Senior Manager of State + Local Policy

Title: Senior Manager of State + Local Policy
Location: Boulder, Colorado; Remote Possible
Industry: Bicycle Industry Nonprofit
Employment and Classification: “At will” employment status; full-time position

About PeopleForBikes
PeopleForBikes (PFB) unites millions of Americans, thousands of businesses, and hundreds of communities to make every bike ride safer, more accessible, and more fun. Our mission is to get more people on bikes more often and make every bike ride better for everyone. Nationwide, PeopleForBikes represents more than 325 supplier members and 1.4 million individual supporters. The U.S. bicycle industry contributes $88 billion annually to the U.S. economy and supports more than 780,000 jobs. PeopleForBikes is composed of a Coalition that is the U.S. bicycle industry’s trade association and a Foundation that supports and promotes bicycling’s benefits and backs crucial bike infrastructure projects and programs. Additionally, we were named one of the top 50 best places to work by Outside Magazine in 2023.

Position Summary

PeopleForBikes is hiring a Senior Manager of State and Local Policy. The position will advance PeopleForBikes’ efforts to make the U.S. the best place in the world to ride a bike by overseeing the organization’s state and local policy agenda. The Senior Manager of State and Local Policy is responsible for the management and implementation of PeopleForBikes' state and local policy agenda, ensuring alignment with the organization’s mission and priorities, managing lobbying efforts, and building relationships with advocacy partners while coordinating with PeopleForBikes’ federal policy team and other departments to achieve policy goals.

The position reports to the Vice President of Infrastructure and is part of PeopleForBikes’ Government Relations and Infrastructure team. The preferred location is near PeopleForBikes’ Boulder, Colorado, office. Candidates who can work remotely and travel to Boulder regularly, as well as across the U.S., will also be considered. Candidates should possess an entrepreneurial mindset, be self-motivated, and be comfortable working on their own.

This role will work on policy that affects ridership as well as the bike industry. Policy work ranges from working on promoting infrastructure and safe streets to working on issues identified by industry members in our subcommittees: E-Bike , Research and Statistics, Legal, Legislative + Safety, Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Sustainability.

Responsibilities

• With the team, set clear priorities, goals, and strategies to advance the organization’s mission at the state and local levels in areas like infrastructure, e-bike incentives, bike business issues such as battery safety, sustainability, and DEI goals.
• Advise on opportunities and threats that impact the state and local policy agenda.
• Manage state and local lobbyist work from budgeting to reporting.
• Oversee state and local policy work and legislative, regulatory, and ballot measure activity.
• Manage relationships with state and local  advocacy partners and coalitions.
• Coordinate with the federal policy team to ensure the strategic implementation and effectiveness of federal policies and funding at the state and local levels.
• Coordinate with the Marketing and Communications team to manage state and local  advocacy and policy communications.
• Maintain ongoing relationships with state and local advocacy groups, non-endemic partners, industry partners, and funders.
• Present state and local policy work to external partners as well as the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association Trade Association Committee and relevant PeopleForBikes subcommittees.
• Act as staff liaison for the trade association subcommittee.
• Produce written content for blog posts, reports, and similar documents.
• Produce and run presentations, webinars, and training both in person and virtually.
• Supervise policy coordinators and staff as assigned.
• Serve as an ambassador for PeopleForBikes’ state and local priorities in the media and at events.
• Coordinate with other PeopleForBikes teams to ensure events, grants, and programs align with state and local policy goals and objectives.
• Other duties as assigned (example: assisting with project management and operations).

Qualifications

Don’t meet every requirement? No problem. Studies show that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they do, so we encourage you to apply anyway. PeopleForBikes will consider alternative ways that an applicant may have gained the required qualifications outside of traditional pathways.

• 3+ years of full-time government affairs or state and local policy experience, including experience working on national campaigns and conducting policy analysis and research.
• Advanced degree in policy, environmental studies, planning, political science, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and work experience. Work experience may be substituted for an advanced degree.
• Works best in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong customer service ethic and willingness to go above and beyond to assist PeopleForBikes members and stakeholder groups.
• Organized and able to work independently to achieve deadlines while juggling multiple projects.
• Strong time management skills with the ability to direct multiple projects and meet competing deadlines.
• Ability to consider program and policy opportunities and threats as well as collaborate through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.
• Can quickly master new subjects and be the expert for constituents as unexpected policy challenges arise. 
• Ability to collaborate and work efficiently with multiple stakeholders and teams.
• Strong work ethic, self-directed, able to work independently to accomplish assigned tasks and meet critical deadlines. 
• Ability to write clearly and concisely, including condensing public policy language into terms non-experts can easily understand. 
• Strong public speaking skills and ability to produce and run presentations, webinars, and trainings in person and virtually. 
• Willingness to travel for meetings, conferences, trainings, and site visits.
• Commitment to safe, healthy, reliable, and affordable access to bicycling for all.
• Knowledge about and passion for bicycling.
• Our office is ADA-accessible. This role will require the use of a laptop for several hours, the ability to lift and move packages, tents, tables, and other event-related materials, and the ability to travel.

Compensation and Benefits

This “at-will” position offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience. The salary range will be decided based on the applicant selected with a range of $70,000 to $85,000. 

PeopleForBikes offers an excellent and comprehensive benefits package, including paid health insurance for employees, a generous paid-time-off (PTO) policy including 23 days plus federal holidays, paid parental leave, a flexible work schedule including work-from-home options, and optional participation in a deferred compensation retirement plan with immediate vesting of a competitive employer match. In addition, we provide long-term disability insurance, a cell phone plan, and a laptop computer, along with many other benefits like industry discounts. As icing on the cake, PeopleForBikes also pays you to ride your bike.

At PeopleForBikes, our agreed-upon set of team norms are what drives us to do our best every day we show up to work. Our core purpose is to make life great and our core values are to put others first, including everyone, and it can always be better. We’ll talk more in the interview process about what these mean, but for now, know that we continually strive to build and strengthen our team, we work together effectively to serve our mission, and we have fun. Beyond that, we’re casual, we work flexibly with remote work allowed, and we really love dogs. You don’t have to be an amazing bike rider to work here — what matters to us is a desire to work alongside passionate people improving the world through bikes (and hopefully you love bikes too).

Location

PeopleForBikes is based in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. This position can be remote. However, if you are in the Denver metro area, we require staff to be in the office about two days per month. We also encourage people to come in on Thursdays with lunch and bike rides. Our office is ADA-accessible. 

To Apply

• Interested candidates should apply here. Please submit your application by December 15 for priority consideration. You will be contacted by a PeopleForBikes team member if your application is selected to move on to the next round.
• Due to volume, we will not respond to telephone or in-person inquiries.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• The position is available immediately and will remain open until the position is filled.
• Interested applicants are encouraged to visit peopleforbikes.org for general information and organizational background.

Equal Opportunity

Our work to create safer, more comfortable, and more accessible places for everyone to bike starts with us. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to hiring a diverse workforce. You can find more on our hiring page here. We want our staff to be reflective of the backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of the communities we serve and to create an inclusive work environment where employees and the communities we serve feel welcomed, valued, respected, and received. We believe that no matter who you are, where you're from, or why you ride, everyone can find joy on a bicycle.