JOB TITLE: Policy Specialist
PROGRAM: Center for Legislative Strengthening
LOCATION: Denver, CO -Hybrid
SALARY: $73,232 annually
STATUS: Full-time
ABOUT NCSL:
Are you ready to join an organization with an extraordinary mission? The National Conference of State Legislatures offers careers where you can use your skills, knowledge, and experience to truly make a difference. NCSL’s mission is purposeful – strengthening the legislative institution. From informing effective policies and promoting communication among state legislatures, to ensuring states have a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system, our team works in service of legislatures. And, with a commitment to constantly innovating all resources and services to meet the evolving needs of members, NCSL has earned the reputation as the nation’s most trusted bipartisan membership organization for legislators and legislative staff. Our success serving NCSL members relies on our team of passionate, dedicated professionals who work diligently to strengthen the legislative institution. Join our team and contribute to this unique, essential mission. NCSL has a flexible remote work policy. Building and maintaining our organizational culture is critical and we do so by bringing staff together, in person, for four consecutive days every six (6) weeks. The remote work policy provides the freedom to work from anywhere with the requirement that staff travel on their own fare to the NCSL office for four days every six (6) weeks for team meetings and professional development.
ABOUT THE ROLE:
NCSL’s Center for Legislative Strengthening (CLS) is seeking a policy specialist. CLS is a highly collaborative, flexible, nonpartisan, five-person team responsible for much of NCSL’s research, analysis and consulting on the operations, functions, and duties required of the legislative institution. The Center is looking for a team member with a demonstrated passion for NCSL's mission to strengthen state legislatures as well as the abilities and skills necessary to develop expertise in aspects of legislative operations and build relationships and networks of state legislators and legislative staff. This position reports to the director of the Center for Legislative Strengthening.
A CLS policy specialist is responsible for researching, analyzing, maintaining, and developing expertise on legislative rules, customs, and operations. The position conducts legislative and policy tracking; deploys and analyzes surveys; translates detailed and complex information via verbal presentations, publications, technical assistance workshops, webinars, and meetings; creates substantive, engaging, and interactive presentations for legislators, legislative staff, and others on legislative topics and responds to questions; and prepares concise, accurate, and nonpartisan written products for a variety of purposes and audiences. The policy specialist may assist with the development of new projects and resources in assigned subject areas, including assisting with research papers, and may assist with funder relations and project deliverables, under the direction of the director of CLS.
NCSL seeks a professional who can demonstrate knowledge of and success working with, or within, the public sector, with preference toward candidates possessing legislative experience. Finally, a passion for NCSL's mission to strengthen state legislatures is essential.
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
- Develops subject matter expertise on legislative rules, customs and operations issues. Collects, tracks, and analyzes legislative data. Interprets and identifies policy implications and trends. Develops comparative 50-state and legislative chamber data sets. Maintains resources on NCSL webpages.
- Conducts research on federal, state and local actions and academic studies that impact the work and operations of legislatures, including executive and administrative actions, relevant case law or judicial interpretations, intergovernmental actions, and academic journals.
- Provides information and excellent customer service to legislators and legislative staff through nonpartisan, balanced research, publications, and presentations on assigned topics. Develops and maintains effective relations with key legislators and legislative staff as needed.
- Prepares concise, accurate, nonpartisan written products for a variety of purposes and audiences including communications with members (email, memos), reports, webpages, articles, blogs, and others as needed. Participates in peer review editing of colleagues’ work as needed. Tracks state legislation or state activity in NCSL’s externally facing databases or webpages and maintains internal tracking on a number of other issues to stay up-to-date on state action.
- Translates detailed and complex information in the most effective format using a variety of methods including verbal presentations, publications, technical assistance workshops, webpages, podcasts, webinars, meetings, memos, newsletters, articles, and others.
- Maintains and updates webpages with new research, data, policy, and legislative information. May create new webpages based on emerging issues, or as assigned.
- Plans educational sessions and assists with overall planning for larger meetings with supervisor oversight. Creates substantive, engaging, and interactive presentations for legislators, legislative staff and others, with the ability to respond to questions. Contributes to other session and meeting planning tasks, such as speaker identification, agenda development and on-site support.
- Supports work with member committees or commissions. Contributes to meeting planning tasks, such as research, background information, agenda development, speaker identification, and on-site support.
- Contributes to presentations and technical assistance workshops. May provide research, state examples, background material, and other information for slides and presentations. Makes presentations as needed with supervisor guidance.
- Travels domestically for meetings, technical assistance, and other project activities as needed.
- Performs other responsibilities as needed.
SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE:
Supervisor/Management Responsibilities:
- May oversee one intern or serve as coordinator of a team of other professionals on a short-term project.
THE WORK ENVIRONMENT: This full-time position is mostly performed in an office environment, on or off-site, with prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. NCSL provides a unique hybrid remote work policy with the requirement that staff travel on their own fare to the NCSL office for four days every six (6) weeks for team meetings and professional development. Employees routinely use standard office equipment such as laptops, printers, scanners, copy machines, and smartphones. Occasional travel by airplane, including overnights and weekends, is required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
