Vice President of Programs and Strategy

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) seeks a highly collaborative and strategic leader to advance our mission to build a good jobs economy—a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. The Vice President of Programs and Strategy (VP) should be energized to play a key role in resourcing NELP’s programs, which focus on advancing transformative solutions that reflect the needs of all workers—including historically marginalized groups such as women, Black, immigrant, and low-wage workers, and workers with records. Join us!

About National Employment Law Project

Founded in 1969, the nonprofit National Employment Law Project (NELP) is a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. Together with local, state, and national partners, NELP advances its mission through transformative legal and policy solutions, research, capacity building, and communications. Our victories over the last decade have impacted the lives of an estimated 100 million workers and their families. We lead and collaborate in fights for higher pay and just benefits, secure and safe jobs, and support at each stage in a worker’s life. For more information, read our annual reports and explore our website: www.nelp.org

NELP has a team of 55 staff people based across offices in New York City, Washington D.C., and Berkeley, CA, with a 9-person Board of Directors, an annual budget of $14M, and hundreds of partners in the field with whom we work to further our mission.

What You Will Do

The Vice President of Programs and Strategy (VP) is a senior organizational leader on the management team who works closely with the Chief of Programs, Chief of Strategy, other executive leaders, and the directors of program and strategy teams to deepen alignment of high-impact, cross-organizational strategies that advance our theory of change. The VP will be operating with independence and discretion to formulate and execute organizational policy in key areas and will play a central role in setting NELP’s internal policies and practices that advance strong program and strategy integration to multiply impact. As the manager for program team directors, the VP will supervise the team leaders and collaborate with leadership in developing and implementing our goals, policies, and mission. Areas of responsibility in this management-level, internal facing role include:

Programmatic Strategy and Team Management (70%)

·         Directly supervise directors of program teams, coaching them and holding them accountable to lead strategic initiatives in alignment with NELP’s ambitious goals.

·         Collaborate with executive leadership to design and oversee leadership development structures, internal systems, and decision-making processes that support cross-team collaboration and growth.

·         Support the development and implementation of multi-year programmatic strategies, in partnership with program leadership, to ensure impact, alignment, and accountability.

·         Serve as the designated acting team lead during director vacancies, leveraging these opportunities to accelerate program and strategy knowledge.

Strengthening Partnerships and Alliances (30%)

·         Oversee the organization's approach to strategic partnerships, including sharing effective practices and resources for engagement with allies, coalitions, and networks.

·         Support program and strategy teams in identifying opportunities to deepen strategic partnerships and alliances that support strategic alignment and high-impact initiatives.

·         Develop and implement internal guidelines to clarify our strengths and value-add in coalition and partner spaces, ensuring consistent, mission-aligned engagement.

Who You Are

·         You have 15+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in organizational development, change management, human resources, or in programmatic work and 5+ years of managerial, supervisory, or other related experience. You have experience in a social justice nonprofit, preferably with management-level experience focused on labor law and policy, labor unions, or workers’ rights.

·         You have a Juris Doctor, master’s or PhD in a relevant field, or equivalent relevant experience.

·         You are a high-level strategic thinker who has a track record of increasing organizational success, building effective cross-team initiatives, operationalizing a vision across an organization, and using evaluation tools and metrics to support accountability.

·         You have a demonstrated ability to craft, manage, and execute strategic worker organizing or public policy campaigns.

·         You have experience working in coalitions and strategic relationships with diverse groups and interests, such as community-based organizations and advocacy organizations.

·         You are an effective, persuasive communicator with strong presentation, speaking, written, and nonverbal skills, who conveys information clearly and concisely, internally and externally, with high emotional intelligence and professional judgment.

·         You have a justice-oriented understanding of how race and power impact relationships, organizational culture, and partnerships, and are committed to a personal and professional practice around deepening this understanding, continuously learning, reflecting, and growing.

·         You have a proven record of collaborating, influencing, and encouraging others to adopt new practices and behaviors; you influence leaders and staff at all levels.

·         You are a self-aware leader who cultivates empathy through open and honest dialogue, builds relationships that foster trust and transparency across lines of difference, and offers direct, honest feedback with compassion and clarity of purpose.

·         You are a highly skilled facilitator and coach, who is an inspirational, curious, and relational leader with strong interpersonal skills fostering a sense of purpose and community, empowering staff to grow and develop professionally, and has high standards for holding yourself and others accountable.

·         You are flexible and agile, responsive to feedback, open to changing direction, and focus on continuous improvement and innovation.

·         You exercise patience, recognizing that the journey of becoming an anti-racist organization requires understanding of pace and individuals, and are resilient and solution-oriented in the face of setbacks and challenges.

·         You operate with a commitment to excellence, integrity, diplomacy, humility, and camaraderie.

·         Candidates must be eligible and authorized to work in the United States.     

Start Date, Location, Compensation & Benefits:  This full-time exempt position is based out of one of our three offices (New York City, Washington D.C., or Berkeley, CA). NELP has a hybrid model that requires staff to work in-person at least six days per month. This hybrid model seeks to leverage both the benefits of working with colleagues in-person and the benefits of flexible remote arrangements. This position will require some travel, including for NELP internal meetings or conferences. The start date will be as soon as possible.

The salary for the Vice President of Programs and Strategy is $165,000.

Compensation at NELP includes an excellent comprehensive benefits package, including full coverage of family health insurance, a medical reimbursement plan, generous vacation and sick leave, plus additional organization-wide holidays, significant contribution from the employer to a retirement plan (both an unelected contribution and employer match); and for qualifying participants, up to 26 weeks paid parental leave, 12 weeks paid medical leave, 6 weeks of paid family medical caregiving leave, childcare/eldercare reimbursement assistance, and student loan repayment assistance. Staff at NELP are represented by Local 2320, UAW, excluding management and certain other categories. This role is a non-bargaining unit position.

To Apply:
Candidates must be eligible and authorized to work in the United States. Go to our online application system at https://nelp.bamboohr.com/careers to submit a cover letter and resume. If you have questions regarding this announcement, please forward those to nelp@nelp.org, noting the job title in the subject line. No phone calls or other email inquiries please. We will consider applications on a rolling basis; interested applicants are encouraged to submit sooner than later.

NELP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and an equal opportunity, fair chance employer, committed to building a culture of belonging and inclusion where team members can thrive.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.