Washington D.C.

Position Title: Vice President of Government Affairs

Organization: Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

Location: Washington D.C.

Position Overview: The Vice President of Government Affairs champions the organization’s advocacy mission pillar by providing vision, strategic direction, and leadership to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s (PF and QF) Government Affairs team. The position aligns the advocacy work of PF and QF’s Government Affairs team with the delivery of PF and QF’s other mission priorities: wildlife habitat, conservation education, and public access. The VP of Governmental Affairs stewards relationships with leaders and partners in Washington D.C. to positively influence policies and programs that impact PF and QF’s mission. The VP of Government Affairs reports to the Chief Conservation Officer and works closely with the VP of Conservation Programs and VP of Conservation Delivery to implement the organization’s advocacy mission pillar at both the federal and state level.

Duties:

• Leverage the strength of PF and QF’s grassroots volunteers throughout the nation to highlight the relevance of the organization’s conservation work.
• Lead the organization’s federal advocacy efforts.
• Oversee development of multi-year strategic planning.
• Develop annual implementation plans, budgets, and tactical goals.
• Support delivery of state-level advocacy by:
  • Coordinating with the state leadership to identify opportunities for engagement.
  • Training and supporting state leadership teams on advocacy and public policy.
• Maintain an established bi-partisan network of key external policymakers/influencers in Congress, Agencies, industry, associations, and third-party entities to amplify the organization’s advocacy efforts.
• Provide senior management, the board of directors and internal stakeholders with regular updates and strategic assessments of evolving policies and propose engagement strategies and tactics.
• Build and/or support industry coalitions and develop and execute advocacy campaigns through coalitions of peer and other relevant organizations.
• Build, develop, lead and motivate the Government Affairs team, including development of annual workplans and evaluating performance.
• Coordinate with conservation delivery and programs teams on annual updates to state-level strategic plans.
• Work cross-functionally with the Conservation Programs and Conservation Delivery teams to allocate resources, identify priorities, and ensure consistency of approach across all programs and geographic regions.

Qualifications:

• A passion for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s mission, as well as knowledge and appreciation of conservation, hunting, and the outdoors.
• B.A./B.S./M.S. in political science, public administration, or public policy. A minimum of 5 years’ experience in conservation policy can satisfy this requirement.
• At least 3 years of experience leading a team, with a demonstrated ability to lead and coach effectively.
• Demonstrated experience supervising people managers preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to work and interact within the national conservation community.
• In-depth knowledge of national conservation policies and programs.
• Approximately 25% travel required. Quarterly in-person leadership meetings expected. If located outside the Washington, DC area, significant travel to DC will be required.
• Experience with matrix-based organizational structure preferred.

Start Date: July 1

Salary/Pay: Competitive salary offered based on qualifications. Comprehensive benefits package, including health, life, disability and 401(k).

Application Deadline: June 5

How to Apply: Please combine your cover letter, resume and 3 references into a single Microsoft Word document or Adobe Acrobat PDF file before uploading to the “Resume” area of your application on the recruitment website. If you have questions about this position, please contact Sarah Mills, Vice President of Human Resources, smills@pheasantsforever.org, or 651-209-4951.