up or down based on locality. 

BENEFITS

The Environmental Protection Network is a fully remote virtual environment. We think about our compensation as a package of total rewards that starts with a competitive salary. 

Work-Life Balance:

• Employees are encouraged to balance a 40-hour work week with a flexible work schedule and core hours of 11 AM-4 PM ET. 
• 11 paid Federal Holidays and other paid days when the office is closed, including: 
  • The work day before or after July 4. 
  • The day before and after Thanksgiving. 
  • The week of December 25th and the week of Jan 1st (FY25- Dec 22nd-Jan 2nd, FY26-Dec 21st-Jan 1st, FY27- December 20th-December 31st).
• Organization-wide non-meeting days on all major holidays that fall outside of the federal calendar (our staff can submit these to our calendar based on religious or cultural holidays).
• 3 weeks (120 hours) of paid time off (inclusive of sick, personal days, and vacation).
• 5 days of annual disaster relief time off in the event of a natural disaster impacting you or your family (does not carry over or pay out upon exit).
• 5 days of annual bereavement (does not carry over or pay out upon exit)
• 3 annual “EPN” days to be used for any purpose across the year (does not carry over or pay out upon exit)- starts 1/26. 

Financial Security:

• Competitive market-based salary. 
• Annual tenure bonus (determined annually, where funds are available)
• Performance-based bonuses where applicable.
• 401K Retirement Plan, 4% company match. 

Wellness Benefits:

• 90% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance, 50% employer-paid family.

• 100% employer-paid life (50K), opportunity to purchase additional life coverage is available for employee and spouse. 
• 100% employer-paid short and long-term disability insurance. 
• Access to employee-paid FSA, HSA, and commuter benefits. 
• Up to 6 weeks of paid leave upon the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Career Development:

• Up to $500/year for professional development-related expenses. 
• Ongoing access to internal professional development training. 

Additional Benefits:

• $150 monthly cell phone plan and home internet reimbursement. 
• Up to $2,000/year for the purchase of phones, computers, headsets, software, or other equipment used consistently to carry out staff responsibilities.
• Applicable travel expenses will be reimbursed, including travel time outside of your local area.

Environmental injustices disproportionately impact the most marginalized people in society, including people of color, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQIA+ people. Because we believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.