Job Opening: Vice President, Public Affairs and Government Relations

This is a NEW position at The ESOP Association (TEA).

TEA is the largest employee ownership organization in the world, and the only organization that actively lobbies on behalf of all ESOP companies. Dedicated to advocacy, education, and the growth of employee ownership, The ESOP Association represents employee owners, their companies, professional advisors, and the communities that benefit from the presence of their stabilizing effect on the local economy. There are more than 10 million American Households with an interest in an ESOP – more than the entire U.S. Auto industry. However, as a form of business and as a vehicle for helping to solve the vexing wealth and income inequalities facing America, ESOPs suffer from a severe lack of public awareness, and a striking lack of regulatory clarity. ESOPs nevertheless enjoy a broad and deep bi-partisan support among Members of Congress and other elected officials.

TEA currently has 18 state and regional Chapters and attracts more than 13,500 people annually to 160+ chapter and three national meetings (pre-COVID) including the Employee Owner Conference & Tradeshow in Las Vegas and the National Conference and Advocacy Day, now in its 43rd year. During COVID, TEA successfully launched and sponsored nearly 100 live, virtual events including webinars, conferences, and roundtables attended by over 9,900 registrants over a period of less than 9 months.

While the Association and its affiliated foundation have a long track record of advocacy and communications success as well as a deep membership passion for the movement, current programming requires modernization and an effective manager over several years to fully realize the tremendous potential of this powerful community. The Vice President, Public Affairs and Government Relations will be integral to developing a successful, sustainable, and impactful program and will be called upon to demonstrate creativity as well as an entrepreneurial spirit as leadership navigates the overall membership and community through a generational transition of the organization.

The Vice President will lead a newly formed division consisting of a team of advocates, organizers, and communicators who will work collaboratively with volunteer member leaders to create a persuasive, bipartisan, and impactful public policy and public affairs agenda while effectively communicating TEA’s mission and accomplishments to both internal membership and external stakeholder audiences.

In this role, the Vice President will collaborate across departments and with the President & CEO to form and successfully advance the Association’s public policy and communications agenda.

Through attention to detail, inevitable changes and unforeseeable developments will be handled professionally with an unruffled demeanor and communicated effectively to everyone involved. As the needs of TEA’s membership, volunteers, and stakeholders are learned, the Vice President will have both opportunity and an expectation to provide valuable input on processes, procedures, agendas, future events, and budgets.

Working with the President & CEO as well as the division staff, the Vice President will be responsible for the ongoing supervision and leadership of the ESOP Association’s Advocacy efforts–including policy agenda formation and operationalization, grassroots and grasstops mobilization, PAC strategy, donor appreciation, and coalition formation and management. She/He/They commits to strengthening each program’s impact using innovative forms of leadership and motivation of colleagues, volunteer leaders, and rank-and-file members alike.

Working with the President & CEO as well as with direct reports, the Vice President is responsible for the successful management and growth of ESOP PAC, along with the establishment and oversight of an action-centered grassroots and grass tops network of activists including participant recruitment, training, data management and other tasks.

Working with the President & CEO as well as with the Communications Director, the Vice President is responsible for the successful formation, management and execution of a robust membership and stakeholder communications program that is closely coordinated with the public policy agenda when appropriate. Subsumed within this program will be the development, with the appropriate Communications professionals, of high-production value digital video, audio, and print content and programming utilizing the Association’s new state of the art video and audio production and post-production studios.

The Vice President, Public Affairs and Government Relations duties will include:

• Assessing the political and policy landscape, as well as potential future political developments, to devise strategic positioning for the association and ESOPs on priority issues and for the Employee Ownership community overall.
• Crafting the association’s policy advocacy strategies and overseeing their execution by directing the federal affairs team and coordinating with member company federal affairs professionals.
• Establishing and maintaining a sophisticated network of contacts among key Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff and the Administration.
• Representing the Association and its Membership on Capitol Hill and before the Administration.
• Collaborating with other TEA departments, including Membership, Chapters, and Meetings Divisions as well as with Communications professionals within the Public Affairs and Government Relations Department.
• Maintaining collaborative relationships with member company federal affairs teams, as well as allied groups and coalitions.
• Identifying the need for development of issue briefs, research, infographics and talking points to buttress advocacy efforts.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS

The Vice President, Public Affairs and Government Relations will be an exceptional policy strategist and communicator and have strong relationships with key staff and Members of Congress and other policymakers in Washington, DC. She/He/They must be a strategic thinker, enjoy working in a collaborative, high performance, nimble organization, and have a demonstrated ability to connect advocacy to strategic positioning of Employee Owned businesses, as well as a demonstrated ability to take initiative and to lead. She/He/They must have a collaborative, collegial work style and an ability to coordinate, implement, and manage multiple high-priority advocacy strategies simultaneously.

She/He/They should have 10-15 years’ combined relevant lobbying and/or Congressional or Administration experience, including demonstrated capability leading a congressional office and/or government affairs team or function, coalition leadership, or strategy-based government affairs consulting.

The ideal candidate should have the following additional qualifications:

• A thorough understanding of congressional and cabinet policy-making processes, including an understanding of the roles and decision points in the Executive Agencies, the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, ideally from direct Capitol Hill or other government experience.
• Deep relationships on Capitol Hill and in the Washington, DC lobbying community, as well as a keen sense of political discernment, and the ability to develop and maintain relationships with key people and organizations.
• Demonstrated success significantly influencing legislative outcomes in prior roles.
• An understanding of the role of associations in representing their memberships.
• Interpersonal skills, including the ability to understand diverging points of view within the community and quickly build consensus on political strategy; to foster collaborative decision making for TEA and its membership on strategy and execution.
• Outstanding oral, written and presentation skills and experience in the formation of message campaigns - either political, policy, or both.
• The ability to persuasively communicate complex concepts and programs into concise and credible messages at the highest levels of government and business, with a proven track record of delivering high-volume and high-quality work.
• Political and organizational skills, and the proven ability to conceive and execute a political advocacy strategy.
• Experience managing a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals.
• The ability to work in and be an integral part of an action-oriented, fast-paced, decision- making environment, and to work collaboratively across multiple departments.
• Excellent prioritization and organizational skills; keen attention to detail; the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines while managing multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
• A bachelor’s degree is required. A law or advanced degree is preferred.

TEA is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. While we are currently working remotely, post-pandemic we will return to the brand-new Capitol hill located International Employee Ownership Center offices of the ESOP Association. TEA offers a competitive salary and benefits package. Interested individuals should forward a cover letter and resume to job@esopassociation.org. TEA is currently hiring in multiple areas, so please include a reference to the position in the subject line.