City Policy Coordinator

The Institute for Justice seeks a passionate individual to join our Activism team as a City Policy Coordinator at our headquarters in Arlington, VA. IJ’s multi-faceted Activism team challenges and reforms local and state policies and laws in the areas of economic liberty, property rights, qualified immunity, and access to justice. This role is for a full-time position on our  Cities Work initiative which advances economic liberty through local regulatory reform.  

We believe entrepreneurship should be accessible to all individuals — not just people who can afford a permit navigator or have a friend on the city council — which is why we partner with cities to make it cheaper, faster, and simpler to start a small business. We approach our work from the entrepreneur’s perspective, letting their experiences guide our work. Through working directly with relevant stakeholders – including prospective and current small business owners, research institutions, city officials, regulators, and economic development organizations – we identify the city’s real-world hurdles to starting a small business and offer comprehensive regulatory reform strategies based on these findings. 

The ideal candidate will be excited to become a jack-of-all-trades across the spectrum of roles on our team, including community outreach, analyzing statutes and codes and developing policy recommendations, research, hosting events and roundtables, working with the media, writing for a wide variety of audiences and contexts, organizing public information campaigns, and lobbying. 

A successful candidate will have a deep commitment to IJ’s mission; be personable, self-motivated, proactive, and eager to learn new skills in a dynamic, fast-paced environment; care about helping people of modest means and from all walks of life; enjoy working with decision makers with diverse perspectives; and be detail-oriented, a critical thinker, and excited about this work. 

This role is supported by enthusiastic managers, and the position offers unique opportunities for travel, professional development, growth, and long-term advancement. The candidate will join a close-knit team and be expected to work well with others to accomplish our goals. 

Specific Responsibilities Include:  

• Researching municipal codes, zoning ordinances, and building code administrative processes to identify barriers facing small businesses and under-resourced entrepreneurs, and developing actionable policy recommendations and draft code amendments. 
• Developing one-pagers, policy briefs, draft ordinance language, and policy reports that translate complex zoning and regulatory concepts into accessible materials for policymakers and the public. 
• Planning and executing community engagement efforts including small business roundtables, door-to-door canvassing, and town halls to ground policy recommendations in the real experiences of microbusiness entrepreneurs. 
• Engaging city council members, planning staff, and development services officials through interviews, meetings, and public testimony to advance economic justice. 
• Identifying new project opportunities, developing partnerships with local governments, and managing regulatory consulting projects internally and externally.  
• Building and maintaining relationships with small business owners, entrepreneur support organizations, and community organizations to support grassroots advocacy and coalition building. 
• Organizing grassroots campaigns in support of regulatory reform, including coordinating letters to representatives, coalition letters, op-eds, press conferences, and media outreach.  
• Representing Cities Work at national conferences through networking, tabling, and hosting workshops/panels/sessions. 
• Advancing Cities Work's impact by tracking innovative reforms nationally, building relationships across the economic development ecosystem, and producing case studies on adopted reforms for our Case Study Library. 
• Leading cohorts of city representatives, students, or economic developers, equipping them with the tools to conduct regulatory research and implement reforms in their own cities.  

Qualifications: 

• Undergraduate degree and two years of professional experience 
• Possess exceptional research, writing, and interpersonal skills 
• Background and interest in public policy (through curriculum or practice) 
• Record of demonstrated initiative and leadership 
• Experience, professional or otherwise, with advocacy work and community outreach is a plus, but not necessary. 
• Professional or academic experience in management consulting is also a plus. 
• Commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and challenging government abuse. 

Benefits:

• Hybrid work schedule
• Flexible work hours with our core business hours of 10am and 4pm
• Health, Dental, and Vision insurance (IJ covers 100% of individual premiums)
• Free Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life insurance plans
• HSA employer contributions
• 401(k) with employer matches
• Smart casual dress code with casual Fridays
• Generous PTO package of accruing sick and vacation hours in addition to a paid personal day and floating and traditional holidays

The salary range for this position is $60,000-$65,000 for candidates with approximately 1-3 years of relevant experience. While the position is advertised as City Policy Coordinator, the title and role are commensurate with experience, whether that is more or less. If you don’t meet every requirement but are interested in this position, we still encourage you to apply. 

IJ is an equal opportunity employer.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At IJ we value a diverse workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

To learn more about our culture and benefits, visit our Working at IJ page. No phone calls please.

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