Government Affairs Program Associate

Location: Denver
Work Schedule: Non-exempt, Full-time
Deadline for submission: December 1, 2023

Conservation Colorado is seeking a Program Associate in the Denver metro area who will support the Government Affairs team in operating effectively in order to deliver policy wins at the federal, state, and local level. You will work closely with the Senior Director of Government Affairs to maintain systems and processes for organizing and executing the work, support team meetings, own the planning and execution of key team events, manage systems for tracking legislation, assist with filings and financial reports, and more.

About Conservation Colorado
As the largest statewide environmental organization in Colorado, we work to protect our state’s climate, air, land, water, and communities. We play a unique role in Colorado as our work focuses on organizing communities, influencing decision-makers, and electing conservation-minded leaders. That work includes Protégete, which is focused on building Latino leadership and engagement on environmental issues. We believe that achieving racial, social, and environmental justice are critical to our mission.
You can learn more about our mission here.

What You’ll Do
The Government Affairs team is responsible for building and executing policy campaigns to protect Colorado’s climate, air, lands, water, and communities. The Program Associate is a critical part of the success of the team by keeping the team’s work on track and moving smoothly. This position is responsible for critical day-to-day administrative work as well as overseeing many systems and processes that keep the team organized and able to execute on fast-moving legislative and regulatory affairs work. This position reports directly to the Senior Director of Government Affairs and is a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of how to bring together the people, policy, and politics to make real change.

Team Support

• Supporting day-to-day administrative activities of the Government Affairs team including financial and lobby reports, work planning, and ensuring the government affairs team has the resources, tools, and support needed to succeed.
• Facilitates team efficiency and collaboration, including developing meeting agendas, keeping meeting notes, and tracking and following up on next steps.
• Assists the Senior Director in tracking progress towards annual goals and other shared team objectives, such as legislative relationship management goals.

Programmatic Support

• Manages the system for tracking legislation and writing letters in regards to key Conservation Colorado legislative priorities
• Provides additional capacity when needed to implement certain coalition and policy campaign tactics.
• Supports team members in development of materials including public comment guides, one pagers and other projects as assigned.
• Covers legislative hearings, meetings, and other events as needed by Government Affairs team members and plans high-profile events such as our annual legislative reception.

In addition to your regular responsibilities, all staff are expected to participate at some level in organizational priorities including helping in certain fundraising efforts, taking part in our election-related activities, and committing to our organizational efforts around equity & inclusivity.

Qualifications
To be successful in this job, you will need to be a problem solver and able to get things done, both big and small, and do so as a team player working with many different staff at Conservation Colorado. This position will require considerable attention to detail as they work on multiple projects simultaneously.

• You are someone who loves the details. This role manages large amounts of information, is responsible for tracking legislation, and assisting with multifaceted projections often with short deadlines, especially as we get closer and closer to the end of the legislative session. Being process-oriented and able to think through the finer points of setting up systems is critical to success.
• As we continue on our path to being a more equitable and just organization, you must be committed to thinking through how race and other intersectional issues impact our work and how we bring environmental justice principles into our planning and execution of policy.
• You are committed to following through on every task, no matter how big or small, and taking the initiative to get things done and taking matters into your own hands when necessary. The more you love figuring out how to get around the inevitable obstacles this work can run into, with grace under pressure, the more successful you will be.
• Our work succeeds on teamwork. You will have experience collaborating with peers, but also in managing up, to successfully execute projects and achieve your goals.
• In this role there is a lot of opportunity to learn about environmental policy and how to bring people, politics & policy together. A passion for our mission and the work is vital.
  

This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. Spanish/English bilingual is a skill we value, but it is not a requirement. This is a full-time job but there can be some flexibility in the exact schedule.

Compensation and Benefits

The full-time salary range for this role is between $55,000 to $63,000, based on a wage analysis across the organization and new staff rarely starting at the top of the range.

We provide high-quality, zero-deductible health insurance and a strong benefits package that includes a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with a match, at least 35 days of vacation & holidays as well as 6 physical & mental wellness days in your first year, and parental leave and a sabbatical program. Please note that as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, Conservation Colorado employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

All Conservation Colorado positions require in person work of some kind & therefore we do require our staff to be vaccinated against COVID. However, when it comes to being in the office or working from home, we have embraced a hybrid work model where we offer people, in consultation with their managers, some flexibility on where they work based on organizational needs, job requirements, and personal preferences. The organization does not have a set policy for the number of days someone must be in the office and the days required for a specific individual or position will vary from person to person based on the needs of the job. Everyone is welcome to work in the office 100% of the time if they prefer or if their home environment is not conducive to working for whatever reason.

We are committed to building a more diverse and inclusive organization and conservation movement to fully represent and engage all Coloradans and to build as powerful a movement as we can. Recruiting staff that better reflects Colorado is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, race, ethnicity, geographies, political affiliation, sexual orientations, gender identities, and all other identities represented in Colorado or protected by law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

To Apply

If this job truly speaks to you please click here to submit a cover letter and resume and answer a few short questions. If you have a disability and need accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please tell us how we can help by calling us at 303.333.7846.