Associate Director of Government Affairs

Associate Director of Government Affairs

The Associate Director of Government Affairs will be responsible for developing and implementing high impact, multifaced, and complex advocacy campaigns to advance Western Resource Advocates and WRA Action Fund's mission. This position will involve working closely with WRA's policy and marketing and communications staff, and senior leadership team to advance innovative legislative and administrative policy solutions critical to addressing the region's most pressing climate change challenges.

The position will focus on advancing climate and conservation policies across WRA's three program areas. The ideal candidate for this role is a highly motivated strategic thinker who possesses sound judgment, strong decision-making skills, and political acumen. This position includes supervision of others on the Government Affairs team.

WRA fights climate change and its impacts to sustain the environment, economy, and people of the West. Our team of policy experts, scientists, economists, and attorneys has a 30-year history of working where decisions are made, sweating the details, creating evidence-based solutions, and holding decision makers accountable. This on the ground work with policymakers and other advocates advances clean energy, protects air, land, water, and wildlife—and sustains the lives and livelihoods of the West.

The position can work remotely from the Phoenix or Tucson Metropolitan area, be based in WRA's Phoenix office, or a hybrid remote and in-office setting.

STRATEGY, CAMPAIGN PLANNING, AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Lead in developing and executing strategic, multifaced, and complex advocacy campaign plans to build WRA's influence in the state and with decision makers.
• Lead in identifying and prioritizing the organization's highest-impact objectives and overseeing the development of campaign strategies for achieving wins across the various decision-making venues in the state and region.
• Conduct evaluation of campaign effectiveness and progress through metrics and data analysis and use findings to inform updates to strategies and tactics.

LOBBYING AND STRATEGIC ADVOCACY

• Grow WRA's influence through strategic partnerships with state decision makers.
• Identify and manage effective coalitions of diverse partners in the state to advance WRA's priorities.
• Identify, recruit, and organize a diverse group of opinion leaders in the state to engage with decision-makers in support of WRA's policies and positions.
• Manages and oversees contract lobbyists and other consultants retained by the Government Affairs department.

COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

• Work collaboratively with WRA staff and contract lobbyists to develop and implement priority campaign plans for driving wins.
• In coordination with policy staff, read and analyze the potential impact of proposed legislation and administrative policies and work together to respond accordingly.
• Effectively communicate complex policy concepts to a diverse set of audiences.
• Monitor and track relevant state and local policies, rules, and regulations.
• Frequent travel to state capital during legislative sessions.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise government affairs manager, interns, fellows, and other Government Affairs staff members.
• Assist with hiring and training of government affairs managers, interns, fellows, and other Government Affairs staff.
• Provides constructive feedback and timely performance evaluations for direct reports.

Any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of this position will be considered. For example, the requisite experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities would include:

• At least eight years of experience in a government affairs capacity for an elected official, government agency, private entity, and/or nonprofit advocacy organization is required.
• A minimum of five years of proven experience leading, developing and executing strategic government affairs, external affairs, communications, and/or advocacy campaigns.
• At least two years of experience…