Michigan State Lead – Lobbyist and Strategist

Role: Michigan State Lead
Role Purpose: Build powerful climate outcomes with Climate Cabinet staff, legislators, and coalition partners in Michigan.
Location and Travel Expectations: Flexible in Michigan, with the expectation to be in Lansing 40%+ of the time, or roughly 2 days per week every week, with some weeks requiring more time in Lansing. This role requires some out-of-state travel for team retreats, conferences, and in-person meetings.
Timeframe: Priority deadline for applications is May 22, 2026. Target start date is mid-July.
Salary Range: The hiring salary range for this role is $81,000-$95,500. 

About Climate Cabinet

Climate Cabinet helps state and local candidates run, win, and legislate on climate change. State and local policymakers are key to tackling climate change – they drive progress regardless of who is in the White House. That’s why Climate Cabinet exists.

We are a dynamic, passionate, startup team of experienced climate experts with staff on-the-ground across the country and a remote-first workplace. Our team culture prioritizes: supporting each other as full people, striving for the highest standard of excellence in our work, respecting local knowledge, embracing technology and innovation, curiosity, and a continuous growth mindset.

Role Summary

The Michigan State Lead builds powerful climate outcomes with Climate Cabinet staff, legislators, and coalition partners in Michigan. This person strengthens Climate Cabinet’s presence in the legislature, and continues to scale up our policy and political work in Michigan. This includes a heavy emphasis on coalition work, legislator relationship development, and collaboration with Climate Cabinet’s national teams. 

This is a leadership, high-agency position that reports to the Deputy Policy Director and operates within clearly defined strategic parameters set at the national level. This role works in close coordination with our national legislative and political teams to ensure cross-state sharing, and alignment with both state and national goals.

Key Responsibilities

• With the support and direction of Climate Cabinet’s Senior Policy Director + Deputy Policy Director and our team, you:
• Represent Climate Cabinet in the Michigan legislature by building strong lawmaker relationships, and through consistent lobbying, policy education, and coalition work.
• Help shape and advance Climate Cabinet’s Michigan legislative strategy and help shape our political agenda in collaboration with Legislative team leadership, our Political Director, and the national team.
• Bring robust, specific policy/legislative expertise that helps Climate Cabinet advance, defend, and adapt priority climate policies.
• Represent Climate Cabinet in Michigan media and to funders, in close collaboration with the national team.
• To achieve these goals, you are Climate Cabinet’s primary in-state representative. You will:
• Work in coalition with state-based activists, organizations, clean energy businesses, lawmakers, and funders to advance shared priorities.
• Drive our state-level legislative, political, and media strategies in collaboration with the national team.
• Track, evaluate, and communicate the impact of Climate Cabinet’s engagement in  Michigan to national and state-based audiences.
• Support fundraising activities as needed.
• Remain in constant communication and collaboration with our national team, track bills, facilitate cross-state sharing, and develop storytelling approaches to help your efforts build power for climate in Michigan and nationwide.

Skills and experience

This person is a high-agency leader who can help turn bold vision into real-world outcomes. This role is ideal for someone who can operationalize strategy, build relationships and trust, and drive progress with both urgency and care. 

• Experience in Michigan lobbying, coalition spaces, and/or Michigan politics. You bring a strong understanding of the Michigan legislative and political landscape and know how to build credibility and relationships with lawmakers, advocates, coalition partners, and other key stakeholders.

• Expertise in state-led climate and energy policy and politics. Expertise in at least one policy area relating to climate, energy, transportation, land use, environmental justice, agriculture, or resilience.
• Track record of turning strategy into outcomes while being coalition-savvy with soft power. You don’t just talk strategy—you make it real. You’re energized by motivating others around a shared vision, you know how to step into a coalition and be helpful right away—especially in high-pressure legislative sprints. You also know how to build trust over time, guide strategy gently when needed, and steer diverse coalitions toward effective paths in line with a greater theory of change.
• Strong communicator and connector. You’re able to communicate across audiences, adapt your message to different audiences, and align people around common goals. You know when to lead with data, when to lead with a story, and when to lead with a combo of both!
• Mission-driven with a growth mindset. You’re motivated by the urgency of climate action and the need for equitable, people-centered solutions. You ask for and take feedback, are always learning, and believe iteration is part of building on strategy toward impact.

Location and Travel Expectations: Flexible in Michigan, with expectation to be in Lansing 40%+ of the time, or roughly 2 days per week every week, with some weeks requiring more time in Lansing. This role requires some out-of-state travel for team retreats, conferences, and in-person meetings.

Compensation and Benefits
This is a Level 2 role within Climate Cabinet’s leveling framework, which defines the scope and compensation range for each role on the team.

• Salary Range: The hiring salary range for this role is $81,000-$95,500. Compensation at Climate Cabinet is set by job area, level, and placement, anchored to national market data, reflective of organizational budget, and applied consistently across the team. This ensures equitable, transparent pay and responsible stewardship of our resources. As such, we do not negotiate compensation offers, though we welcome feedback on our market benchmarks for consideration in the future.
• We have a competitive benefits package, including:
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, with the organization covering 99% of employee premiums and 50% of dependent medical premiums
• Unlimited paid time off
• Basic life insurance and long-term disability
• Health FSA and Dependent Care FSA
• 401(k) employer contribution
• Paid parental leave
• Computer reimbursement stipend and Home office expense reimbursement
• Professional development funds availability