All Things Urban

LA-Más is a non-profit urban design organization that helps lower-income and underserved communities shape their future through policy and architecture. We envision a world where city growth is equitable and self-directed — where the best local solutions are brought to a city-wide scale.

The Community & Policy Lead must be self-driven, passionate about social equity and community empowerment, curious about the power of design, and an organized and strategic problem-solver that has superb writing and communication skills. The Community & Policy Lead will ensure that our projects inform long-term systemic change, especially as it relates to public programs, funding, and regulations. This includes reviewing existing regulations, building partnerships with a range of government and non-profit partners, and developing strategies to advocate for policy change.

The Community & Policy Lead must be both a listener and a bridge-builder that is skilled in deploying creative and authentic engagement strategies, and incorporating community voice into project plans. Examples include: planning events and pop-up activities where community voices and values can be expressed, conversing with residents and businesses through door-to-door canvassing and phone calls, and convening/ facilitating stakeholder meetings.

This position requires someone with strong analytical and writing skills, as well as project management capacity. The Community & Policy Lead will contribute to much of the writing that takes place within the organization, including grant proposals and reports, community findings and project final reports, policy briefs and memos, marketing pitches, presentation scripts, professional emails, and editorials. Responsibilities includes managing a variety of projects at the same time, which requires detailed attention to timeline, budget, outcome, and process.

• Manage multiple projects in all areas of our work, which includes developing and overseeing project timelines, budgets, and work plans, ensuring data is collected and documents are well-organized, holding partners and staff accountable to deliverables and stated goals, and implementing evaluation processes to determine project impact
• Develop and implement community outreach and engagement strategies to ensure meaningful participation in the design and programming outcomes for all our projects
• Coordinate the production and promotion of community events and design workshops
• Propose policy and/or political strategy as it relates to our programmatic areas
• Serve as point of contact with project partners, including community members, business owners, non-profit partners, government staff, funders, and subcontractors.
• Research prospective grants to determine alignment with our work and lead the writing and copy-editing of grant narratives, budgets, and timeline; lead the submission of grant reports as required by the funder
• Manage and mentor Community & Policy Associate & relevant Fellows
• Attend relevant conferences, political meetings, and community events to build/ maintain LA-Más’ professional network and share key takeaways with the team

• Highly motivated, solution-oriented, and self-directed individual
• Able to successfully balance multiple priorities, programs, and tasks
• Strong project management capacity
• Degree in urban planning, public policy, public administration or a related field
• 3+ years of experience with community engagement, organizing, and advocacy
• 3+ years of experience in non-profit project management and supervising staff
• Demonstrated success in grant writing and reporting
• Detailed and timely attention to reporting requirements and meeting deadlines
• Excellent written & oral presentation skills
• Capacity to work effectively with diverse team members and audiences
• Ability to meet deadlines, respond promptly to emails, and maintain organized files
• Skilled in team-building and facilitation techniques
• Ability to work both independently & collaboratively
• Strong emotional intelligence as it relates to building trusting relationships
• Strong analytical skills as it relates to developing programs, systems, and policies

LA Más offers a competitive salary and benefits, commensurate with experience.
Starting Date: mid/late July (flexible)

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.