Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles Advocacy Strategist

The Best Friend's Mission is to do nothing short of making history by bringing about a time when there are No More Homeless Pets. Our goal is that every animal shelter in every community in the country be no kill by the end of 2025. The fact is, we have a great culture, populated by fun, dedicated and brilliant people. But we’re always looking for talented people who can help us make history, and that’s where you come in. If you want to be a part of history and end the killing of shelter pets by 2025, apply today for one of our open job opportunities! 

Location: Los Angeles, CA – this role will be primarily in Downtown LA, including going to City Hall multiple days per week, and include 1 day/week spent at the center in West LA.

Hiring Range: This position's hiring range is anticipated to be $72,000 to $82,000 annually, depending on experience, plus great benefits!

Interviews will occur weekly until the position is filled.

Position Summary: The Los Angeles Advocacy Strategist is responsible for the execution and management of Best Friends Animal Society’s No Kill Los Angeles (NKLA) initiative which includes but is not limited to the relationships and work with and around LA city and county officials, appointed LA Animal Services (LAAS) Commission members, the NKLA Coalition and strategic LA stakeholders.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for building and maintaining city, county, coalition and strategic community stakeholder relationships in coordination of Best Friends’ work and priorities in Los Angeles.

• Responsible for development and execution of strategy to regularly communicate with city and county officials, keeping them apprised of the work Best Friends is doing, lifesaving progress in the city, and relevant challenges within their purview.

• Directly responsible for representing Best Friends at city meetings and with city officials, as well as assigned city events and meetings.

• Build a plan and implement, with LA leadership, strong relationships and timely communication with the city, county, LAAS, NKLA organizations and key individuals for Best Friends’ needs and work in L.A.

• Work with Best Friends Advocacy team to coordinate work with elected officials.

• Supervise, create, approve and review benchmarks and progress with Los Angeles outreach personnel to ensure adherence to the program’s strategic plan and goals, including estimating resources.

• Ensure Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles (BFLA) staff and coalition partners are working closely and productively with one another to achieve desired outcomes. In addition, deliver quality customer service including disseminating appropriate information as well as perform duties in a manner which encourages attainment of goals and contributions and business for Best Friends Animal Society, NKLA and its programs.

• Must be able to drive to and attend NKLA steering committee meetings, L.A. City Council Neighborhood and Community Enrichment Committee, L.A. City Council and LAAS Commission meetings, when requested, as well as occasional L.A. County Board of Supervisors meetings.

• Find opportunities to assist the coalition partners in their efforts to increase adoptions, build capacity, and apply best practice strategies.

• Track and report all lobbying activities in accordance with local, state, and federal laws as well as Best Friends’ policies.

• Support for other teams (e.g. events, admissions, outcomes, adoptions) as needed.

• Other duties as assigned.

Skills and Experience:

• 3+ years of experience working in government politics, political campaigns, lobbying or local politics required, working for a humane organization a plus. Experience working with LA city policy makers strongly preferred.

• Experience with cultivating plans for political influence and impact.

• Experience reviewing statistical information to inform program direction.

• Familiarity and experience with the Los Angeles community and knowledge of the city is required.

• Strong communication skills – verbal as well as written.

• Engaging and friendly interpersonal skills with the ability to interact with the public and various media outlets on the organization’s behalf.

• A team player, personable, professional, and able to get along with people from different backgrounds and beliefs, as well as the ability to handle sensitive and confidential situations.

• Ability to professionally advocate Best Friends Animal Society positions on issues.

• Proficiency with computer tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, internet research, etc.

• Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment with well-developed organizational skills to juggle multiple competing tasks and demands.

Physical Requirements:

• Work at a computer for extended periods of time with repetitive typing, sitting, arm, and hand motion.

• Ability to frequently drive to meetings and events around LA on behalf of the organization. This role is expected to be onsite at city hall 3+ days/week and 1 day a week at our West LA Center. This is subject to change based on organizational needs.

• Non-local travel could be up to 10%.

• Must have a valid driver's license for at least 3 years, ability to qualify to be added to Best Friends insurance, ability to travel and/or drive on behalf of Best Friends, including overnight stays, when needed.

• Ability to work in the presence of both cats and dogs, including large numbers of cats and dogs as in a shelter setting.

• Daily hours and days of the week may vary according to the needs of the department, including weekends, evenings, holiday and on-call work.

About Best Friends

Best Friends recently received a 2022 Top Workplaces USA award from Energage. Visit the Best Friends Animal Society page on the Energage Top Workplaces award winners’ site here to learn more. Not only do we take pride in cultivating a welcoming and supportive community and culture for our employees, but we also offer competitive benefits that make it easy to see why we were granted such an awesome award! We offer competitive pay including the opportunity to receive a discretionary bonus based on performance. We offer medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, short and long-term disability, paid family leave, dependent care reimbursement, pet sitting reimbursement when traveling for work, flexible spending account, and health savings account. We offer generous paid time off up to 9 hours per month for full time employees, nine paid holidays annually, auto insurance discount, and legal and identity theft coverage.  For added well-being support, we offer Pawternity Leave for employees to have time to care for their personal pets, mental health support, and an employee assistance program. We also offer a generous 401k savings plan. Do you want to love where you work and make history and end the killing of shelter pets by 2025? Look no further and apply today!

Thank you for your interest in pursuing a career at Best Friends Animal Society. Best Friends Animal Society is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or domestic partner status.

Applicants for employment in the US must have valid work authorization that does not now and/or will not in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the US by Best Friends Animal Society.

To apply online go to bestfriends.org/careers

Please submit a resume with your application.