Position Description:
Based in Nashville, ThinkTennessee is a nonpartisan, results-oriented think tank that uses research and advocacy to help build a state where all Tennesseans are civically engaged and economically secure.
We believe our state does best when voters have a say in the decisions that impact their lives and workers earn enough to support their families. That’s why we focus our work on researching and advocating for policies that empower voters, support working families, and build a shared understanding of how our state stacks up nationally.
ThinkTennessee seeks a Policy Director with experience in evidence-based public policy work and an understanding of key issues impacting household budgets, namely income, expenses, and debt. This senior role will lead the organization’s policy strategy, serve as the primary expert on key issue areas, and produce the high-quality policy work that drives ThinkTennessee’s impact.
ThinkTennessee follows a hybrid work schedule with three days (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) required in-person in our downtown Nashville office, and the remaining two days either in-person or remote. More information about ThinkTennessee is available at www.thinktennessee.org.
Compensation: Competitive salary ($100,000–$110,000) commensurate with experience. ThinkTennessee offers comprehensive benefits including medical/dental/vision insurance, retirement, paid family leave, and generous paid time off for sick leave, vacation days, and holidays.
Location: This position is based in Nashville, TN. Candidates are expected to either reside in Nashville or be willing to relocate after accepting the position.
Key Job Responsibilities:
- Serve as ThinkTennessee’s primary policy expert and lead policy strategy across issue areas:
- Monitor and analyze state and local policy developments, legislation, and regulatory changes relevant to ThinkTennessee’s issue areas including housing, transportation, criminal justice, and energy, as well as other emerging and cross-functional priorities.
- Provide policy support across all issue areas, conducting policy scans and landscape analyses of peer states to identify best practices, and serve as a thought partner and internal reviewer for policy-related work across the organization.
- Lead the annual process to identify organizational policy priorities aligned with mission and political opportunity, and work proactively with leadership to develop organizational strategy for producing data-driven, evidence-based policy recommendations that are also politically feasible.
- Map policy ecosystems, including key decision-makers, institutions, implementation considerations, and political constraints.
- Develop and maintain templates, frameworks, and standards for policy scans, case studies, and roadmaps; develop comparative case studies that highlight successful policy models and implementation lessons.
- Produce clear, concise, and compelling policy deliverables:
- Author briefs, reports, memos, presentations, and other policy products for a variety of audiences at a publication-ready standard, in ThinkTennessee’s voice with minimal editing required
- Translate research findings into clear, compelling policy products and tailor content for diverse audiences such as policymakers, partners, funders, and the general public.
- Support communications staff by providing policy context, framing, and substantive review of external-facing materials, such as press releases, newsletters, and website copy.
- Ensure consistency, clarity, and accuracy across policy-related outputs.
- Grow and nurture ThinkTennessee’s relationships with organizational partners and stakeholders:
- Support and strengthen relationships with national, state, and local partners by providing policy expertise and strategic insight.
- Prepare policy briefings and background materials for meetings with policymakers and stakeholders.
- Represent ThinkTennessee at conferences, coalitions, and committees as appropriate, as well as in working groups, peer network meetings, and media engagements.
- Collaborate with issue experts and research staff to ensure policy work is aligned and mutually reinforcing, identifying cross-cutting themes and opportunities that connect multiple issue areas.
- Ensure that ThinkTennessee’s work is useful to, and used by, policymakers and stakeholders at the state and local levels.