U.S. Public Interest Research Group – Consumer Protection Advocate

U.S. PIRG seeks a Consumer Watchdog Advocate to uncover unsafe products, unfair practices, or exploitative policies that leave consumers vulnerable in the marketplace.  We’re looking for an experienced political advocate to be responsible for campaign development, media outreach, coalition-building, advocacy, and coordinating among our state affiliates; fundraising; as well as staff recruitment and development.

Too often in the pursuit of economic growth, products, technologies, and practices that put consumers health, safety, or well-being at risk are brought to market.  In just the last few years, Equifax exposed private personal and financial information of 147 million people, VW defrauded consumers when they cheated on diesel air quality standards, the nuclear industry won multi-billion dollar ratepayer bailouts, Wells Fargo created millions of fake customer accounts, while loopholes have let unsafe drugs hit the market, killing some patients.  Even well-informed consumers will struggle to navigate all of these problems, and that is where the PIRG Consumer Protection Advocate comes in.

For more than 40 years, U.S. PIRG has been a national leader in alerting consumers to the threats in the marketplace by advocating for policy solutions, developing consumer guides to help the public protect themselves, and shifting the marketplace so it protects consumers first.   Our work has lead to more than 150 unsafe toys being recalled due to our annual watchdog report. We helped establish identity theft protections in 49 states. And, we helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reforming wall street and reining in abusive practices in the financial marketplace.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Key responsibilities of the Consumer Protection Advocate include:

Media Outreach: Serve as the spokesperson for our campaigns through media events, press releases and opinion writing. Keep abreast of consumer issues, raise the profile of consumer issues in the media.

Coalition Building: Build relationships, coordinate and mobilize support with key constituencies, including legal allies, consumers, business owners and others.  

Watchdog: Identify failures in the marketplace that hurt consumers and rapid response plans to highlight those issues in the media, mobilize our network and allies, and develop guides to empower consumers.

Advocacy: Advocate for policies that will protect and empower consumers. Build relationships with players in key regulatory agencies, statehouses, in Congress, and other forums where relevant decisions are being made.

Campaign Strategy: Develop plans to win our campaigns using research, advocacy, coalition-building, media attention, and grassroots mobilization; assess opportunities for building political support for our agenda.

Fundraising: Write grant proposals, build relationships with foundations, and meet with major donors, to bring more resources to our campaigns. Work with our citizen outreach staff to build and deepen our membership base.

Staff Recruitment and Development: Recruit new staff and volunteers. Oversee other staff working on our Consumer Program team, coordinate with our state staff and provide training and leadership development.

QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates must have at least 4 years of relevant professional experience. Advanced degrees like a JD, or a master’s degree may count toward experience. Qualified candidates will have a demonstrated commitment to public interest or consumer issues and to citizen-based social change, as well as a track record of leadership. We’re looking for people who are goal-driven and results-oriented, who have excellent verbal, written and analytical skills, the ability to speak persuasively in a charged atmosphere, and driven to make positive policy change.

LOCATION

Philadelphia preferred, but would consider Washington, D.C, Denver or Boston

APPLICATION

Please apply using our online application : https://jobs.uspirg.org/apply.html?utm_source=other&utm_medium=web-ad&utm_campaign=USPfall2018&utm_term=268&utm_content=LAT_F_10-18   Direct your application to Adam Garber, U.S. PIRG Consumer Watchdog Campaign Director.

Visit http://jobs.uspirg.org/core-values.html to learn what you should know about the network before you apply.

U.S. PIRG is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, disability, pregnancy, or veteran status.