POLICY MANAGER, DEMAND PROGRESS
Want to fix Congress? Do you think members and staff are captive to a broken process and lack the resources to do their jobs? Do you want your government to be transparent, accountable, and effective? Do you want to rebuild Congress’ science and technology capabilities? If so, this job is for you.
Demand Progress is looking for a smart, self-starting, intensely curious person fascinated by legislative policy-making who is willing to roll up their sleeves to make things better.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
You will be a policy manager working as part of a small team focused on strengthening Congress’s capacity to govern and understand science and technology issues, led by Daniel Schuman, Demand Progress policy director.
You will spend 100% of your time working to improve Congress, using whatever techniques we can figure out to help us get there. We are focused on helping the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, the Committee on House Administration, the Senate Rules Committee, the House and Senate legislative branch appropriations subcommittees, and Congress’s support support offices and agencies.
The work includes:
• Research and Writing: Performing research and writing white papers, reports, articles, blogs, and contributing to our weekly newsletter (the First Branch Forecast).
• Connecting with People: Attending hearings, convening people, working with the media, representing the organization at coalition meetings, and using electronic media (twitter, listservs, etc.).
• Lobbying and lobbying support: This is a smaller but important part of your job: helping to draft legislation, one-pagers, keeping in touch with staff, and supporting legislative staff who have good ideas.
• More: Figuring out new ways to solve problems, as well as a fair amount of the usual humdrum paper-pushing.
We strongly believe in helping staff grow and achieve their potential. You will get a lot of runway (and a lot of help), and we want you to make the most of it.
We are a small but mighty team.
OUR PHILOSOPHY AND BACKGROUND
Demand Progress has a progressive philosophy; however, making Congress better is not a liberal or conservative issue. You are expected to be able to work with everyone from across the political spectrum. I do mean everyone. At the same time, the institutions inside Congress that support legislative expertise come out of the progressive era, so it’s important to stay grounded in the idea that Congress must work for all Americans.
COMPENSATION
The salary is $80-95k, depending on your experience. In addition, Demand Progress offers excellent benefits such as employer-paid health insurance, a 3% retirement match, 3 weeks vacation (plus the week between Christmas and New Years), parental leave, travel expenses, and short and long term disability insurance. This position is considered exempt for overtime purposes.
You can work from wherever you want— we don’t have a central office — but you are expected to regularly attend meetings with Congress and with civil society organizations in the Washington, D.C. area. You also can keep flexible hours, subject to the approval of your supervisor and the needs of the job.
This is a grant funded position and this position is funded for the next year.
QUALITIES YOU SHOULD POSSESS:
- Openness to implementing unconventional and innovative ideas.
- Be self-starting, resourceful, and organized.
- The ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.
- Be a proactive problem solver (and avoid the word proactive).
- Strong attention to detail.
- Strong written and oral communication skills.
- A willingness to learn and to teach.
- A sense of humor and a sense of the absurd.
A bachelor’s degree with at least 3 years of related work experience, ideally as staff on Capitol Hill. (Hill journalists count, too.) You must already possess significant expertise in how the lawmaking process works, and experience with the aforementioned committees and offices is a definite plus. Familiarity with the former Office of Technology Assessment and efforts to revive it also is a plus. You must be a capable and fluent writer that is used to dealing with complex subject matter at length and on a deadline. This is not an entry-level position.
Comfort with Google applications (Gmail, Google docs, calendar, etc).
Basic computer/technology skills or understanding thereof.
Strong analytical skills. You must be able to figure out why things work as they do and what the effects are of changing the underlying system.
ABOUT DEMAND PROGRESS
Demand Progress is a national grassroots organization with 2.5 million members that promotes the democratic character of the internet and uses it to break concentrated power and make government accountable. Our work focuses on the final part: building up the legislative branch as an institution capable of overseeing the executive branch and making smart legislative decisions.
We are fiscally sponsored by New Venture Fund and the SixteenThirty Fund, 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations. In other words, we’re a traditional non-profit and we can lobby and engage in political activity. Your work largely will fit comfortably into 501(c)(3) work, although you will do some 501(c)(4) work. Depending on the circumstances, you may have to register as a lobbyist if you spend 20% of your time lobbying, although that is unlikely.
HOW TO APPLY
We will begin reviewing applications no later than August 9, 2019, and continue on a rolling basis.
Please submit your job application to jobs@demandprogress.org. Please follow the following directions:
- In the subject line, write: “Policy Manager: yourname“
- In the body, please include your first and last name, your phone number, and an email address to contact you.
- Please attach a cover letter, resume, and a writing sample or two. The writing sample (or two) should demonstrate your ability to analyze, explain, or summarize a topic, ideally something that’s congressionally-related.
MORE ABOUT DEMAND PROGRESS
Demand Progress is committed to the principles of social and economic justice, and we try to build a workplace where all employees are treated fairly, feel respected as individuals, and enjoy working together. Additionally, we recognize that the issues we work on play out differently in different kinds of communities, and value the perspective of people from communities that have traditionally experienced discrimination.
People of color, women, people with disabilities, and LGBT people are especially encouraged to apply.
NEW VENTURE FUND CAREERS
Demand Progress is a project of the SixteenThirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization; and Demand Progress Education Fund is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. The New Venture Fund is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. The New Venture Fund’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.
(First announced on August 5, 2019)
