Legislative Activist

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an established nonprofit organization defending online privacy and free expression, is looking for a full-time writer and advocate to join our Activism team.

As our Legislative Activist, you will be responsible for communicating to lawmakers across the country about the importance of EFF's principles to protect people’s right to privacy, free expression, and innovation. You have experience with the state legislative process, be it as a legislative staffer, a lobbyist, an advocate, or a journalist. You are highly organized and able to balance fast-moving legislative developments across several states. You are a tactical and strategic thinker, able to focus on both the fight in front of you and also the organization's long-term advocacy strategy. You are a clear communicator who can explain EFF's issues to a general audience through blog posts and other written materials or in speeches and testimony.

This position is part of a highly cross-disciplinary Activism team, and will collaborate regularly with our organizing, legal, and technologist colleagues. As threats to digital civil liberties arise, you may need to quickly get up to speed on emerging policy issues, and be prepared to incorporate them into our public-facing materials.

We value candidates who bring diverse experiences and perspectives, professional and otherwise, to our team and to EFF as a whole. If you can add value to EFF’s Activism team, please apply.

What You’ll Do

The Legislative Activist, who reports to the Associate Director of Legislative Activism, is responsible for the following:

• Research, develop and write bill opposition/support letters, fact sheets, and briefing material
• Read and analyze draft legislation and help make recommendations for organization positions
• Track state legislation both in California and across the country
• Write blog posts about state legislation affecting people’s civil liberties online
• Work collaboratively relationships with other grassroots advocacy groups, both in California and nationwide
• Meet with legislators and staffers on digital rights issues

What We’re Looking For

To be successful in this job, you’ll need:

• Excellent writing skills, including writing and editing collaboratively
• Strong familiarity with and passion for digital civil liberties issues
• An eagerness to learn about new issues
• Comfort with public speaking
• A track record of successfully managing complex projects
• The ability to work with a diverse group of stakeholders, both inside and outside the organization

What Else You Should Know

You may work from San Francisco or you may work from another U.S. location. This position will need to keep Pacific time zone hours. The compensation for this position will be between $75,000 and $102,500 depending on experience and location.

EFF is a great place to work! We offer a supportive and empowering environment, along with an excellent benefits package including housing cost assistance, student loans assistance, medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 403(b)(7) retirement savings program with matching, paid time off, holiday benefits, paid parental leave, a dog-friendly workplace, and more. This position is a member of the Engineering and Scientists of California Local 20 bargaining unit.

As an advocacy organization, EFF is committed to being part of a diverse community. Diversity of life experiences makes a big difference in how we identify and litigate legal issues, design privacy-enhancing software, and organize our activism. To that end, we deliberately seek applicants with different perspectives, identities, and experiences to build an inclusive workplace to better inform our advocacy and defense of freedom in our digital world. EFF is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people of all races, genders, ages, abilities, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

How to apply: Please submit all application materials no later than Friday, June 28, 2024 in order to be considered. We want to hear about you, so cover letters are required and applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

We are very interested to learn more about your writing style. If you have past writing samples regarding state legislation, please include them in your cover letter. Demonstrating your writing style and skills is more important than where your writing has appeared, whether it is published in the Washington Post or on your personal blog or simply copy-pasted after the end of your cover letter.