Legislative Assistant

Position:  Legislative Assistant – Environment, Energy and Land Use; Public Lands    

Organization: National Association of Counties (NACo)

Location: Washington, D.C.

Reports To: Associate Legislative Director

About NACo: 

The National Association of Counties (NACo) is a mission-driven national association focused on strengthening America’s county governments in the pursuit of public service excellence. The Association is uniquely distinguished by our membership of general-purpose county governments, led by nearly 39,000 publicly elected officials and supported by a dedicated professional county government workforce of more than 3.6 million public servants. America’s county governments currently budget and invest more than $750 billion each year.

The Association plays a vital leadership role within the intergovernmental framework of the United States. Our nation’s unique federalism-based system emphasizes the balance, division, and sharing of power and responsibilities among federal, state, local, and tribal government officials.

Founded in 1935, the Association brings county officials together to: (1) Advocate county priorities in federal policy making (2) Promote exemplary county policies and practices (3) Enhance leadership skills and expand knowledge networks (4) Optimize county and taxpayer resources and cost savings, and (5) Enrich the public’s understanding of county government.

Position Overview: 

This position focuses on analyzing legislation and regulatory activities, as well as administrative duties associated with preparing for and conducting meetings and educational sessions held in conjunction with NACo conferences. In this role, you will gain valuable exposure to advocacy strategies and perform supportive administrative duties such as providing timely legislative update emails, supporting membership engagement and tracking and responding to answers, both oral and written to membership inquiries on legislative matters. Ideal candidates will have experience on Capitol Hill and thrive in a political environment designed to advance a strategic and nonpartisan approach toward advancing the NACo agenda. Candidates should have a strong understanding of and interest in the U.S. political system, including local and regional government. NACo is a friendly, fast-paced work environment with a bipartisan, mission-driven team.

Key Responsibilities:

•    Supporting Legislative Director and Associate Legislative Director in their written work and meetings

•    Assisting with written department-wide products and analysis

•    Performing legislative research on issues important to county governments and county elected officials as they relate to energy, environment, land use and public lands issues

•    Assisting in tasks associated with the preparation and execution of major conferences and meetings, including legislative fact sheets, policy analysis and other various tasks as assigned

•    Support the Legislative Director in staffing the Western Interstate Region (WIR) by coordinating member engagement, assisting with policy research, and helping plan and execute the annual WIR Conference

•    Support the work of the Gulf States Counties and Parishes Caucus, a subset of NACo members from counties on the Gulf that meets at the Legislative and Annual Conferences 

•    Assisting in scheduling appointments and setting up meetings

•    Travel to conferences, caucus meetings and other events as needed

•    Performing various other duties that may be assigned from time to time based on the needs of the government affairs department.

Qualifications:

•    Bachelor’s Degree

•    Strong written and verbal communications skills 

•    Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint and Excel proficient 

•    Solid understanding of the federal government 

•    Interest or previous experience in public lands/energy/environment/Western U.S. history and policy

•    Detail oriented, organized and able to multi-task while meeting several deadlines

•    Able to work well under pressure

•    Self-motivated

•    Knowledge of Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint and Excel

Why Join NACo:

•    Opportunity to lead impactful, mission-oriented public affairs efforts at a national level.

•    Work alongside a dedicated team committed to helping county government officials in the pursuit of excellence in public service, ultimately helping people and places to thrive.

•    Competitive salary and benefits package.

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Location:

This position is based in Washington, D.C., with opportunities for travel to conferences, meetings, and partner engagements. The Association currently offers hybrid workplace options, based on job function and performance, with an emphasis on leadership and teammate engagement and performance. Base Salary: $60,000 annual.

Salary : $750 - $60,000