State Policy Lead - Western

Regional State Policy Lead

Western US Region

About the role:

Under the supervision of the Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, the Regional State Policy Lead builds and implements a strategy for the organization's engagement with policymakers, state legislative leadership, the Governor's office, state agency officials, and local officials and educational leaders in a specific region. The Regional State Policy Lead serves as a key advisor on the organization's advocacy efforts, as well as opportunities to use relationships with policymakers to forward the iCivics/Civx Now mission and strategies and policy agenda.

Advocacy and Strategy:

• Facilitate virtual and in-person meetings with state policymakers
• Direct lobbying experience and bill writing experience
• Utilize state-level policy knowledge to advance overall policy strategy
• Provide technical assistance to state affiliates, legislators, and public administrators
• In partnership with state affiliates, coordinate grassroots and grasstops outreach campaigns across the central U.S. region
• Monitoring and influencing active legislation in target states on an ongoing basis to move forward the Civx Now State Policy Menu

Communications:

• Conduct outreach to partner organizations related to relevant projects of interest to their networks and partnering with in-house press staff on targeted press opportunities such as op-eds.

Research & Administrative:

• Maintain a database of lobbying contacts and advocacy activities for the region
• Supporting policy team with various team-wide projects: reports, presentations, and meetings

• An Effective Bipartisan Collaborator:
  You've successfully worked across cultural and political lines on a dispersed team, and you have the ability to operate in complex situations. You can easily gain trust from team members and are known for supporting them to ensure they are set up for success. You're not afraid to ask questions or find the answers.
• Flexible/Adaptable:
  You can manage a diverse set of team needs and aren't afraid to step outside your job description or comfort zone to help the team reach its goals. You're comfortable with shifting schedules and don't expect every day to go "as planned." You're okay with adapting to changes in the work environment; managing competing demands; changing approach or method to best fit the situation;
  
  able to stay calm and focused despite frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
• A Humble Teammate:
  Nothing is beneath or above you. You are quick to always lend a hand or two! You are able to earn influence without authority and naturally seek to support both small projects or large strategic goals.
• Committed to inclusion:
  You're always asking: "whose voice is not at the table?" You have experience working with diverse teams and successfully navigating cross-cultural communication in both local and global contexts, and you deeply value creating a workplace that is supportive of difference.
• Mission-oriented:
  You believe that lasting, meaningful change comes from the grassroots: from the organized efforts of people, communities, and organizations to enliven the social imagination, envision a better future, experiment with and scale new ideas.

What you'll need:

• Bachelor's degree and at least 3-5 years of experience developing and executing high-impact issue advocacy campaigns, combining policy, policy research, and communication strategies and tactics.
• At least 3 years of experience working with a distributed team and/or consultants.
• Demonstrated experience with and knowledge of the target region.
• Robust understanding of the state political landscape, and knowledge of state government structures (e.g., legislative/administrative process, budget, state agencies, etc.) to advance policy goals.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to synthesize information and present it in a variety of formats and styles (e.g., issue one-pagers, letters and testimony, op-eds, talking points).
• Excellent verbal communication skills and ability to represent iCivics effectively in various settings (e.g., presentations, and legislative testimony).
• Experience engaging a wide range of stakeholders (coalition partners,…