Campaigner and Policy Advisor

**General Summary**

Oceana is an international organization dedicated to protecting the oceans. The way it accomplishes this mission is through science, which is the basis for building campaigns to achieve political, legislative and public policy changes in partnership with policymakers, regulators and the communities we work with. Oceana's main areas of work are: Restoring fish abundance and moving toward sustainable fisheries; protecting marine habitats; and reducing pollution in the oceans.

**Principal Duties and Responsibilities**

**Essential Functions**:

- Execute campaign activities through effective planning and implementation; detecting potential areas of challenges and opportunities to adjust advocacy activity as needed proactively.
- Contribute to the communication strategy of Oceana campaigns by providing analysis on the newsworthy elements of the political context.
- Collaborate, implement, and support Oceana in Mexico's policy and advocacy strategies in Federal and Local Congress.
- Effectively engage with key political decision-makers.
- Develop contacts in the Congress and the Executive Branch and manage a database with relevant information.
- Collaborate in the design and management of legislative and rulemaking strategies.
- Create advocacy and public documents (fact sheets, draft congressional letters, public comment letters, backgrounders, action alerts, and reports) in support of Oceana's goals and projects.
- Identify and analyze emerging ocean conservation issues and opportunities that Oceana may want to work on in the future.
- Analyze conservation policy actions, legislative proposals, and reports and monitor political developments that might affect Oceana's policy objectives.
- Build and strengthen alliances with social actors, such as the fishing sector and the grassroots community in Mexico City.
- Collaborate and support the field work of the Campaign team, travel, organize workshops, logistics, and meetings with local communities, allies, and authorities.
- Other responsibilities as appropriate and necessary to achieve campaign objectives

**Job Requirements**

**Education and work experience**:

- At least five (5) years of related experience, preferably either working in or influencing the legislative process in Mexico. Government experience is a plus. Environmental or fisheries-related experience is desirable but not required.
- Political Science or related degree and three (3) years of experience working in or with NGOs or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred.
- Manage the research and writing of reports, papers, and other materials.
- Experience working with social actors, building trust, making agreements, facilitating workshops where social actors are participants.
- Experience completing projects under tight deadlines and effectively managing a demanding workload.

**Skills and knowledge**:

- Knowledge of the political context in Mexico, and the states in which Oceana works.
- Must be an effective team player and have proven ability to work and collaborate with professional staff.
- Strong political judgement and understanding of the political environment relevant legislative and policy processes.
- Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
- Desire and ability to advocate for complex, aggressive conservation positions in both small and large settings.
- Possess strong oral and written communication skills and keen analytical ability.
- Strong writing and communications skills
- Fluency in Spanish and English is required
- 30% of travel time is required

**Required Competencies**:

- **Instills Trust **-Gains the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity
- **Action Oriented**: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
- **Collaborates**:Brings people together to leverage their skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve a common purpose. Creates synergy resulting in a combined effort with greater results than what can be achieved by individuals.
- **Communicate **Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences
- **Manages Complexity**:Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
- **Drives Engagement**:Creates a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives

**APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS**

Cover letter will be viewed as a writing sample and should explicitly highlight examples of demonstrated experience with 2-3 points in the “Essential Functions” section above.

Oceana's Mexico offices have operated on a hybrid schedule.