All Things Urban

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, community gardens, historic sites, rural lands, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since 1972, TPL has completed more than 4,250 park and conservation projects in communities nationwide, protecting more than 3 million acres.

The Urban Affairs Manager will help support and sustain the campaign’s city and community relations work, with a focus on tracking, research, and policy analysis. Reporting to the Associate Director, the Urban Affairs Manager will undertake research and track city policies that address the campaign’s goals of improving to parks and green space, including citywide plans, funding measures, and signature projects. The manager will also be expected to help manage relationships with mayors’ offices and city teams through both large-scale outreach efforts and one-on-one touchpoints. A successful candidate will have prior experience in policy research, local government, or government relationships work, and ideally have a demonstrated interest in city planning and policy, parks, or resilience. The manager should be comfortable with working independently, but also be skilled at building relationships and working as part of a cross-functional, highly-driven team.

This position will ideally be based in New York City or Washington, DC, though other locations will be considered for highly-qualified candidates.

Note: This is a five- to six-month full-time position, with the potential to extend based on renewed funding past May 1, 2021.

Research and Policy Analysis (30%)

• Research and analyze city policies that embed or directly address park access and greenspace targets, tracking municipal goals, progress, and notable features on behalf of the campaign.
• Consolidate policy best practices and distill into targets and model policy language that can be adopted and scaled by all campaign cities.
• Engage mayors and city staff in interviews, as needed, to gather up-to-date information on city policies, progress, and local milestones.Based on research findings, make recommendations to the Director and Associate Director about how best to update campaign program strategy to provide policy guidance and technical support to campaign cities.
• Identify and address additional policy research needs.

Outreach and City Relations (30%)

• Under the direction of the Director and the Associate Director, manage a discrete set of relationships with campaign cities, including but not limited to quarterly touchpoints, providing guidance and input on parks and green space issues, and connecting city teams with partner organizations and or resources for technical assistance.
• Update campaign tracking system with policy and relationship information as needed.
• Serve as a key point of contact for 10 Minute Walk cities seeking up-to-date information on all campaign activities.
• Represent the campaign at external events and conferences as needed, including our work with cities and how it contributes to resilience, healthy communities, and equitable development.

Internal coordination (20%)

• Working closely with the 10 Minute Walk Program Manager, serve as a go-to point of contact and key partner to internal TPL staff in our Field Programs, Government Relations, Conservation Finance, and Research departments, who might be working in 10 Minute Walk cities, all in order to gather updates on their work streams with those cities, answer technical assistance questions, and to ensure a coordinated front on “city engagement” within The Trust for Public Land.

Communications and Messaging Support (20%)

• Working with the Associate Director, communications consultants, and others, support policy and public affairs communications and messaging development as needed.
• Gather notable updates, stories, and progress from campaign cities for use in communications and marketing efforts.
• Draft and provide support for city- and mayor-focused newsletters and mailings, social media posts, blog posts, features, and more.
• Undertake periodic research projects for Communications teammates, as needed.

• 3-5+ years work experience in a nonprofit, political, or city government setting with a research and policy focus.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; experience drafting memos, reports, and ideally language for policy adoption.
• Experience in social and digital media and campaigns a plus.
• Proficiency in MS Office (especially Word and PowerPoint), Adobe, and Internet research required. Proficiency with complex databases a plus.
• A proven history of working independently, problem-solving, and managing time and priorities effectively.
• Ability to collaborate across teams, departments, and organizations to advance projects and strategies.
• Willingness to work flexible hours and occasionally travel for meetings and conferences

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.