ACLU is Hiring New Policy and Advocacy Strategist!

The ACLU is hiring a new Advocacy and Policy Strategist.  A focus of the position will be work related to informational privacy.  The full job announcement is below. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled which will not be before July 31, 2010. 

Career Opportunity
ADVOCACY AND POLICY STRATEGIST [ASD-22]
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
Affiliate Support and Advocacy Department, NY

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU) is a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1920 and dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality embodied in the U.S. Constitution and universal human rights principles.  Through its affiliates, members, and national staff, the ACLU has a presence in every state across the country.  Each affiliate works with policymakers in its state to further the protection and advancement of civil liberties.

The Affiliate Support and Advocacy Department (ASA), whose purpose is to work with and strengthen ACLU affiliates and National Chapters throughout the country, is seeking applicants for the full-time position of Advocacy and Policy Strategist to work in the ACLU National Office in New York City.   

OVERVIEW

The Advocacy and Policy Strategist will work to advance the ACLU’s overall public policy agenda.  The Advocacy and Policy Strategist will report to the Director of Advocacy and Policy, and will be assigned to work with the Center for Democracy in the ACLU National Office.  The Center for Democracy works to strengthen democratic institutions and values and advocates for government transparency and accountability.  The Center houses the ACLU’s work on National Security, working to ensure that counterterrorism policies do not needlessly infringe on civil liberties and human rights; Speech, Privacy, and Technology, addressing issues relating to the freedom of speech, the right to privacy, and the implications for civil liberties of new technology; and Human Rights, working to ensure that the U.S. government complies with universal human rights principles in addition to the U.S. Constitution.  The Advocacy and Policy Strategist will serve as a liaison between ACLU state affiliates and the Center for Democracy and affiliated staff to develop and implement state-based advocacy to further the ACLU’s priorities in these areas.

The Advocacy and Policy Strategist will focus on developing state-based advocacy to advance Center priorities, including:

•         Informational privacy: The ACLU’s privacy advocacy has taken on new urgency in light of modern technology that permits the easy acquisition, retention, analysis, and dissemination of highly sensitive personal information, both by the government and by private corporations; new government surveillance programs introduced in the name of national security; and jurisprudence that has gradually eviscerated the protection of the Fourth Amendment.  The ACLU is working to raise awareness of new threats to privacy and to strengthen privacy protections for sensitive personal information.

•         Accountability for torture: President Obama has spoken eloquently about the importance of restoring America's moral authority abroad. Restoring that moral authority, though, will require restoring the rule of law at home, and restoring the rule of law at home will require finally confronting the gross human rights abuses of the last administration.  The ACLU is working to create a complete public record of the last administration’s torture program; obtain acknowledgement and compensation for torture victims; and ensure that those who authorized torture are held accountable.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Determine and execute Center for Democracy state-based advocacy priorities, including developing campaign objectives and strategies, in collaboration with ACLU affiliates and Center for Democracy and affiliated staff.
• Provide strategic advice to ACLU affiliates to assist their state-based advocacy, including strategic goal setting, coalition building, community engagement, and decision maker targeting, to achieve policy change.
• Coordinate ACLU affiliates’ participation in the National Office’s federal advocacy campaigns in collaboration with Center for Democracy and affiliated staff.
• Draft and edit advocacy tools for ACLU affiliates’ state-based advocacy, including fact sheets, talking points, and public education materials, in collaboration with Center for Democracy and affiliated staff.
• Monitor state policy activity, including legislation, relevant to Center for Democracy priorities.
• Participate in national coalitions and develop relationships with allies and other organizations consistent with these efforts, in coordination with Center for Democracy and affiliated staff.
• Develop expertise in Center for Democracy’s key civil liberties issues.
• Collaborate with the administration of the Center for Democracy’s grants to affiliates program.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
•         Bachelor’s degree required.
•         A minimum of two years public policy or advocacy experience is required.
•         Experience working in political, policy, legal, or government settings; familiarity with public policy and legislative processes is preferred.
•         Excellent research, writing, analytic and communication skills, including the ability to write and speak persuasively.
•         Ability to develop creative solutions to pressing civil liberties concerns.
•         Ability to multi-task, work efficiently and quickly, and meet strict deadlines under pressure.
•         Ability to work well with and mediate between a wide range of people.
•         Strong and demonstrated interest in civil liberties and social justice issues; familiarity with Center             for Democracy issues preferred.

COMPENSATION
The ACLU offers a generous and comprehensive compensation and benefits package, commensurate with experience and within the parameters of the ACLU compensation scale.

HOW TO APPLY
Applicants should send a cover letter (including salary requirements), resume, the names and phone numbers of three references and a writing sample by email to hrjobs@aclu.org - reference: [ASD-22/Advocacy and Policy Strategist] in the subject line - or by mail to:
Human Resources
American Civil Liberties Union
Re: [ASD-22/Advocacy and Policy Strategist]
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled which will not be before July 31, 2010. Please indicate where you learned of this job posting.

The ACLU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and encourages women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals to apply.
The ACLU comprises two separate corporate entities, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation. Both the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation are national organizations with the same overall mission and share office space and employees. The ACLU has two separate corporate entities in order to do a broad range of work to protect civil liberties. This job posting refers collectively to the two organizations under the name "ACLU."