Job Description
Bay Area Council: Policy Associate - Workforce
Location: Primarily San Jose-based Hybrid Role (Frequent SF and Bay Area travel)
Organization: Bay Area Council
Reports To: Vice President, Public Policy (Workforce)
Application Deadline: Rolling Application – ASAP
About the Bay Area Council
The Bay Area Council is a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy organization representing the most influential companies across the nine-county Bay Area. With over 350 member companies and a reputation as the region’s leading voice of business, the Council advocates for policies and initiatives that strengthen the economy, improve quality of life, and ensure a more equitable and competitive future for the Bay Area and California.
Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council has a proud legacy of solving the region’s biggest challenges—from building BART to advancing climate leadership to addressing the housing and homelessness crisis. The Council operates at the intersection of government, business, and community to deliver real outcomes.
Workforce of the Future Committee & Policy Area
The strength of the Bay Area’s economy is directly tied to the effectiveness of our workforce and the alignment of talent pipelines with regional employer needs. In response to growing member interest and support, the Bay Area Council re-launched its Workforce of the Future portfolio in 2025. This portfolio is anchored by two core focus areas as shown below:
Workforce of the Future Committee: The committee plays a unique role, bringing businesses, educators, skills trainers and policy makers to the table to focus on three pillars impacting our region’s workforce and economy:
- AI and the Future of work: Including our flagship AI For All, AI Literacy Program
- Education to Employment Pathways: Including our Employer Talent Taskforce
- Alternative Workforce & Labor Solutions: Beyond the 4-year degree: Developing programs including Tear the Paper Ceiling initiative, AI in Healthcare Workforce Initiative, Apprenticeships and beyond.
Leading the Northern California Apprentice Network (NCAN):
Apprenticeships continue to be a key priority as a globally proven, viable career pathway for historically overlooked candidates that create skilled talent pipelines to vital roles. BAC is a founding member of NCAN and now leads the community of practice, 100+ members strong, working as a bridge to the employer partners we serve with latent apprenticeship potential.
Position Overview
The Associate will play a central role in supporting both the Workforce Committee and NCAN program. This is a unique opportunity for a professional with both experience and deep interest in the Future of Work, AI’s impact on our workforce and the potential to shape policy and programming nationwide starting in the Bay Area. The Associate will work with cross-sector leaders regularly, including Fortune 500 executives, heads of universities, non-profit leaders and Bay Area Mayoral teams.
The Associate will also play a central role in helping lead our Apprenticeship work, steering committee meetings, organizing quarterly events and execute on employer engagement activities.
A keen understanding of the Bay Area’s workforce development ecosystem and an obsession with improving them is key to success in this role.
The position will involve significant in-person work around the Bay Area. The employee will be in either the SF or San Jose office twice per week, with additional travel to meetings, events and conferences.
You May Like This Job If….
· You have some workforce experience and a deep understanding of levers that make it work well
· You have a growth mindset, like learning new tools, and leveraging existing tools in novel ways
· You enjoy getting creative with limited resources to achieve lofty goals
· You are an ideas person who also enjoys being in the weeds and doing the hard work
· You see the value in being detail oriented, while moving quickly and keeping big-picture, strategic goals in mind
· Building your network and brand in a meaningful way early in your career is a priority
· You get excited to solve complex, systematic problems with creative solutions
· You enjoy working with a variety of leaders and meeting new people on a weekly basis
· You thrive in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities and programs running in parallel
· You are passionate about bringing more family-sustaining wage roles and meaningful work to the Bay Area across demographics and ethnic groups
· You like finding ways around things that other people see as roadblocks
Qualifications - Preferred
We encourage applicants to clearly articulate, with examples, how your background fits with the preferred qualifications in a cover letter. We also encourage you to highlight where you are not a fit presently and how your trajectory aligns with the scope of the role.
- Minimum of 2-4 years of professional experience with significant exposure to and experience in workforce development, apprenticeship programming, vocational training, policy, local government, philanthropic or nonprofit project management. A deep understanding of AI and the Future of Work.
- Experience managing ambiguity and leveraging critical thinking and strategic reasoning skills to make quick, effective decisions with multiple stakeholders in mind
- Excellent Professional writing and communication.
- Excellent organizational and project management abilities, including managing multiple priorities.
- Ability to communicate concerns, risks and challenges effectively – very comfortable managing and owning projects autonomously, but know when to ask for help
- Excellent relationship development and stakeholder management skills
- Comfort engaging with diverse stakeholders (elected officials, community leaders, technical experts).
- Demonstrated interest in workforce development, apprenticeships, economic development, public policy, program design and management, fundraising, business development and creative problem solving.
Compensation and Benefits
- Salary: $75,000 – $85,000, commensurate with experience
- Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, significant retirement match contributions and maternity leave as supported by CA PFL and SDI
- Annual performance-based bonuses
- Professional development support and opportunities for growth within BAC
- Hybrid work environment (San Jose and San Francisco offices roughly 2x/ week to be specified in hiring process)
APPLY HERE: Bay Area Council: Policy Associate - Workforce
Please submit your materials via the google form above, following instructions closely, including your resume and cover letter.
NB: Your cover letter will help us understand your unique communication style, which you will use every day on the job. Feel free to leverage AI for support in doing so, but we encourage you to let your unique (human) writing style shine.