Manager, Messaging Strategy

The Opportunity: 

Good policy doesn't sell itself. 

A trusted messenger, an impactful visual, or the right metaphor—how we frame the best ideas—plays a major role in determining whether progress stalls or accelerates. Since 2006, our strategic messaging program has woven values-based, tested framing and storytelling into our published work and legislative advocacy. Our original public opinion research and message testing has informed debates from housing affordability to election reform to clean energy—at every level from regional city halls to the United States Congress.  

To further advance our priorities of abundant homes, fair elections, and clean energy, Sightline Institute seeks a Manager of Messaging Strategy, a skilled messaging strategist to translate policy research into values-based narratives, test them rigorously, and guide our researchers, partners, and allied campaigns in their effective use. 

We're looking for someone who believes words matter, a framing strategist, a connoisseur of opinion research, a values-focused communicator, and a coalition-minded relationship-builder. The Manager of Messaging Strategy is someone who studies crosstabs for fun, can spot a winning argument at 50 paces, brainstorms metaphors before breakfast, and knows their way around a legislative vote count. If that's you, read on. 

About Sightline Institute:  

Founded in 1993, Sightline Institute is committed to making Cascadia, a region stretching from Alaska to northern California and the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, a global model of sustainability—with strong communities, a green economy, and a healthy environment.  

In our programs on climate and energy, housing and cities, and democracy and elections, we identify and promote public policy reforms that yield outsized improvements for the region’s people and places. We believe sustainability exists at the intersection of environmental health and social justice and carry out the work with an organization-wide commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

A nonprofit, nonpartisan, and independent public policy research center, Sightline provides research, articles, and commentary; maps, graphics, and tools; and framing and messaging guidance. Sightline’s influence depends on the depth and breadth of our researchers’ expertise and their persuasiveness in presenting analysis and arguments. We spotlight and build support for data-backed solutions to specific public problems through close engagement in policy debates. We advise and inform public officials, advocates, and the media. And we collaborate with diverse allies and unconventional coalitions in pursuit of our mission. Learn more at sightline.org. 

Essential Responsibilities:  

• Public opinion research and message testing. To complement Sightline’s policy research, work with researchers, the communications team, and consultants to develop and conduct stakeholder interviews, public opinion polling, focus groups, and rapid message testing. Scan, synthesize, and secure access to available research. Conduct media and discourse audits to map framing around each issue and track opposition arguments. Distill it all into plain-language memos, strategy guidance, and presentations. 
• Message and framing strategy. Work with Sightline's teams and our partners to craft evidence-based narrative strategies, messaging frameworks, and language guidance that scaffold Sightline's priority initiatives—talking points, soundbites, op-eds, explainers, and testimony.  
• Policy communications and legislative strategy. Work with our policy teams to chart the landscape of political opportunities (who decides, who influences them, who sits on which committee) and build communications and advocacy plans, from zeroing in on our top legislative objectives to charting pathways to passage to identifying persuadable lawmakers and stakeholders. Help prepare testimony, one-pagers, and briefings as bills advance in Cascadia’s state legislatures. 
• Coalition and partner support. Collaborate with coalition partners around shared narratives and language, joining message tables and strategy sessions to equip allies with toolkits, workshops, briefings, and public speaking prep. Surface and spotlight stories from people directly affected by housing scarcity, electoral barriers, and the energy transition, and occasionally serve as a connector between Sightline's research and advocates in the field. 

Desired Skills and Experience:  

• A rigorous, empirical messenger. You treat message development as a field for testing and improvement, not just intuition—fluent in research methods, honest about what the data can and can't say, and willing to ditch a favorite frame that doesn't move the needle. You bring at least five years in an opinion research firm, academic research role, policy organization, government, or policy or electoral campaigns, along with a strong writing portfolio of messaging guidance or persuasive content. 
• A persuasive translator and relationship-builder. You turn dense research into actionable resources. You are versed in the art and science of values-based narratives and audience targeting, with sensitivity to difference (and sometimes divides) across race, income, and partisanship. You cultivate trust, practice cultural humility, and know even the best message flops without the right messenger behind it. 
• A politically savvy, self-directed strategist. You understand how legislatures and campaigns operate—timing, committees, coalitions, vote counts—and you connect message research to campaign strategy to outcomes. You manage projects from idea to delivery with little direction, and you hold steady amid shifting political headwinds. 
• Nice to haves: Personal or professional connections to Pacific Northwest communities; knowledge of Cascadia's political landscape, especially relationships in Olympia or Salem; background in housing, elections, or climate and energy; hands-on experience with message-testing platforms and public opinion research, and experience ghostwriting, speechwriting, and prepping and coaching spokespeople.  
• Commitment to Sightline’s mission and values. 

Sightline believes in mentoring talent and providing opportunities for growth. We've intentionally built flexibility into this role, and we're open to candidates who may not yet meet every qualification listed if they bring strong foundational skills, sharp instincts, and a clear ability to grow into the responsibilities described. If you see yourself in this work, we encourage you to apply. 

Compensation and Benefits:  

As part of our commitment to equity and in an effort to reduce bias, Sightline has established salary bands for each position level. The salary range for the manager level is $70,000-$85,000 (plus 10 percent retirement, as noted below). Sightline is committed to supporting team members along their career pathways by encouraging learning and providing mentoring and training. Employees can earn annual merit raises and periodic promotions. 

We offer a robust package of benefits including a 401(k) plan with employer contribution of 10 percent of salary. This is added to, not subtracted from, pay; for example, an employee earning a $70,000 salary at Sightline enjoys an additional $7,000 contributed directly to their retirement account, no match required.  

Benefits also include: 

• 95% premium coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance for the employee and partial coverage for dependents 
• 4 weeks of paid vacation 
• 12 paid holidays annually 
• 2 weeks of paid health, wellness, and care leave, plus access to a shared pool of additional leave for special circumstances 
• 12 weeks paid parental leave 
• A 3-month paid sabbatical every 7 years 
• A monthly remote work stipend  
• Regular staff gatherings for in-person connection  

Since Sightline is a nonprofit organization, employees are also eligible to apply for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Sightline’s staff members work hard but enjoy balanced lives and a collegial organizational culture. 

Location:  

Remote within Cascadia; Washington or Oregon preferred, within reach of Olympia or Salem during legislative sessions. 

Sightline is a virtual-first organization. Our staff, contractors, and fellows are in Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and beyond.  

To Apply:  

Please include: 

• A resume 
• A cover letter explaining why you want this position at Sightline and what you would bring to the role. 
• A brief (2–4 page) writing sample that showcases your ability to write clearly, succinctly, and persuasively, ideally in a style similar of Sightline’s messaging program: here, for example, and here. Our preference is for writing samples that reflect what you would be doing at Sightline in this role: analysis of and recommendations for messaging about public policy issues or demonstrations of how you have applied strategic messaging guidance. Please include a one-sentence description at the top of the writing sample that explains the original context for the sample (such as a class or job). Sightline takes excellent-quality research and writing seriously—we’re a think tank, and this is a strategic messaging role—so your writing sample is a key factor in your evaluation.  

Please assemble all application materials in a single PDF with the naming convention LastName_FirstName_Position. Applications that do not include a cover letter, resume, and writing sample will not be considered. Please submit your materials at https://www.sightline.org/about/careers/

The application deadline is November 23, and applications received by that date will be given priority. We will accept and review applications until the position is filled. Interviews will take place throughout December, and we will likely invite finalists to complete a work assignment that is designed to test their skills in the specific functions required for the position. We anticipate extending an offer by late January. 

Sightline Institute is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.