Positive Women’s Network-USA is a national membership body of women and people of trans experience living with HIV. We are dedicated to leadership development, movement building, and intersectional policy advocacy to advance human rights and dignity for all people living with HIV.

We are a non-traditional HIV organization committed to building power for our constituency, and our policy approaches and workplace culture reflect that. Our Policy Director should be excited about taking on policy work that intersects with issue-based community organizing, electoral organizing strategies, and leadership development for our constituency.

We are seeking a candidate who understands the HIV epidemic and the domestic policy response as a symptom of broad-scale inequity and multiple injustices. Our ideal candidate understands power, including how to advance racial, gender and economic justice through federal and state-level HIV policy advocacy, is an excellent coalition-builder and relationship manager, and is deeply committed to building political analysis and policy advocacy skills among our constituency: primarily people of color, women and people of trans experience living with HIV in the United States. The ideal candidate will possess the ability to work in both the policy and grassroots community environments.

PWN-USA’s Policy Director leads the organization’s policy activities and manages the policy department, ensuring that goals and activities are aligned with our mission, values, and strategic vision. We are a flexible and adaptive organization; we value candidates who come with strong values alignment, a high level of emotional intelligence, and are able to think on their feet to adapt policy advocacy strategies in the moment.

Reporting to the Deputy Director, the Policy Director is a member of the senior staff; as such, the Director provides guidance and input on the overall activities and strategic direction of the organization, while overseeing the policy department.

We are a national organization with staff currently based in Oakland, Miami, Little Rock, Dallas, Houston, and Philadelphia. The Policy Director can be based anywhere but must be comfortable with an online work environment.

Specific domains of responsibility include:

1. Oversee Policy Work for the Organization:

  • Ensure that PWN-USA leadership, staff, constituents and key partners are briefed on relevant policy developments that affect our constituency;
  • In alignment with member priorities and PWN values and priorities, update and advance organizational policy agenda and oversee development of resources and tools needed to implement the agenda;
  • Coordinate with organization’s senior staff and contribute to the organization’s overall planning accountability, and organizational health systems;
  • Develop and manage policy department workplan and budget;
  • Supervise policy staff, interns, and volunteers;
  • Ensure that organization’s policy advocacy progress and outcomes are tracked, monitored, and reported;
  • Manage production of outward-facing policy materials;
  • Work with other fundraising staff and consultants to support fund development efforts for policy department.

2. Federal Policy Advocacy

  • Maintain PWN-USA’s presence in federal policy coalitions and on relevant intersectional policy issues, prioritizing those that align with our policy agenda;
  • Represent PWN-USA values and priorities in coalitions and strategic partnerships;
  • Develop, nurture, and advance meaningful relationships with key advocacy and movement building partners.

3. Support Internal Political Education and Policy Advocacy Skills Building 

  • Ensure that PWN-USA’s other staff and departments (Training, Communications, Organizing) are supported with necessary policy background information to advance their campaign and leadership development goals;
  • Oversee policy skills-building opportunities for organizational constituency including the PWN Policy Fellowship and other political education efforts.