Senior Policy Analyst – Civil Rights

BACKGROUND:
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR)—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations, NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas—assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families.

Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization headquartered in Washington, DC. NCLR serves all Hispanic subgroups in all regions of the country and has regional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and San Antonio. For more information, please visit www.nclr.org.

JOB DESCRIPTION:
NCLR is seeking a Senior Policy Analyst for its Civil Rights Policy Project. Located in Washington, DC this position will reside in the Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation (ORAL). NCLR’s Civil Rights Policy Project covers traditional anti-discrimination and equal rights work for Latinos and immigrants while seeking to advance policy priorities that address three primary issues: the disproportionate contact with and overrepresentation of Latino youth in the juvenile justice system, discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals, and equal access to information technology for disenfranchised Latinos.

The Senior Policy Analyst will drive NCLR’s work to develop a substantive policy agenda and engage policy experts on relevant issues, and educate and inform policymakers about the Latino perspective.

NCLR offers a collaborative, team-based environment that fosters a culture of ideas and debate. We approach our work from multiple perspectives and methods, understanding both the specific issues and the larger interrelated systems across the civil rights field and beyond. The Senior Policy Analyst will work closely with other members of the policy team and co-workers with extensive expertise in communications, legislative affairs, research, and civic engagement, especially the digital/on-line advocacy team.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Development of a project plan and agenda for evaluating and analyzing relevant civil rights policies that affect the Latino community.
• Conduct policy analysis on civil rights policies that impact and relate to Latino and immigrant communities.
• Monitor policy ideas developing at the state and regional level, evaluating their potential application to federal-level policies.
• Represent NCLR policy priorities before congressional staff, policy-makers/experts, and issue stakeholders, including potential opportunity to provide testimony before policy-makers and regulators.
• Produce internal policy memoranda in addition to analysis and preparation of a variety of shorter format materials such as fact sheets and talking points.
• Interact with issue stakeholders, attends relevant meeting coalition meetings.
• Coordinate work with other colleagues and departments, including legislative and research staff, and community-based organizations.
• Provide support/assistance to NCLR leadership
• Ability to work with media as appropriate

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s degree, plus 3-5 years of relevant experience.
• Must demonstrate strong understanding of issues facing Latino and immigrant families.
• Highly-developed writing skills required, including the ability to publish journal articles, write public testimony, conference papers, reports, issue briefs, and public comments.
• Must have experience analyzing civil rights policy.
• Some experience communicating policy recommendations in public settings such as hearings, conferences, or written materials such as reports or issue-briefs is preferred.
• Must have some familiarity with data analysis and research methods.
• Experience working with Hispanic community or community-based organizations is required.
• Must have ability to work as part of a team as well as execute projects independently. Also, ability to take initiative, work effectively under tight deadlines, and coordinate multiple projects.
• Familiarity with relevant congressional committees, champions, and players, and demonstrated ability to work with coalitions is preferred.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), Outlook, and internet queries; familiarity with statistical software, data sources is preferred.
• Bilingual (English and Spanish) a plus.

Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, national origin, marital status, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, personal appearance, family responsibilities, political affiliation, or enrollment in a college, university, technical school, or adult education.

SEND COVER LETTER, AND RÉSUMÉ TO:
National Council of La Raza
1126 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Attn: Darcy Eischens
Fax: (202) 776-1775
oral-admin@nclr.org

No phone calls please!