Do you love connecting people to the outdoors, and to their own power? Can you organize a roomful of excited people to make a plan and get it done?
Join our team!
Do you love connecting people to the outdoors, and to their own power? Can you organize a roomful of excited people to make a plan and get it done?
WABA is looking for a Trails Coalition Manager to help us turn over 800 miles of planned trails into pavement that people can walk, roll, and bike on. You’ll work with grassroots advocates from across the region, and you’ll hold a leadership role in the Capital Trails Coalition (CTC), a robust group of partner organizations and government agencies working together to turn our vision of a connected trails network into a reality.
The Trails Coalition Manager is a high-profile representative of both WABA and the Capital Trails Coalition to the public and the media. The Trails Coalition Manager works closely with the Advocacy Director, the Executive Director, the Trails Coalition Coordinator, the Capital Trails Coalition Steering Committee, and other WABA staff to help achieve WABA’s advocacy goals.
The Team
The WABA Advocacy team includes: the Advocacy Director, the Organizing Manager, the Trails Coalition Manager and Trails Coalition Coordinator, a volunteer Maryland Organizer, and the Vision Zero Campaign Manager.
Job Responsibilities
- Build action teams to move each trail project forward: Capital Trails Coalition members have formed teams that are building campaigns to support each of the CTC’s priority trail projects. You’ll help each of these groups develop a campaign strategy, recruit, and act. You’ll also track campaign and project progress across all of the Coalitions projects.
- Support the CTC and its Steering Committee: You’ll help coordinate quarterly CTC meetings and monthly steering committee meetings, oversee CTC member recruitment and onboarding, facilitate work planning and benchmarking, and serve as the organizational representative to the media. You’ll also organize the annual Capital Trails Symposium.
- Serve as the lead on Trail Advocacy at WABA: You’ll become WABA’s resident trail expert, and use that expertise to deepen WABA’s relationships with other nonprofits, businesses, elected public officials, governmental agencies and community leaders. You’ll contribute to the organization’s fundraising efforts and be responsible for the trails advocacy portion of our budget.
- Manage the Trails Coalition Coordinator: The Coordinator supports the Trails Coalition Manager by assisting with the day-to-day operations of the CTC, including planning and facilitating meetings, managing the CTC social media, developing content for the website, and new member recruitment.
Qualifications
Core Skills and Experience:
- 2-3 years of relevant experience in coalition building or grassroots organizing.
- Demonstrated management experience including leading a team, strategic planning and/or capacity building.
- Strong project management and organization skills.
- Experience working in diverse communities and on diverse teams of staff and volunteers.
- An understanding of how race, gender, and other factors shape conversations and experiences.
- The ability to communicate clearly and respectfully with a range of external stakeholders and internal teams.
- Strong group facilitation skills, including but not limited to conflict resolution and consensus-building.
- The ability to write clearly and persuasively.
- A flexible schedule and willingness to work some hours outside of traditional business hours (i.e. mornings before 9 AM, evenings after 5 PM, and weekends).
Useful Skills & Experience:
- Understanding of regional transportation planning and agency structures and decision-making processes.
- Experience working in multiple sectors (nonprofit, government agency, or private sector).
- Experience navigating government agencies (including but not limited to National Parks Service, departments of transportation, and metropolitan planning organizations).
- Knowledge of regional trails infrastructure and policies.
- Experience advocating for change in a complex environment.
- Familiarity and comfort using the following tools in a professional capacity: Google Workspace (Gmail, Chat, Meet, Drive, Sheets, Docs), Salesforce, WordPress.
- Experience with event planning.
Support
There’s a lot of work to do! Here’s some of what’s available to help get it done:
- The expertise, institutional knowledge, and networks of CTC members (60+ organizations) and the CTC Steering Committee.
- A network of thousands of engaged community advocates across the region.
- The deep expertise of WABA’s Advocacy Team.
- WABA’s Communications Team to help get the right messages to the right people.
- WABA’s Programs team on the ground connecting with people across the region.
Compensation & Benefits
This is a full time salaried exempt position, with compensatory time in exchange for additional weekend and evening hours worked. The expected annual salary range is $58,000-$63,000. Other benefits include:
- 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance premiums.
- Generous vacation, sick and personal leave.
- Up to 120 hours of paid vacation starting in your first year, with additional hours after two, five, and ten years of service.
- Up to 160 hours annually of paid sick time starting in your first year.
- Flexible use of sick leave. WABA supports and promotes the health of staff, who may use accrued sick time for unscheduled leave when not feeling well (mind or body), as well as for scheduled medical appointments.
- Paid holidays following the annual federal holiday calendar.
- Immediate access to WABA’s 403(b) retirement program, with up to a 5% employer match after one-year of service.
- A fun and relaxed office environment.
- Passionate, supportive colleagues who are dedicated to working together for our mission and seeing the impact of our work.
Employment Details
The candidate must be located in the Washington, DC area — while the majority of our staff are working remotely, this position will require attending some in-person events.
WABA values the health and safety of our staff and our community. In support of these values, all staff are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which includes all eligible booster shots, or be eligible for an exemption as defined by the District of Columbia Mayor’s Order 2021-099, Section III.
About the Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Mission & Vision
WABA empowers people to ride bikes, build connections, and transform places. We envision a just and sustainable transportation system where walking, biking, and transit are the best ways to get around.
Values
To make our vision a reality, we ground our work in five key values:
Joy: We celebrate people and share the joy of bicycling.
Boldness: We think big and transform passion into action.
Integrity: We earn trust through consistency, honesty, and transparency.
Justice: We put justice at the heart of our work.
Stewardship: We care for people and the environment, conserve resources, and evolve thoughtfully.
Visit our about page to read WABA’s theory of change and more on how we will continue impacting positive change in our region’s transportation system.
HOW TO APPLY
Send a compelling, relevant cover letter and resume to jobs@waba.org with “Capital Trails Coalition Manager” in the subject line. Resumes and cover letters should be labeled “First Name Last Name Resume/Cover Letter” (e.g. Renee Smith Resume). Applications that are not emailed directly to jobs(at)waba.org and/or do not include a cover letter will be considered incomplete. Incomplete applications will not be moved forward for consideration.
The deadline to submit applications is March 28th, 2022. We expect the position to start in May 2022.
No phone calls please
WABA is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, arrest record or criminal convictions, political affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, sex, or age.
