NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL MANAGER

ABOUT US:

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves, and beaches for all people through a powerful activist network. The Surfrider Foundation has achieved many important victories by persuading state, federal, and local decision makers to protect vital coastal and ocean resources. These accomplishments demonstrate the important role of recreational users in advancing coastal and ocean stewardship.

By joining the Surfrider Foundation, you will be welcomed into an open and inclusive network of incredibly supportive and collaborative people who work hard and play hard. You will have the opportunity to work with dedicated people who are also passionate coastal users with their feet in the sand and toes in the water. You help bring together diverse voices and perspectives to provide our community with the leadership and tools necessary to make a difference at their beach and in coastal communities across the United States. At Surfrider, we build leaders, and we are problem solvers; our culture sets us apart and influences everything we do. Coastal recreation is fun and working at Surfrider is too.

The Surfrider Foundation is recruiting a Northern California Regional Manager to build the organizational capacity of our Northern California chapters through community-based environmental campaigns and programs, leading to an increase in activists and membership. The successful applicant will work in a coordinated effort with other staff serving California-based chapters.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Oversee and provide organizing support to the volunteer-led Surfrider Foundation chapters from San Mateo County northward to Humboldt, California.
• Grow Surfrider Foundation’s supporter base of members and volunteers in the region by providing chapters training and guidance on recruitment and retention. 
• Support chapters in developing and implementing issue campaigns related to coastal water quality, plastic pollution prevention, beach access, coastal preservation, climate, and ocean protection. 
• Facilitate and train chapter volunteers in direct action organizing techniques including but not limited to: issue campaign planning, strategy, tactics, and community organizing. Ensure that campaigns are constructed in a way that considers and advances environmental justice, engaging and working alongside impacted communities.
• Support chapters in developing and implementing programs including Ocean Friendly Gardens, Ocean Friendly Restaurants, Blue Water Task Force, Rise Above Plastic in support of their issue campaign[s] and capacity-building goals. 
• Coordinate the local campaign and program efforts of chapters within the region to strategically leverage complementary efforts for greater impact.
• Collaborate with the California Policy Associate Director to promote statewide legislative and policy priorities and to engage volunteers in the region in these priority campaigns.
• In consultation with local chapters and the California Policy Associate Director and the California Policy Sr. Coordinator, represent Surfrider Foundation at government and agency hearings and coalition events.
• In conjunction with the Surfrider Foundation development team, develop and maintain positive relations with the regional funding community, and assist with grant reporting and funding proposal development.  
• Work with the Sr. Director of Network Strategy, West Coast Regional Director, and Southern California Regional Manager to develop and facilitate training conferences for the California chapter network.
• Administrative responsibilities include but are not limited to: writing blog posts; supporting web content development; updating the chapter campaign pages on the national website; maintaining chapter contacts within Salesforce; supporting chapter leader onboarding and tech training; social media outreach; lobbying activities reporting; financial reporting; and grant reporting.
• Facilitate chapter governance and oversight, including but not limited to: chapter annual planning and budgeting; financial reporting; executive and leadership training; chapter executive committee elections; chapter legal compliance; and development of chapter support resources.

Reports to: Sr. Central California Regional Manager

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• 2+ years experience in direct action grassroots organizing, community outreach and coalition building
• 2+ years managing direct reports (volunteers and/or employees)
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing equity and inclusiveness
• Experience managing multiple projects, meeting deadlines and achieving project objectives
• Experience volunteering and/or working with volunteers
• Familiarity with state, regional and national coastal & ocean environmental issues
• Understanding of decision-making processes at various levels of government and governmental agencies
• Demonstrated facilitation skills with adeptness at creating inclusive spaces and centering the voices of people with marginalized identities
• Ability to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing, with elected officials, agency staff, industry representatives and coastal stakeholders
• Experience in speaking publicly in front of a large number of people in diverse situations
• Ability or willingness to learn how to use tech tools, platforms, and apps such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Golden, Google Drive and Basecamp
• Ability to travel extensively throughout the region
• Ability to work flexible hours (including some weekends and evenings), as needed, within the full-time weekly schedule
• Ability to work effectively from a home office
• Ability to work in a remote team setting

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

Salary Range Transparency:

Category Level: Manager - Regional

Salary Range: Minimum $65,300 - Maximum $88,000

How Does the Surfrider Foundation Establish Salary Ranges?

The Surfrider Foundation researches, evaluates, and compares like-sized non-profit organizations to establish ranges for each position level to ensure that employees are justly compensated. The established range takes multiple factors into account; experience, educational background, scope and complexity of work, special skills, added value to the organization, geographic cost-of-living, inflation/current market demand, equity, and more. The Surfrider Foundation prides itself on a high rate of retention, with 32% of staff having been employed with the organization for 10+ years. Please keep in mind that the maximum end of our ranges also account for longevity and tenure within the role.  

BENEFITS: 

Health: Medical, dental and vision benefit premiums are paid 100% by Surfrider Foundation for employee-only coverage. Dependents may be added on at an additional cost.

Retirement: 401(k) plan offering a match of .50¢ of every dollar contributed by the employee up to a maximum of 4% of earnings (in other terms, a 2% employer match).

Vacation Accrual: Enjoy a generous allotment of vacation days per year. Rollover unused days to the following year, subject to company maximum accrual policy.

Sick time Accrual: 12 sick days/year

Holidays: 20 paid holidays total in 2025

Happy Healthy Summer Fridays: We provide several half Fridays to get outside and enjoy an early start to your weekend!

Parental Leave: Surfrider provides 6 weeks of paid parental leave following the birth of an employee’s child or the placement of a child with an employee in connection with adoption or foster care.

Other Benefits: Long-Term Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, Employee Assistance program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

JEDI COMMITMENT:

The Surfrider Foundation is committed to fostering a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization for all people who protect and enjoy the world’s ocean, waves, and beaches. Our success and impact depend on learning from our community, standing in solidarity with our allies and working towards a more just future, both for our organization and the environmental movement as a whole. 

The Surfrider Foundation is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace that is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. Together we strive to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, Veteran status, or any other protected class.

To learn more about our Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion commitments, please visit: https://www.surfrider.org/pages/diversity-equity-inclusion