Deputy Policy Director

Role: Deputy Policy Director
Role Purpose: The Deputy Policy Director supports Climate Cabinet’s state-level climate policy work by helping the Policy & Legislative team operate with clarity, confidence, and impact. This role focuses on building the systems, structure, and support that allow state and policy leads to take initiative, manage complexity, and translate strong individual efforts into coordinated results that advance Climate Cabinet’s mission.
Location and Travel Expectations: Remote within the U.S. This role involves 25%+ expected travel in-person meetings, site visits, and events.
Salary Range: $130,221-$150,782, commensurate with skills and experience.
Timeframe: Priority deadline for applications is January 30th, with applications reviewed on a rolling basis until position is filled. Target start date is Q1 2026. 

About Climate Cabinet

Climate Cabinet helps state and local champions win on climate. We support high-impact, under-the-radar offices who have “outsized impact” on our ability to solve the climate crisis – from clean energy buildout to zero-carbon transportation. These leaders drive progress regardless of who is in the White House. 

We are a dynamic, passionate team of experienced climate experts with staff on-the-ground across the country and a remote-first workplace. We create a clear, kind culture of agency and growth—sharing expectations openly, giving space for initiative, and supporting one another as full people to build their climate movement leadership in service of our climate mission.

Role Summary

We’re looking for a Deputy Policy Director to help state and policy leads do their best work by building clarity, structure, and support around them. As Climate Cabinet scales its state-level climate policy impact, this role expands the leadership capacity needed for a distributed team to take initiative, manage complexity, and deliver durable policy wins.

Reporting to the Senior Policy Director, the Deputy Policy Director is a senior manager, strategic thought partner, and systems builder for the Legislative & Policy team. The role focuses on designing the conditions that allow staff working across states and issue areas to operate with confidence, agency, and alignment — particularly when the work is fast-moving or high-stakes.

This position strengthens Climate Cabinet’s ability to show up where it matters most: supporting staff who work independently in their states, expanding in-person engagement with lawmakers and partners, filling key gaps in geography and expertise, and turning strong individual efforts into coordinated, organization-wide impact. It’s an exciting opportunity for an experienced climate policy leader who is motivated by being at the intersection of policy expertise and team leadership, who finds satisfaction in creating the structures and support that allow others to lead boldly and effectively.

Key Responsibilities

Enabling Policy Team Effectiveness and Support

• Serve as a key advisor and support resource for staff, working in close partnership with the Senior Policy Director
• Maintain a big-picture view of team priorities, legislative timelines, and capacity to support effective planning and execution
• Design and coordinate shared planning processes that help staff understand priorities, timelines, and how their work fits into broader efforts
• Travel regularly to support staff through in-person meetings, relationship-building, and surge support during critical moments
• Directly manage several policy staff members, with a focus on coaching, growth, and clarity, including:
• Reviewing and approving workplans
• Conducting regular check-ins and quarterly reviews
• Coaching staff on performance, growth, and expanded responsibility
• Making personnel recommendations to the Senior Policy Director

Policy & Legislative Leadership

• Bring issue-area expertise to support policy design, strategic advising, and organizational thought leadership
• Represent Climate Cabinet publicly and with funders as a subject-matter expert when appropriate
• Engage in limited direct lobbying or oversee contract lobbyists in states without a dedicated State Lead
• Approve—and at times author—programmatic materials such as whitepapers, one-pagers, memos, presentations, event materials, blogs, and briefs

Systems, Planning, and Continuous Improvement

• Propose and implement workflow and process improvements that strengthen team effectiveness and clarity
• Surface ideas and feedback from staff to inform department‑level decision‑making and prioritization
• Build work‑tracking and planning systems that surface progress, risks, and decision points
• Support clear decision-making and coordination for cross-functional projects, using established frameworks and processes
• Help staff understand how their work fits into the broader legislative and policy landscape and how cross‑functional collaboration can increase impact

Decision-Making & Operational Support

• Advise State Leads and Policy Leads on strategy, workplans, and execution
• Approve programmatic products within delegated authority or concepts approved by the Senior Policy Director
• Recommend personnel decisions for directly managed staff
• Approve certain budget expenditures for managed staff within defined limits

What Success Looks Like

• 1 Month: Fully up to speed on Climate Cabinet systems, culture, structure, and L&P team goals
• 2 Months: Stepping into visible leadership roles, running meetings, and proactively requesting and shaping deliverables
• 3 Months: Fully managing assigned staff and driving strong execution against team priorities
• 1 Year: Leading well-functioning team systems with clear OKRs and workplans that support sustained policy wins and staff growth

Required Skills and Experience

Systems Thinking & Team Design

• Designs workflows, planning processes, and team rhythms that create clarity and reduce friction
• Translates strategy into usable guidance, guardrails, and decision-making frameworks that enable others to act independently
• Anticipates where complexity, risk, or overload may emerge and addresses it upstream through better systems

Enabling Leadership & People Development

• Coaches and supports state and policy leads to grow their judgment, confidence, and scope of responsibility
• Delegates decision rights — not just tasks — with clear parameters that balance autonomy and accountability
• Builds psychological safety and trust, creating space for learning, experimentation, and honest feedback
• Navigates performance challenges and conflict with clarity, care, and fairness

Climate Policy & State Legislative Expertise

• Brings deep knowledge of climate solutions, especially in electricity policy, and state-level policy levers
• Has experience operating in or alongside state legislatures, advocacy campaigns, or lobbying environments
• Tracks shifts in policy, politics, and the broader climate movement, integrating power analysis into decision-making

Strategic Judgment & Prioritization

• Synthesizes political and policy landscape changes to focus effort where it matters most
• Helps teams prioritize effectively amid competing demands and limited resources
• Knows when to step in, when to align others, and when to step back

Clear, Adaptive Communication

• Communicates complex policy, organizational, and strategic information clearly and accessibly
• Adapts messaging for different audiences, from policy experts to cross-functional partners
• Uses communication to build shared understanding, alignment, and momentum

Growth Mindset

• Approaches work with curiosity, humility, and a learning-in-progress mindset
• Seeks feedback and reflection to improve systems, leadership approach, and team effectiveness
• Encourages continuous improvement through iteration, peer learning, and thoughtful debriefs