Legislative Director

State Senator Andrew Gounardes (SD26) has an immediate opening for a Legislative Director based in his Albany office. Strong interpersonal/communications skills, ability to work in a fast-paced environment, and capacity to work on/undertake multiple projects and responsibilities simultaneously are a must. The selected candidate will report directly to the Chief of Staff.

Core responsibilities include:

• Policy research and bill drafting: the Legislative Director will own and execute every phase of the legislative process, from policy research to bill text drafting and amendments 
• As part of the above described process, collecting feedback on legislation from stakeholders, civil society, other branches of government, Senate and Assembly Central staff, and other negotiating partners and incorporate such feedback into the bill where appropriate 
• Advising on key press and coalition organizing strategies with internal and external partners in order to pass the legislative priorities of the Senator
• Drafting analysis and summaries of bills in other committees the Senator serves on as well as on floor agendas to recommend votes and cosponsorships 
• Drafting memos for a daily briefing folder to prepare the Senator for external meetings 
• Serving as the primary liaison between the Senator and various lobbyists, advocacy groups, and issue-based coalitions 
• Formulating key Article VII and appropriation requests for the Senate one house, including markups of Executive budget bills and compilations and detailed descriptions of funding requests as well as drafting budget request letters
• Drafting long-form policy research memos on a range of topics as needed
• Administrative support such as submission of cosponsorship requests, e-signatures, spreadsheet maintenance, and minor logistical support for lobby days (i.e. room reservations)
• Supervision of Albany-based staff
• Other duties as assigned by the Senator and Chief of Staff

Additional Qualifications

• Albany legislative experience required
• Extremely strong reading and writing skills; must be able to thoroughly research a given topic and distill key points for the Senator and senior staff
• High-functioning, adaptable policy generalist that has the ability to get quickly up to a speed on an extremely broad range of policy topics in a limited amount of time 
• Must have a high technical ability to parse legislative text, regardless of memos, advocacy one pagers, or other summaries of a bill; you should be able to explain to the Senator in five to ten bullet points what the text of a bill actually accomplishes regardless of how others describe it 
• A proactive self-starter who takes initiative, follows through, and cares about results
• Highly diligent and attentive to detail
• Exemplary political judgment 
• Must be a team player and ready to deliver constituent services 
• Ability to work long hours during session, including evenings and weekends
• JD candidates encouraged to apply

Salary

Salary range starts at $85,000-$100,000 per year and is commensurate with experience. The positions come with an excellent benefits package including health, dental, optical, and retirement benefits.

To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample, and references if you would like to provide them at this stage of the process, as a single document in PDF format to View email address on click.appcast.io. 

All applications will be kept confidential. The New York State Senate is an equal opportunity employer that values a diverse and equitable workforce.