Regulatory Affairs Specialist

QMS Consulting seeks a Regulatory Specialist with direct experience drafting federal rules for the

a federal agriculture agency. The specialist will serve as a rulemaking subject matter lead for up to three proposed-rule efforts. Working with QMS analysts and federal agency staff, this person will turn public submissions into accurate, traceable issue summaries and writing support for agency policy decisions and potential final-rule responses. the federal agency retains authority over regulatory and legal decisions and publication.

Responsibilities

• Review the proposed rule, docket record, statutory authority, and agency instructions for each rule effort; help establish a rule-specific work plan, issue taxonomy, drafting conventions, milestones, and review gates.
• Guide intake and screening of comments obtained through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS), including comments and attachments that require privacy or confidential business information review before posting on Regulations.gov.
• Analyze comments for distinct substantive arguments, requests for changes, supporting evidence, high-risk issues, non-substantive submissions, and exact or near-duplicate form letters; preserve unique additions and defensible counts.
• Draft and quality-review issue summaries, a sortable comment register, the public-comment analysis, and the Key Issues Matrix; connect each issue and count to source submissions and identify matters requiring agency subject matter or legal review.
• Help prepare agency-ready regulatory language and draft response-to-comment material when federal staff requests it, applying federal and agency writing and style guidance; coordinate revisions without making policy decisions for the agency.
• Work with analysts to deliver the comment analysis and Key Issues Matrix within 15 calendar days after each comment period closes.
• Participate in weekly virtual status meetings during comment processing, document decisions and open issues, and assist with accurate, editable, accessible Word and Excel deliverables and final handoff.

Required qualifications

• Demonstrated hands-on experience drafting proposed or final federal rules for agriculture-based federal agency, including review cycles and response-to-comment writing. Candidates should identify the rule, agency role, and their own contribution.
• Working knowledge of the Administrative Procedure Act notice-and-comment process, Federal Register drafting conventions, and federal regulatory style requirements.
• Experience downloading, organizing, categorizing, and summarizing public comments in FDMS or an equivalent federal docket workflow; familiarity with Regulations.gov posting and records control.
• Ability to create precise issue analyses and matrices that distinguish substantive issues, form letters, and quantitative counts while handling sensitive or confidential submissions appropriately.
• Strong regulatory writing, editing, and quality review skills; proficiency with editable Microsoft Word and Excel deliverables and federal Section 508 accessibility practices.
• Ability to work with program, legal, privacy, and analytical staff under short deadlines; eligibility to meet agency identity, background, nondisclosure, and system access requirements.
• U.S. citizens or valid permanent residents welcome.