Senior Director, Toxic Exposures & Pollution Prevention Program

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) protects people from toxic chemicals by working with communities, consumers, workers, government, and the private sector to demand and support business practices that are safe for public health and the environment.

CEH believes that air, water, food, and the products we use every day should be free of dangerous and untested chemicals. We hold companies to account through public interest litigation, work together with institutions to implement environmentally preferable purchasing, and reform entire regulatory systems through policy. This is an organization of committed advocates who work together to protect the health of all people, including those who face disproportionate health effects of toxic chemicals caused by systemic racism and social injustice.

JOB OVERVIEW 

The Senior Director of the Toxic Exposures and Pollution Prevention Program will report to the CEO and serves as a key member of the senior staff. The successful candidate will lead by empowering and collaborating across CEH teams to enable high performance and innovation and to champion justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The successful candidate will be highly strategic, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent; exemplify adaptability and flexibility and embrace complex problem solving. The Senior Director will be responsible for managing an interdisciplinary program that accomplishes ambitious goals to eliminate/reduce toxic chemicals from food, water, air, and consumer products via litigation, compliance testing, policy, community engagement, and other strategies.

The Senior Director will provide overall strategic direction and guidance for the program and coordinate the development of staff workplans and objectives, ensuring high quality deliverables and a culture of accountability. The Senior Director will also oversee a robust litigation and policy portfolio and work with external counsel to reduce the public’s exposure to toxic chemicals. The Senior Director will be responsible for managing programmatic earned income from litigation, grants, and other revenue streams.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

Team and Organizational Management  

• As a key member of CEH’s senior staff, the Senior Director will actively support organizational management initiatives in partnership with the CEO, including strategic planning, fundraising, project management, policy development, communications, board engagement, team building activities, and other special projects as needed.
• Ensure the supervision and professional development of a team, including:
  • Organizing and overseeing the team’s work streams and projects to ensure high-quality deliverables, achieved objectives, and met timelines;
  • Directly supervising manager-level staff while mentoring junior staff and interns, overseeing team hiring, and supporting strategy to allocate staff time;
  • Creating and delivering high quality presentations, progress reports, briefings, or other materials to effectively communicate project status, recommendations and/or findings to various audiences;
  • Creating a cohesive team with a culture of achievement and personal development;
  • Integrating a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice lens to internal processes and programmatic efforts.
• Oversee the administrative functions of the program, including monitoring the work scope and deliverables of consultants and external staff, maintaining accountability, providing feedback, developing budget forecasts and participating in regular budget planning.
• Assist the Philanthropic Partnerships team on fundraising and reporting needs related to their team’s initiatives and cultivate and maintain relationships with key funders and foundation staff, speak at donor events, and coordinate the program’s contributions to proposals.
• Serve as a spokesperson for CEH externally to partner agencies, news media, and the public.

Program Management

• Serve as principal point of contact and decision maker on legal and program administration matters with outside legal counsel, including advocating for health protective injunctive relief consistent with the values, policies, and priorities of CEH.
• Oversee and lead the development of research, compliance testing, and policy to address issues at the intersection of environmental health and environmental justice.
• Facilitate strategic collaboration with members of the team and key partners to reduce exposures to toxic chemicals by reforming regulation and oversight of toxic chemicals through:
  • State and federal legislation
  • Administrative regulation and policy
  • Consumer campaigns
  • Litigation
• Facilitate the review and authorization of legal documents, including but not limited to notices of intent to sue, complaints, discovery responses, consent judgements, standing and member declarations.
• Serve as subject matter expert on federal and state environmental regulations and compliance; preferably including knowledge of Toxic Substances Control Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Prop 65, etc.
• Work with individuals and community groups affected by environmental health disparities from a wide array of cultures, backgrounds and scientific and technical understanding.
• Collaborate in teams and work with lawyers and policy advocates to critically review and draft regulatory language, legislation and comments to proposed legislation, or other policies.
• Execute meetings, events, roundtables, and public-private dialogues between CEH and allies to move forward litigation.
• Contribute to the creation of clear and compelling written and visual communications in partnership with the Strategic Communications team to assist scientists, policymakers and the public in issue and campaign advocacy.
• Lead and support conversations with legal counsel regarding partnership themes, working relationship troubleshooting, interpersonal communication, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice efforts underway, to improve partnership.

NEEDED QUALIFICATIONS:

• A graduate degree and at least ten (10) years of full-time relevant professional experience in a field related to this position. Juris Doctor degree highly preferred.  Minimum of 6 years of full-time team management experience.
• A background in environmental health, toxics, public health, environmental law, and/or public interest litigation preferred. Demonstrated commitment to nonprofit/public interest advocacy and environmental justice.
• Significant policy advocacy, implementation, and campaign experience in environmental health issues, preferably in some or most of the following issue areas:  air and water quality, toxic chemicals in foods and consumer goods, green chemistry, toxics and climate intersection; with strong understanding and network of relationships within the environmental health and environmental justice movements.
• Experience with strategic planning, either in management consulting or in a similarly demanding, fast-paced, and analytic environment; ability to look strategically at the big picture and search for insightful, creative solutions.
• Extensive project management experience, including demonstrated ability to design, launch, and manage projects against tight timelines, to apply a proactive collaborative style that gains the support of stakeholders, and to secure funds to support activities.
• Demonstrated experience successfully managing teams, including managing performance, giving feedback, and developing employees.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate technical information into accessible forms. Comfort with public speaking and a clear writing style are a must.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a demonstrated successful track record as both a proactive self-starter and a flexible team-player that adapts well to change.
• Ability to facilitate constructive dialogue and effectively negotiate, persuade, and reach consensus among large and diverse audiences and stakeholder groups.
• Comfortable leading meetings and interfacing with internal and external stakeholders.
• Successful development and fundraising experience.
• Ability to travel regularly, including to CEH headquarters in Oakland, CA, up to 25% annually.

SALARY:

We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. The salary range for this position is $135-140,000 per year. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. Internal equity will be reviewed and considered to determine a final offer. Our offices are open and we are operating in a hybrid model.

APPLYING FOR THE JOB:

Please click "Apply" below to send the following materials and send in a single PDF:

• Cover letter
• Resume

Again, please merge these materials into a single PDF whose file name includes “Pollution Prevention Director” and your surname. Subject line should read: Senior Director, Toxic Exposures and Pollution Prevention Program).

CEH is an equal opportunity employer. As an organization committed to diversity and the perspective of all voices, it considers applicants equally of race, gender, gender identity or expression, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, age, ability, personal appearance, family responsibilities, or national origin.