Children’s Health Policy Director: Children First PA

Join Children First PA in improving the lives of our region’s children through initiatives and advocacy for the building blocks of opportunity – equitable access to healthcare, high-quality early education and childcare, public education, and dependency and delinquency systems that heal. As the Health Policy Director you will mobilize coalitions and play a critical leadership role in setting and advancing local and state policy priorities to improve children’s health and access to healthcare. This is an ideal position for someone who is passionate about our children’s future, experienced in policy and advocacy, and adept at leading teams to get results for Southeastern PA’s youngest residents.

About Children First

Children First (formerly Public Citizens for Children & Youth, PCCY) is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives and chances of children through thoughtful and informed advocacy. Children First is a fast-paced child advocacy organization that uses research, people power, and coalition building to create the momentum for reform of public policies that enable more children to grow up healthy, well-educated, and ready to take the reins of their communities.

Candidate Profile

A strategic and dynamic leader with a proven track record of effectively leading stakeholder processes and mobilizing coalitions for improving policy. Competitive candidates will be persuasive and adept communicators, creating data-informed reports, policy briefs, and other written and verbal messages that influence diverse audiences and move children’s health policy priorities forward. The ideal candidate will have professional experience and knowledge of children’s health issues (e.g., CHIP, lead paint poisoning, behavioral health), advocacy, and politics. The successful candidate will be an adaptable children’s health policy strategist, inspiring and energizing supervisor, and effective coalition builder who thrives in a mission-driven organization.

Required Skills

• Policy Knowledge: Knowledge of children’s health policy issues and experience developing and executing strategy & tactics to advance policy improvement and adoption.
• Advocacy Knowledge: Professional experience understanding and advancing legislative goals and leading coalitions, including the ability to develop strategies and tactics that persuade legislators and elected officials, and the ability to organize, mobilize, and facilitate widespread community participation.
• Stakeholder Relationship Management Skills: Ability to cultivate, manage, and grow relationships with diverse policymaker, parent/caregiver, and other networks and coalitions.
• Advanced Communication Skills: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate policy issues and priorities, relevant data, etc., clearly and persuasively.
• Strategic and Critical Thinking: Ability to see the big picture and develop strategy and aligned tactics to achieve policy outcomes. Ability to critically assess a situation, information, etc., and (re)calibrate strategy accordingly.
• Data and Trend Analysis Skills: Strategic and detail-oriented ability to collect, interpret, and simplify large datasets in support of policy priorities and advocacy goals.
• Media Savvy: Professional experience using social, news, and other media to amplify efforts towards a cause and policy improvement.
• Management/Supervision Experience: Minimum 3 years of experience managing and supervising a team with a spirit of collaboration and empowerment to help achieve team goals.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Ability to work independently and with others in a hybrid, dynamic environment.
• Planning Skills: Strong project management and strategy development skills aligned with policy priorities and legislative calendar, etc.
• Organized: Ability to prioritize and manage multiple priorities.
• Proficiency with Technology: Facility with Excel and Word, web-based research, social media platforms.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and implementation of advocacy strategies to advance state and local policy priorities that improve children’s health and access to healthcare by:
• Recruiting community leaders to participate in Children First’s advocacy.
• Creating and expanding broad based coalitions.
• Mobilising people in Children First’s children’s health networks and parents/caregivers to shape health policy through civic engagement.
• Communicating with key policymakers about children’s health policy priorities.
• Monitoring trends and collecting and analysing data on children’s health policy in order to identify unmet needs and persistent challenges and establish priority issues.
• Monitoring news, social, and other media.
• Developing & executing multimedia strategies to amplify children’s health policy efforts.
• Assuring grant objectives are met according to schedule.
• Contributing to grant writing and funder relationship management.
• Writing compelling reports that advance Children First’s children’s health policy goals and developing and executing dissemination plans.
• Supervising the children’s health policy team including the Behavioral Health Policy Coordinator, Children’s Health Policy Associate, Lead Free Promise Project Consultant, and Health Policy Consultant.