Director of State Government Affairs

Location: Flexible (east coast preferred)

JOB SUMMARY

Our team is working with policymakers and education leaders to advance policy reforms that reduce barriers or boost access to K-12 computer science courses. We’ve helped build a movement for K-12 computer science that has changed policies across dozens of states. This is a unique opportunity to harness unprecedented bipartisan support for this important issue to shape education policy at the state and local levels. You will have a chance to bring computer science policies to a state for the first time, rather than just incrementally changing existing education policy.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The primary role for this position is managing existing and developing new relationships with state leaders (state departments of education, state boards of education, legislators and governors) across multiple states. You will develop overall strategy for engagement in your states while leading and carrying out the tactics associated with the strategy. 

 In this role, you will be responsible for: 
  • Developing and managing campaigns and state-based coalitions in states that you are responsible for
  • Developing and updating policy positions
  • Public speaking at events, including testimony before state authorities and interviews with the media
  • Communicating policy agenda to various audiences (stakeholder groups, legislators, Governors and staff, educators, media, etc.) and tailoring messaging for each
  • Developing relationships with institutions of higher education that are building a K-12 computer science teacher pipeline
  • Creating, organizing and managing policy-related events with policy makers and/or partner organizations
  • Developing and managing relationships with the computer science community including educators, leaders, corporate partners, and non-profits with shared goals
  • Creating and managing grassroots support for policy-related efforts
  • Coordinate state and federal policy efforts internally and with partners

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

We are a small, tight-knit, fast-moving dynamic team that leverages each person’s unique backgrounds to support one another in our work with states. We are seeking a team member with expertise and experience that will enable them to contribute ideas and support in areas such as higher education policy development experience, marketing and PR, and coalition and partnership development.

To be successful in this role, your main experience should be in working directly with legislators and governors’ education advisors and/or with state boards of education and state departments of education. You should have experience with and working knowledge of the legislative process or policy development process within state education authorities. 

We are a non-partisan organization, and the position requires working with representatives from all political parties at the state, local (and possibly federal) level. You should have a demonstrated ability to work across political parties and ideologies.

You must be extremely detail-oriented, possess exceptional writing and interpersonal communication ability in English, and be tech-savvy (computer science background/experience a plus, but not required). You should be a self-starter, able to multi-task, excel under pressure, and work independently with a geographically dispersed team. Proficiency in working with Google Docs is required.

As our ideal candidate, you have:

  • Passion for our mission
  • At least a Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree desired
  • 5-8+ years of experience in government relations/advocacy/policy development in education, preferably at the state level
  • Ability and willingness to travel. You will be managing multiple states and should expect to travel up to 30% time.
  • Experience in developing K-12 computer science education policy (nice to have, but not required) 

In addition, you must:

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident
  • Must pass a pre-employment background check

At Code.org we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Position is open immediately. Closing date: open until filled.

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