Orange County Policy Advocate and Community Organizer

Who We Are:

Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is a bold, people‑powered nonprofit advancing clean air, affordable energy, and vibrant, healthy communities. We believe transformative laws, policies, and programs are won through the energy, courage, and voice of everyday people. Building on our history of landmark victories in San Diego, Orange County, and across California, CAC recently helped pass historic legislation to reform the utility business model and lower energy rates for families. Now more than ever, we’re poised to scale our impact, and the Orange County Policy Advocate and Community Organizer role is central to that growth.

Culture:

We thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment where we are constantly adapting and learning to most effectively achieve our goals. Our team is committed to climate justice, creating a passionate, inclusive, innovative, and collaborative atmosphere. Our team members spend most of their time working remotely and independently from home and participate in many in-person events to create the relationships and opportunities necessary to win. We know working to make a real and lasting impact in the local policy space is difficult and demanding, so we also value time for rest and joy.

Job Overview:

The OC Policy Advocate and Community Organizer advances affordable and equitable climate and clean energy policies through advocacy, coalition-building, and hands-on community engagement. This role creates support for policies that eliminate fossil fuel pollution, lower energy bills, and accelerate the clean energy transition – building electrification initiatives, strong Climate Action Plans (CAPs), expansion of city Community Choice Energy membership, and implementation of the California Equitable Building Decarbonization (EBD) program.

The Organizer will build public and political support for Zero Carbon policies and expand SoCal’s movement for climate justice through the following activities:

• Planning and executing targeted outreach to elected officials, community groups, and residents.
• Draft and deliver comments at public meetings.
• Conduct outreach via phone, email, events, and in community spaces, with a focus on strengthening partnerships with racial and social justice organizations.

Major Goals and Responsibilities (including, but not limited to):

We recognize that skills and expertise are gained in many ways: on the job, in the community, or through lived experience. While not all qualifications are required, they reflect what we believe contributes to success in this role. If your background includes the right ingredients for success, we encourage you to apply.

• Build and maintain relationships with community members, partner organizations, elected officials, and other stakeholders to advance equitable climate and clean energy policies and programs. Expand, maintain, and strengthen networks of allies, advocates, volunteers, donors, and decision-makers.
• Conduct community outreach, organizing, and event planning to build public support for climate justice initiatives, including free home decarbonization programs, building electrification, clean energy adoption, and energy affordability. Outreach activities may include workshops, presentations, tabling, digital campaigns, and partnerships with schools, churches, and community organizations.
• Advocate for equitable climate, clean air, and energy policies at the local and state level, including expanding Orange County Power Authority membership, advancing 100% clean, affordable energy, and building electrification policies, and supporting strong Climate Action Plans and related initiatives.
• Support policy advocacy efforts through research, coalition-building, government engagement, action alerts, public testimony, policy monitoring and documentation, and participation in city council and public agency meetings.
• Participate in and help lead coalitions with community, labor, environmental, and environmental justice organizations to advance shared policy and organizing goals.
• Collaborate with communications and philanthropy teams to support public education campaigns, storytelling, media outreach, grant reporting, donor engagement, sponsorships, and other organizational priorities.
• Track outreach activities, engagement metrics, and campaign progress, participate in partner meetings, and maintain accurate reporting and program compliance.
• Continue expanding knowledge of climate, decarbonization, energy equity, and related policy issues to effectively respond to evolving community and program needs.
• Fluency in written and spoken Spanish is highly preferred. Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Climate Action Campaign Core Values:

Justice, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Inclusion, Health, Voice, and Safety are core values at Climate Action Campaign, and we’re passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment for all staff. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and discover, design, and deliver solutions.

Climate Action Campaign is an Equal Opportunity Employer:

Climate Action Campaign values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply.

Climate Action Campaign provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Location: We don’t currently have an office space in Orange County, so our team works remotely. However, this position will be frequently out in the community meeting with community members and groups, and therefore, must be based in Orange County with reliable access to and ability to drive a car.

Position Details: This is a full-time, temporary contract position, anticipated to last one year, with the opportunity to extend, dependent on funding.

Position Details: Based on the candidate's level of experience and the extent of independent work anticipated, we are seeking to fill the role of OC Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator at either the I or II level. Only one position will be hired.

OC Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator I - entry-level, full-time, hourly/non-exempt, and will include some evening and weekend work.

OC Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator II - full-time, salary/exempt, and will include some evening and weekend work.

Compensation and Benefits: Climate Action Campaign conducts research, assessments, and comparisons of non-profit organizations of similar size in order to set salary ranges for different levels of positions, and to ensure that employees receive fair compensation. It is important to note that actual offers will take into consideration factors such as the length of service and tenure in a specific role, internal equity, qualifications, skills, experience, and other relevant factors.

• OC Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator I $26.50 - $32.20 per hour (commensurate with experience, not expected to exceed $30.50 per hour)
• OC Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator II $68,640 - $85,000 per year (commensurate with experience, not expected to exceed $73,000)
• Health & Wellness : 100% employer-sponsored health, dental, vision, and life insurance for employees (dependents may enroll at the employee’s cost)
• Retirement : 403(b) plan with 4% employer match
• Monthly Stipends : $65 cell phone benefit and $100 transportation benefit
• Generous Paid Time Off :
  • 15 days of accrued PTO annually (years 0-1.99); 20 days of accrued PTO (years 2-2.99); 25 days of accrued PTO (years 3-4.99); 30 days of accrued PTO annually (years 5+)
• Exceptional Paid Holidays :
  • CAC is closed the following holidays (23 total): MLK Jr. Day (Jan); Presidents Day (Feb); Farmworkers’ Day (Mar); Memorial Day (May); Juneteenth (June); Independence Day (July); Labor Day (September); Veterans Day (November); the week of Thanksgiving (November); and the last two weeks in December (see calendar for exact dates)
  • CAC currently has a remote work policy that allows for approved remote work outside of San Diego or Orange County up to 10 days per year.

How to apply:

Submit the below items to View email address on click.appcast.io with the Subject: OC Policy Advocate and Organizer 2026

1. Resume
2. Video or voice recording answering the following three questions:
   1. What drew you to this position, and how do your background, experiences, or values align with our mission and the goals of this role?
   2. What does climate justice mean to you in the context of Orange County, and how would you ensure that policies like building electrification or clean energy expansion benefit frontline communities?
   3. Describe a policy campaign you’ve worked on, from idea to implementation. How did you engage government officials, community partners, and the public to move it forward?
   4. (Optional) Where did you hear about this job posting?

Limit your total recording to 3 minutes maximum.

We can provide assistance or alternative ways of applying for those who need it.

Deadline: The first review date is June 24, but the position will remain open until we find the perfect fit. We expect this position to start in early August.