Director, State Government Affairs

Director, State Government Affairs

FMI represents food retailers and wholesalers and develops and promotes policies, programs and forums supporting its members, their customers and supplier partners, and other industry stakeholders in the areas of government relations, food and product safety and defense, education, industry collaboration and networking, research, health and wellness, social, environmental and sustainability programs, and communications. By pursuing these activities, FMI provides leadership and advocacy for the food and consumer product industry worldwide as the industry innovates to meet the changing needs of its customers.

Primary Purpose: Provide technical expertise on state legislation, state laws and state regulatory actions for FMI members and provide presentations before key FMI committees and meetings; interact with state and local industry partners and represent FMI and its members with external constituents in the form of meetings, coalitions, and presentations.

Essential Job Functions:

• Provide research, information, leadership and deliverables to FMI members, state associations and FMI staff on assigned state government affairs issues of priority interest to the industry.
• Monitor and report on legislative issues to include pending and enacted state legislation and state regulatory activities as specified by the Vice President, State Government Relations.
• Manage state relationships to benefit FMI's strategic initiatives, programs and policies.
• Utilize FMI's state legislative tracking system as a tool to monitor, analyze and report on state legislative and state regulatory initiatives in the priority issue areas and demonstrate how they will affect members and how members will need to comply.
• Identify, report and collaborate on emerging state public policy initiatives and share findings with the FMI team, FMI Government Relations Committee and other FMI committees as warranted.
• Create and run FMI member state legislative working groups and coalitions on key issues as the need arises.
• Research and prepare information on priority state issues, including developing and drafting policy papers, background documents and other deliverables.
• Collaborate with FMI State Affairs team to build State Retreat and State Regional Legislative Planning agendas and obtain speakers for these meetings. These may be in-person or virtual.
• Create and write articles for FMI Government Affairs newsletters.
• Create an issue-specific newsletter, for example, a sustainability state affairs report.
• Assist in the recruitment of new members.

Other Job Functions: Other duties related to state government and regulatory issues as assigned.

Position Requirements:

Physical Requirements: Normal office environment requiring use of typical business equipment (e.g., computer, telephone, fax, copier, security system). Ability to travel 10-20% of the time (locally or domestic travel throughout the United States). The person in this position will be eligible to work remotely or hybrid. If remotely, this person will attend quarterly staff meetings at FMI headquarters in Virginia. Otherwise, it is a hybrid work schedule Monday through Thursday requiring a minimum of two days in the office per week during that four-day period and every Friday will be a remote workday (unless management determines otherwise).

Education, Skills and Experience: College degree. A minimum of seven to ten years of professional work experience in government or government affairs. Knowledge of and/or experience working in the food industry. Knowledge and experience of working with state legislatures and with regulatory authorities and agencies. Excellent written and communication skills. Editing and proofreading skills are a plus. Excellent oral communication skills including the ability to create presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and experience giving presentations to a variety of audiences. Knowledge of computers and technology, including but not limited to Microsoft Office 365 including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint and Teams. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision. Strong customer service and team orientation. Strong people skills. Diligence is required. Must be self-directed with excellent time and project management skills and an ability to organize, prioritize and accomplish multiple tasks with strict attention to detail and with minimal supervision. Must be highly adaptable and able to respond to business circumstances as they arise. Personal qualities must include drive, determination, flexibility, open-mindedness, and must be a collaborator.

Pay Range: $123,400 to $163,100 (annually)*This salary range reflects the minimum and maximum annual compensation for this position and has been established in good faith and in accordance with Virginia and federal law. Individual salary offers within this range will be based on the candidate's relevant experience, education, skills, certifications, and other job-related factors.

Number of Openings - 1

FMI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will consider applicants for this position without regard to any category protected by applicable federal, state or local law, including but not limited to: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status or uniformed service member status.