State Program and Policy Director

About The Centers  

The Centers fights for equity by healing, teaching, and inspiring individuals and families to reach their full potential. We provide health, family, and workforce services at 11 locations throughout Greater Cleveland, creating life-changing solutions for people to lead healthier and more successful lives.  

Job Summary           

The State Program and Policy Director directs advocacy activities at the state level and is responsible for providing highly confidential policy, education, program, and administrative support for the Mental Health & Addiction Advocacy Coalition (MHAC).

Essential Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Develops, coordinates, implements, manages, and supports the MHAC’s policy agenda.
• Supports the implementation of the MHAC’s signature policy initiatives and events.
• Leads and supports specific policy projects, campaigns, and goals, including managing and contributing to project planning and strategy and ensuring execution of deliverables.
• Supports building advocacy capacity for the MHAC including fostering relationships with MHAC leadership, members, and strategic partners through strategic communication including written communication, meetings, presentations, and dissemination of policy related information.
• Leads MHAC advocacy with Ohio executive and legislative decision-makers and staff.
• Prepares materials for legislative and administrative audiences, leads briefings, prepares and delivers testimony, and drafts press releases, action alerts, and talking points.
• Staffs State Policy and Advocacy Committee and consults with other MHAC committees;
• Represents MHAC at external meetings, including state level coalitions and other stakeholder meetings.
• Develops and implements the state advocacy agenda.
• Research behavioral health policy issues and drafts advocacy materials, policy briefs, and research reports.
• Analyzes local, state, and federal legislative and administrative public policy proposals to determine impact on Ohioans with behavioral health disorders.
• Supports all aspects of MHAC events including advocacy days, public policy forums, legislative briefings, webinars, and other policy-related events for the organization.
• Assists with the integrated strategic communications plan to advance MHAC’s policy goals and increase visibility of its presence across key stakeholder audiences.
• Contributes to content for MHAC communications including print publications, website, newsletters, social media, and other communications.

Other Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide administrative, development, and operations support as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Salary

$54K to $72K

Supervisory

• None

Core Competencies

• Communication: Expresses thoughts clearly, concisely, and effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Time Management: Uses time effectively and efficiently; values time; concentrates efforts on the more important priorities.
• Learning Agility: Willingness and desire to absorb new information readily and to put it into practice effectively; avoids giving up in situations; actively seeks out new information to enhance processes and best practices; ability to make fresh connections between different concepts. Seeks feedback to improve learning.

Comparative Analysis: Compares, contrasts, and combines information to determine underlying issues. Sees associations between seemingly independent problems or events to recognize trends, problems, and possible cause-effect relationships. Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrated emotional intelligence with an ability to balance an empathy forward response with compliance with regulatory requirements at all levels of the organization. Enjoys working closely with other people to understand their concerns and seeks out the ways our workplace might address them. Diversity & Inclusion:Values all people for their unique talents and divergent viewpoints. Actively encourages practices that support diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a social science, health-related, or public administration field plus at least three years of experience in a similar or related position. Master’s degree preferred.
• Comprehensive understanding of state legislative and/or executive policy making processes.
• Experience in health, Medicaid, behavioral health, and/or related fields a plus.
• Experience with coalition building/management and grassroots/volunteer engagement a plus.
• Computer skills including experience with Microsoft office products (specifically Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), required.  Social media skills a plus.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to speak and hear. The employee is frequently required to sit for extended periods of time, stand, walk, use hands and fingers, and reach with hands and arms. Travel and work outside of normal hours may be required for meetings, presentations, training, and other events.

This job description is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties or skills required for the job and is subject to review and change at any time, with or without notice, in accordance with the needs of The Centers or the MHAC. Since no position description can detail all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time in the performance of a job, duties and responsibilities that may be inherent in a job, reasonably required for its performance, or required due to the changing nature of the job shall also be considered part of the jobholder's responsibility.

Employee signature below constitutes employee's understanding of the requirements, essential functions, and duties of the position. Your employment with The Centers is at will. This means your employment is for an indefinite period of time and it is subject to termination by you, the MHAC, or The Centers, with or without cause, with or without notice, and at any time.

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The Centers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.