Policy & Advocacy Senior Counsel

About the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice

Every human, regardless of their circumstances, is entitled to respect, equality, fairness, and dignity before the law. Yet systems of justice so often discriminate, over-criminalize, and trap the most vulnerable people in destructive cycles of punishment and poverty.

The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) is an award-winning international nonprofit that works with companies to champion solutions that promote public safety, deliver justice, and strengthen communities. Founded in 2018, RBIJ works to advance change by:

Reforming Justice Systems. We help businesses use their leverage to move critical criminal justice reform initiatives in partnership with local leaders. RBIJ has supported legislative and executive reform efforts in half of the U.S. states and the U.K., across nearly a dozen policy areas including automatic record sealing (Clean Slate), occupational licensing reform, driver’s license reform, and more.

Restoring Opportunity. We empower companies to create employment opportunities for justice-impacted job seekers and those vulnerable to system involvement through meaningful reforms in recruitment and hiring policy, ensuring systemic change is translated into real-life impact.

Reframing Narratives. We build and entrench the narrative that justice reform and inclusive hiring aren’t just social causes — they’re smart business strategies.

About the Role 

RBIJ is looking for a dynamic and highly entrepreneurial candidate who is excited by the prospect of taking on a role in a growing organization, and who is enthusiastic about shaping the direction of the organization moving forward.

The Policy & Advocacy Senior Counsel will lead on a number of RBIJ’s various campaigns in collaboration with national, federal, state and city partners; develop appropriate engagement strategies that work to reduce mass incarceration, end extreme punishment, and provide opportunities for people who have experience in the justice system; and provide guidance across campaign strategies to ensure alignment of goals and priorities.

The Policy & Advocacy Senior Counsel will help develop a broad portfolio of work to address re-entry, barriers to opportunities caused by criminal records and the carceral system, the criminalization of poverty, human rights, and opportunities for people affected by the justice system. This work will include relationship building, strategic guidance, research, writing, and policy development. The Senior Counsel will provide legal analysis on proposed legal and policy reforms. 

The Senior Counsel will also help develop and lead an amicus curiae practice with law firm partners on cases of national interest tied to criminal justice reform and/or fair chance hiring.

Responsibilities

• Lead a number of RBIJ’s criminal justice reform campaigns at the city, state, national, and federal levels and track progress across a variety of deliverables.
• Support the development of legislative and outreach strategies for advancing change across a broad portfolio of criminal justice issues, ranging from ending extreme sentencing to advancing justice for the workforce.
• Manage relationships with diverse groups of businesses and external partner organizations, such as identifying potential partners across campaigns, curating and expanding RBIJ’s business network, and facilitating meetings across stakeholder groups to advance RBIJ’s strategic goals.
• Represent RBIJ at meetings and briefings with the federal executive and legislative branches.
• Provide legal analysis of proposed legislative, regulatory, or executive action on issue areas related to RBIJ’s priorities.
• Oversee the development of an amicus curiae practice in partnership with law firm partners on cases of national interest tied to criminal justice reform and/or fair chance hiring.
• Support RBIJ's Policy & Advocacy Director on grant reporting and writing, including tracking deliverables across all active campaigns, providing progress reports, and serving as the point of contact for funders as assigned.
• Provide strategic support as needed to RBIJ Policy & Advocacy team and ensure alignment of goals and priorities across campaigns. This might include supervising student interns.
• Devise communications and media strategies in partnership with the RBIJ Communications team that include press releases, op-eds, talking points, and the strategic use of social media to advance policy priorities.
• Produce educational materials for business audiences such as one-pagers, business toolkits, and multimedia content related to criminal justice reform, and work closely with the Communications team on newsletters and additional content as needed.
• Assist, and at times lead, in organizing convenings at the state, national and international levels to raise awareness about the inequalities within the U.S. criminal justice system and solutions for expanding opportunity for individuals involved in the criminal justice system.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and requirements

• Advanced law degree (JD or LLM) from an accredited law school with membership in good standing in any jurisdiction in the United States.
• 3-5 years of experience in policy implementation or advancing policy reform at the federal-level inside and/or outside government. 
• Expertise in criminal justice, civil rights, and/or poverty law through direct legal representation or working in the criminal justice reform space is a plus. 
• Exceptional analytical skills, strengths in swiftly assimilating information, synthesizing and collating it, and identifying key points.
• Exceptional project management skills with very strong attention to detail.
• Ability to manage quick-turnaround deliverables as well as long‐term strategy implementation, reporting, and metrics tracking.
• Experience running, managing, or otherwise taking a leadership role in strategic advocacy campaigns.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work well in a team.
• Ability to build and manage relationships with a bipartisan coalition of organizations.
• Outstanding writing and editing skills.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to think creatively and be a self-starter.
• Ability to absorb key policy issues and debates quickly and thoroughly.
• Experience working with people involved in, or affected by, the criminal justice system is preferred; expertise on the effects of the criminal justice system, including lived experiences, is advantageous but not essential.
• Commitment to RBIJ mission and goals (available on our website here) is essential.

The following qualifications are desirable:

• Experience working with people involved in or affected by the criminal justice system is preferred.
• Expertise on the effects of the criminal justice system, including lived experiences, is advantageous but not essential.

We encourage candidates who meet the majority of qualifications to apply. We especially encourage formerly incarcerated or justice-involved individuals and those with family members impacted by the justice system to apply. 

How to apply

To apply please submit a cover letter detailing your interest in RBIJ, its work, and the position with a copy of your resume (combined into one pdf) to: applications@rbij.org no later than Monday, May 4, 2026. 

Candidates who perform well in preliminary interviews will be asked to submit a writing sample and/or respond to a prompt. 

Compensation, benefits, and location

Compensation for this role will be commensurate with experience but is expected to be in the range of $90,395 - $104, 535 (Band 3), annually.

We are seeking candidates to work in a hybrid setting (combination of working from home and with colleagues in a shared office) in Washington, DC. Applicants must have the right to work in their intended working location. 

RBIJ is a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy.  This position is offered a full benefits package, including: 100% medical coverage for the employee and 90% medical coverage for dependents; 100% coverage for vision, dental, life/AD&D, long-term disability.  NEO also offers a 401K retirement savings plan, Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), Medical FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, Employee Assistance Program, other supplemental benefits, and paid time off.  

RBIJ and NEO Philanthropy are equal opportunity employers and candidates from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. We especially encourage formerly incarcerated individuals and those with family members impacted by the justice system to apply. 

We respect and value a positive work-life balance and, we strive to offer employees the opportunity for growth and self-fulfillment while working with us.