Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy
Description
Position Summary
KIPP Northern California seeks a strategic, politically astute, and relationship-driven Associate Director of Advocacy to advance our regional policy and authorizer strategy. Reporting to the Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement, this leader will own and drive KIPP NorCal’s local authorizer engagement across a portfolio of districts, lead high-stakes charter renewals and advocacy campaigns, and strengthen parent power across our network.
This role sits at the intersection of political strategy, family engagement, and cross-functional execution. The Associate Director will regularly interface with executive leadership, elected officials, district leaders, school teams, families, and community partners to ensure strong renewal outcomes, protect and expand access to facilities, and build long-term political capital for KIPP schools.
Success in this role means securing favorable charter renewal outcomes, increasing family advocacy engagement year over year, strengthening relationships with key decision-makers, and building sustainable advocacy systems across the region.
This position is based at our Regional Support Office in Oakland, with a minimum of three days per week onsite at the RSO or school campuses. The role requires reliable transportation and travel throughout the Bay Area and Stockton (approximately 20%), including occasional evening meetings.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities
Lead Strategic Authorizer Engagement
- Serve as the primary strategic lead for a portfolio of charter authorizer relationships, ensuring strong long-term positioning and successful renewal outcomes.
- Develop and execute multi-year authorizer engagement strategies aligned to organizational priorities
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with district staff, superintendents, board members, and key decision-makers
- Lead planning and execution for charter renewals, material revisions, and oversight processes
- Lead cross-functional project plans for renewals, including academic, operational, financial, and legal inputs
- Guide schools through oversight visits, public hearings, and compliance submissions
- Prepare high-quality public board meeting materials, data analysis, and responses to authorizer inquiries
- Monitor relevant political and policy developments affecting assigned districts
- Lead school tours with elected officials and represent KIPP at school board and public meetings
- This role requires strong political judgment, strategic messaging, and the ability to navigate complex issues and, at times, contentious public processes with professionalism and credibility.
Lead Local Advocacy Campaigns & Mobilization
- Partner with the Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement and the Chief External Officer to align on campaign priorities. Design and execute local advocacy strategies that protect and advance KIPP’s interests.
- Develop clear and actionable campaign plans, timelines, messaging, and mobilization strategies
- Lead cross-functional work with the Real Estate, Facilities, Operations, Compliance, and Finance teams to support school-level needs (e.g., Prop 39, facilities negotiations, safety concerns)
- Build relationships with families, students, and staff in advance of key decisions to ensure informed and meaningful engagement
- Plan and facilitate stakeholder meetings, public comment strategies, and visible community support efforts
- Track engagement metrics and refine mobilization strategies over time
- This role requires strong organizing instincts, message discipline, and the ability to translate complex policy issues into clear, compelling narratives.
Build and Strengthen Parent Advocacy Infrastructure
- Lead and grow KIPP NorCal’s KIPP Leaders of Change network to build sustained parent advocacy power.
- Design and facilitate quarterly KIPP Leaders of Change convenings
- Develop and maintain strong 1:1 relationships with family leaders across the network
- Provide advocacy education and leadership development for parent participants
- Partner with the PACE Director to align local, state, and federal advocacy priorities
- As needed, organize state-level and federal-level stakeholder mobilizations
- This role requires systems that move beyond one-time mobilizations toward sustained community leadership and engagement.
Required Experience:
- 5+ years of professional experience with increasing responsibility in advocacy, public policy, political campaigns, consulting, strategic planning, or nonprofit leadership
- Demonstrated experience leading advocacy campaigns, navigating public-sector decision-making processes, or managing high-stakes political or policy initiatives
- Proven ability to develop strategy and translate it into execution across multiple stakeholders, such as families, internal colleagues, and elected officials
- Experience working with senior leaders, board members, or elected officials
- Track record of building coalitions and partnerships across diverse communities
- Experience managing complex, cross-functional projects with competing timelines
Preferred Experience:
- Experience in education policy, charter schools, or public-sector governance
- Experience building grassroots or community-based organizing efforts
- Spanish fluency or professional proficiency
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience required
Skills & Competencies:
- Drive Results: Demonstrates strong political judgment and decision-making in complex, high-stakes environments.
- Planning & Execution: Independently manages multiple high-priority initiatives (e.g., renewals, board votes, compliance cycles) with urgency, follow-through, and accountability.
- Communication & Influence: Writes and speaks clearly and persuasively; builds coalitions and motivates action across diverse stakeholders.
- Data-Based Improvement: Uses qualitative and quantitative data to inform strategy, strengthen renewal narratives, and drive continuous improvement.
- Stakeholder Management: Builds trust-based relationships with families, community leaders, and public officials; navigates across lines of difference with cultural competence.
- Student Focus: Maintains a deep understanding of the needs of Northern California communities and centers advocacy efforts on advancing equitable outcomes for students.
- Cultural Competence & Equity: Demonstrated experience advancing initiatives that promote inclusive practices and improved outcomes for historically marginalized communities.
Physical, Mental, and Environmental Demands
Physical: Ability to navigate office and school campuses, and hold meetings in different spaces. Traditionally, much of the day involves sitting. Ability to access and utilize technology. Occasional lifting/carrying of equipment up to 20 lbs.
Mental: Stress of deadlines and normal work standards, ability to analyze problems and generate alternatives, work with interruptions, concentrate for long periods of time, read, calculate, perform routine math problems, memorize, and recall objects and people.
Environmental: This role is currently hybrid with a minimum requirement of three days in the office or at a school (schedule subject to change based on organizational needs). This position will require travel approximately 20% of the time from the regional office to school sites and community meetings, with meetings often taking place in the evenings. This role will be expected to be able to join in-person family meetings at school sites, meet one-on-one with family and community leaders, as well as join community events.
Classification
This is a full-time, exempt position with a full-year calendar cycle, located in our Regional Support Office, and involves frequent travel to schools and districts.
This is a hybrid role with the expectation that 3 days per week be spent onsite at our school campuses or at our Regional Support Office in Oakland.
About KIPP Public Schools Northern California
KIPP NorCal is a network of 23 tuition-free public charter schools serving over 7,000 students across East Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco, San Lorenzo, San José, Redwood City, and Stockton.
Eighty-one percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, 34% are multilingual learners, and 12% receive special education services. Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond.
We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve and to advancing equity and opportunity for all children.
Compensation
We offer a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and transportation coverage. We benchmark annually against comparably-sized non-profit organizations in the regions where we operate to offer competitive salaries. The salary range for this position is between $104,000 and $127.000. Most candidates would be compensated at $111,000.
How to Apply
Please submit a cover letter and resume by clicking apply on this page.
KIPP Northern California Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, color, national origin or ancestry, cultural background, religious creed, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital/registered domestic partner status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, primary language, citizenship or immigration status, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws.