Senior Manager of External Affairs

The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is an independent executive branch agency with oversight and ombudsperson responsibilities, established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2008. The OCA's mission is to ensure that children receive appropriate, timely, and quality state services, with a particular focus on ensuring that the Commonwealth's most vulnerable and at-risk children can thrive. Through collaboration with public and private stakeholders, the OCA identifies gaps in state services and recommends improvements in policy, practice, regulation and/or law.

The OCA also serves as a resource for families who are receiving, or are eligible to receive, services from the Commonwealth. Office of the Child Advocate | Mass.gov

The Policy and Implementation Team at the OCA works to identify and make recommendations to address systems-level gaps and challenges in the delivery of state services for children and improve outcomes. The team accomplishes this work by conducting comprehensive, mixed methods policy analysis; managing the work of various OCA-chaired task forces and working groups; developing policy reports and briefs; and advocating for changes in policy and practice.

The Policy and Implementation Team manages legislative relations, communications, and external affairs for the OCA, with the goal of advancing the OCA's policy agenda. Additionally, the team collaborates with various partners to pilot innovative programs and services designed to improve the quality of state services for children and youth by supporting pilot program design, implementation, and evaluation.

The role of the Senior Manager for External Affairs is to promote the work of the Office of the Child Advocate with key external organizations and constituencies -- including legislators, members of the press, and advocacy and community-based organizations whose mission and work intersect with the OCA -- as well as the general public. Under the direction of the Sr Director of Policy & Implementation, the Senior Manager leads development and implementation of the agency's legislative, communications, and external affairs strategies.

The Senior Manager supervises a Legislative and Communications Manager.

The right candidate for this position has a track record of successfully advancing a legislative agenda and promoting the work of an organization among key constituencies. While you do not need to be a subject matter expert on every topic area the OCA covers, you should have enough background in child and family policy and services to ask the right questions, understand the answers, communicate effectively with OCA experts and external stakeholders, and as needed translate technical information into clear and compelling messages for a variety of audiences.

You are a critical thinker, a strong writer, and you are open to listening and learning from a range of perspectives. You are detail oriented and able to work independently, while also working collaboratively on projects with peers, managers, and OCA leadership to advance projects. You are flexible and can work quickly and efficiently on multiple projects. You are actively interested in supervising staff and promoting a collaborative team environment.

Most of all, you have a passion for improving the lives of the children and youth of the Commonwealth and want to be part of an innovative, growing team of public servants who share that passion.

Application Instructions

Applications are to be submitted on the Mass Careers website: Mass Careers Create a Profile guide | Mass.gov. A cover letter and resume are required parts of the application. Please do not contact the OCA via phone to inquire about the status of your application. If you need any support with submitting your application, please refer to Mass Careers Resources | Mass.gov. Review of applicants will start immediately and continue while the position is posted, with first consideration given to those received on or before August 7th, 2026.

The OCA is committed to creating and supporting an inclusive work community that is free of all forms of discrimination. The OCA does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on…