State Policy Lead

Role Description

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/CivxNow mission and strategies and policy agenda.

This position requires you to excel in the following competencies:

• 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 CivxNow 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

Qualifications

• 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, legislators and their staff), working in state coalitions, and building high-impact partnerships.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously and thrive in a complex environment with multiple priorities and tight deadlines, working both independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to self-start and manage up, as well as communicate effectively across multiple teams and with multiple staff members in various locations around the country.

Benefits

• Health First: Medical options with $0 deductible (covered by us).
• True Flexibility: 100% remote (US) with flexible hours to fit your life.
• Abundant Rest: 5 weeks PTO + Winter Break + Summer Fridays + a guaranteed 4-day July 4th weekend.
• Family Support: 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave.
• Growth & Connection: Annual professional development stipend and an in-person annual staff retreat to bond with your team.

Salary

The expected salary for this position is $83,500 plus benefits.

Location

We are currently seeking an individual located in the Western United States, with a preference for candidates in Colorado, to work from a home office with occasional travel (less than 15%).

Application Process

Please apply online; we will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis with preference given to applications in by May 22, 2026.