State Campaigns Senior Manager/ Senior Counsel

Job Location

This position is based in New York, with travel to other states required.

The Opportunity

Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is seeking a State Campaigns Senior Manager / Senior Counsel (title depending on experience) to develop and lead multi-state advocacy campaigns under the supervision of ERA’s National Campaign Director. The Campaigns coordinate and support movement building, policy objectives, and other legal initiatives of Equal Rights Advocates to advance gender justice and accelerate the pace of reform for women and people across genders. 

Equal Rights Advocates is a national nonprofit organization working to advance gender, racial, and economic justice through impact litigation, policy advocacy, movement building and other strategies. See details below. ERA has entrepreneurial and fast-paced work environment, sometimes requiring quick turnarounds and pivots in response to people and events that need our engagement. We roll-up our sleeves and dive right in where we are needed and make a difference. If this seems exciting and interesting, join our passionate and vibrant team of gender justice champions as we work to transform our communities into places where all of us can lead.

Job Responsibilities

As the State Campaigns Senior Manager / Senior Counsel, your role will report to the National Campaign Director/ Director of Equal Pay Today. The role entails management of ERA-led campaigns in the states, in coordination with national campaigns goals. This Senior Manager will:

• Develop and implement strategies for the expansion of state-level campaigns and state outreach effectiveness, in coordination with the broader team (including the National Campaign Director and National Policy Director.
• Develop and lead state-based pay equity coalitions, including the NY Pay Equity Coalition for some percentage of overall time, including building collaborative relationships which will assist with state-level policy movement.
• Strengthen relationships and lead joint actions with current organizational and individual members of coalitions and networks that form the core of ERA’s economic security and educational equity campaigns and emerging initiatives, especially state-based partners.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with ERA’s prospective partners, especially state-based organizations.
• Lead formation of new partnerships, and participate in related fundraising activities.
• Collaborate on work plans and strategy memos for expanding our state campaigns.
• Support material production, project management, events, and coalition calls for ERA’s campaigns, including Equal Pay Today (EPT), Stop Harassment State Network, and other national campaigns.
• Draft blogs, fact sheets, sign-on letters, reports, and other collateral in support of campaigns.
• Draft regulatory comments and advocacy materials in collaboration with the National Campaign Director for federal executive branch advocacy.
• Play a senior management role in helping developing, tracking and moving progress on Equal Pay Today’s annual summit and goals, including the Equal Pay Today Policy Agenda priorities, in coordination with the National Campaign Director and Policy Department.
• Helping manage EPT’s equal pay days, collaborating with the legal and communications team to develop and distribute and leverage equal pay day toolkits, website content, and legislative material..

Candidate Qualifications & Skills:

• A law degree with 8-10+ years of relevant experience;
• Demonstrated experience running state advocacy campaigns, including state coalition experience;
• Proven ability to build and lead diverse coalitions; track record of navigating complex stakeholder dynamics and building consensus around shared goals.
• Exceptional legal writing and advocacy skills; ability to produce compelling regulatory comments, legislative testimony, legal briefs, and campaign materials and state policy-related information and related materials;
• Strategic thinker who can manage multi-state advocacy campaigns simultaneously plans while adjusting to changing circumstances
• Experience in grassroots and/or grasstops organizing;
• Excellent relationship builder with ability to engage effectively with policymakers, advocates, organizers, and movement leaders
• Expertise in employment law;
• Strong understanding of state and federal legislative and regulatory processes;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrated commitment to civil rights, racial justice, gender equity, and social justice; and dedication to advancing policies that will improve the lives of women and other marginalized communities;
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and follow through;
• A collaborative, flexible mindset, with a demonstrated capacity to work on teams, take on different roles, and have a solution-oriented approach;
• Strong organizational, project and time management skills, including demonstrated capacity to manage and prioritize competing projects and deadlines on fast-paced, quick turnaround environment;
• Exceptional work-ethic and sense of responsibility; detail-oriented, with focus on quality and accuracy; resourceful at getting to the root of problems and finding solutions;
• Comfortable in a tech-oriented, paper-less environment and adept at navigating various systems and Apps, including but not limited to Microsoft 365 product, internal messaging (i.e. Slack), expenses, time tracking (i.e. Paylocity Timesheets), virtual telecom and video meetings (i.e. RingCentral, Zoom, Teams), legislative tracking and action alert systems, and other cloud-based systems/applications;
• Willingness to fly to DC and ERA’s headquarters in San Francisco as required for events.

Other: 

• The position is remote and will work from home. 
• The position will require some travel, including travel to DC and ERA’s headquarters in San Francisco as required for meetings and events.
•  Candidate must have a valid authorization to work in the United States. ERA is unable to sponsor work visas. ERA will also not provide relocation assistance.

Compensation & Benefits

The State Campaigns Senior Manager / Senior Counsel position has an annual salary range of $120,000-145,000, dependent on experience and skill set. 

ERA offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical and dental plan options and employer-paid life and disability insurance benefits. Voluntary benefits include vision insurance, life and accidental insurance, critical illness and pre-tax flexible spending account. ERA also offers a generous 403b match with 100% vesting from the first day of participation. Employees also receive a generous amount of sick and vacation leave as well as additional seniority-based leave every 5 years of employment.

About ERA

Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is a national civil rights organization founded in 1974 to expand economic and educational access and opportunities for women and girls. ERA embraces an inclusive and intersectional view of gender justice, inclusive of trans, non-binary and gender expansive people, and we also challenge power structures and inequities compounded by race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age, and other identities. Since its inception, ERA has been on the front-lines of advancing gender justice through a combination of impact litigation, policy advocacy, public education, and direct legal services, bringing visibility to the experiences and voices of the people we represent.

Our talented team includes litigators, policy reformers, and movement builders working at the state, multi-state, and national level promoting gender equity and racial justice, expanding economic security, and growing community power. ERA’s legal initiatives include an initiative to End Sexual Violence in Education, and several campaigns chaired by ERA and led in partnership with hundreds of partner organizations across the country. These campaigns include the Equal Pay Today campaign, the Women’s Agenda Initiative, the Stop Harassment State Network, and the Stronger California Women’s Economic Security Campaign.

ERA’s home base is in San Francisco, California, with team members also located in Washington D.C. and other locations. For more information on Equal Rights Advocates, please visit its website.  

 How to Apply

Please submit a résumé, cover letter (addressed to the Hiring Manager, Deborah J. Vagins) describing your interest in this particular position, and an original, campaign or policy-based 3 to 5-page writing sample, unedited by others, by clicking . Please apply by March 31, 2026.  Please note that final round candidates will be asked to provide professional references.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

ERA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that will consider all applications equally without regard to sex, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, medical condition, religion, sexual orientation, differing ability, veteran status, marital status, arrest or conviction record, or any other characteristic protected by law. Applicants with differing abilities will be reasonably accommodated during the search process. If you need an accommodation during the hiring process, let us know. 

ERA’s Equal Opportunity Employer Policy applies to all aspects and phases of employment. Through this commitment, ERA strives daily to maintain an equitable and accessible work environment that is supportive to all and free from discrimination.